Writing

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Language in the Written Word

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The Philippines is home to more than a hundred languages (and that’s not counting the number of dialects). But there are only two official languages in the country:  English and Filipino. The official languages, especially Filipino (a lot of which is based on the Tagalog language), is always the subject of debate. And both languages are arguably the products of a dominant culture enforcing its will on another:  the former by Americans and the second by what could be considered the “mainland” in the Philippines, Manila. In schools, we are taught to be fluent in one language or the other, but the mingling of both languages is discouraged (and in most cases, will count as an error). In English class, we’re not allowed to use Filipino. In Filipino class, we’re not allowed to use English. And yet, both Filipino and English are inevitably used in both classes. In actual practice, the mingling of several languages is the norm. For those who can speak both languages, this is usually called Tag-lish. In my community, since I am also ethnically Chinese, our variation is Chi-tag-lish, as we mix our version of Chinese (usually Hokkien) with Filipino and English. This phenomenon is not unique to the Philippines, and other countries will have their own variations. Take Singapore and Singlish, for example.

Blog Posts

My Superpower: James L. Sutter

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My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome James L. Sutter to talk about how the power of talking about the important things relates to The Redemption Engine. —————————————— When asked what my superpower is, I’d usually talk about sneezomancy. For reasons unbeknownst to me, my sneezes are a reliable indicator of my general health. One sneeze means I’m getting sick. Two sneezes means I’m fine. Three or more sneezes means “wow, it’s dusty in here!” Not exactly the sort of thing that gets one onto the X-Men, right? So in getting ready for this article, I started rifling frantically through other powers. The ability to bend my thumb back, like, really far. The ability to eat several pounds of blueberries in a sitting without Serious Gastronomic Distress. The ability to consistently hit the high note in “Take On Me.” And then I realized that I actually have a superpower that permeates every aspect of my life. I can talk to people about things that matter. In fact, I adore it.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

204. Caribbean SF w/ Karen Lord, Tobias Buckell, and Stephanie Saulter — #WorldSFTour

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode204CaribbeanSF/SandF%20–%20Episode%20204%20–%20Caribbean%20SF.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSHistories, languages, and micro-states, oh my!  Authors Tobias Buckell, Stephanie Saulter, and Karen Lord join Julia and Shaun for an in-depth but wholly unfinished discussion about Caribbean sf.  We cover the sf/f community in the Caribbean, Caribbean literature and culture, growing up in the Caribbean (and living abroad), and much more! We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 204 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Tobias’ Website Tobias’ Books Tobias’ Twitter Tor Books “I was recently invoked by The Abyss and Apex, and would like to talk to you about me, dialect, and Caribbean stories” by Tobias Buckell Stephanie’s Website Stephanie’s Books Stephanie’s Twitter Jo Fletcher Books Karen’s Website (books and podcasts are listed on the right hand side!) Karen’s Twitter Small Beer Press You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible.  Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

Announcements and Errata

Writing Bits: Armadillocon Writer’s Workshop

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This week Shaun gave me permission to talk about the Armadillocon Writer’s Workshop, which is a little event that I run for my local convention. It’s close to my heart for multiple reasons — among them is the fact that it gave me a leg up as a new writer. I feel passionate enough about it that I’ve been running it for seven years. If you’re interested in becoming a professional Science Fiction and Fantasy writer, I think it’s one of the best, least inexpensive workshops designed for beginning and intermediate writers. This year, it will be held on Friday, July 25th, and the manuscript submission deadline is June 15th. Each student is required to submit a manuscript of no more than 5,000 words, which will then be critiqued at the workshop. Check in begins at 8:30am, and the workshop runs until the convention starts (usually, at 4:30pm). It’s a full day of lectures, writing exercises, and critiques. In the last part of the session, students are sorted into critique groups of no more than five. Each group is led by two publishing professionals. We use the Milford Method, and each student both gives and receives critiques. This year, we’re proud to have the following instructors: Ian McDonald, Ted Chiang, Jacob Weisman, Skyler White,  Mario Acevedo, Martha Wells, Kat Richardson, Stina Leicht, Alex C. Renwick, Claude Lalumière, Joe McKinney, Martin Wagner, Marshall Ryan Maresca, Mark Finn, Dr. Anne-Marie Thompson, Derek Johnson, Jayme Blaschke, and Nicky Drayden If you’re a new writer without publishing credits and you’re interested in professional publishing, this is the workshop for you. It’s a lot of fun. The fee is $70. For more detailed information see the Armadillocon website.

Blog Posts

My Superpower: Cassandra Rose Clarke

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My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome Cassandra Rose Clarke to talk about how the power of making time for TV (psst:  and organization) relates to The Wizard’s Promise. ——————————– Let us consider Wolverine. His superpower appears to be the ability to retract claws out of his knuckles like a cat, and indeed, for many years as a child I thought that was his superpower and wondered how such a weirdly specific mutation could come to be. But at some point I learned that Wolverine’s actual superpower is regeneration. It allows him to retract claws out of his knuckles like a cat and do other wonders as well — but mostly the cat claw thing. My writerly superpower is the same way.

Blog Posts

IDIC and the problem with gatekeepers

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When I started writing what I loved (science fiction) in about 2007, I didn’t have the impression that science fiction was US-centric. In fact, I thought that science fiction was like Star Trek’s philosophy of IDIC. Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Wasn’t science fiction supposed to be like that? I mean, I did submit stories before and one even got published. That was in 2000, when I was fresh out of university, armed with a postgraduate degree. So, when I started writing in 2007, I thought it was still peachy, and a writer like me — a writer from Southeast Asia — would be easily accepted. My steampunk story “A Matter of Possession” was published by Crossed Genres in 2010 in their issue on alternate history. It was my first entry into an interesting scene (I couldn’t use ‘community’ — didn’t feel much of it, though). I realized, to my shock, that people like me, people living outside the United States, had (still have) difficulty getting their stories published. The gatekeepers of serious science fiction were standing at the gate and barring entry to those trying to find their way in. Often, the accepted stories were written by white men. I wondered who made the gatekeepers gatekeepers? Who had set the rules and regulations? Is science fiction going to be a pub where unwanted and unwelcome folk are kept outside the window, desperately staring in while the accepted cliques mingle, laugh and have fun? Who chooses who will write our future(s)?

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