It’s been a while since there have been updates. There has been a long period wandering the creative desert – philosophical, existential, emotional, spiritual crises and so on! My ability to write and read seemed to dry up, and the strike at York University surely didn’t help. I escaped reality through TV shows for a few weeks, hoping to find a cure. But at last, I can feel my soul breathe again. Here are some things that are coming up, as momentum again revs and the warmer weather makes way for life.
April 30th 8PM – Paint A Smile Charity Arts Nite
I will be doing a mini-presentation/reading and signing books at a fundraising event a few high school friends are organizing which aspires to bring inspirational art and support to those in need such as long term illness patients in hospitals.
50% of proceeds go to the cause! Make sure to purchase tickets and come out to the HANGOVER SPORTS BAR (7354 Woodbine Ave, Markham, ON).
May 7th – 10th – Pages Unbound Literary Festival (May 9 Workshop)
My books will be sold at the Pages Unbound Literary Festival and I will be facilitating/leading a Wattpad-featured presentation and workshop on MAY 9th at 1PM at CSI Annex (Bathurst Station). Make sure to grab your tickets and join me there if you’re available!
WORKSHOP – TRANSCENDING PRINT: ONLINE LITERATURE, CELL PHONE NOVELS, TRANSMEDIA CULTURE
This interactive workshop will take a three-pronged approach, exploring the groundbreaking “cell phone novel,” the intersection of online communities with multimedia technologies and Japanese, youth and pop cultures. The experience will include writing activities, multimedia presentations and round-table conversation. The workshop is facilitated by author and English-language cell phone novel pioneer Takatsu and communication technology researcher Jack Jamieson.
Women Write About Comics Magazine Interview
A while back I did an interview with a reader who happens to be a writer herself of an online magazine. The interview goes into much depth about the writing experience, my philosophies, advice for writers and onwards. It should be an inspiring read! Thanks for the opportunity!
Other Things
There have been a few other small book signing events and the school term, extremely convoluted by the strike, is now compressed and wrapping up, dealing much stress from finals! There are three creative literary portfolios, exams, essays and the like. But the much anticipated Espresso Love seems to have some possibility for publication…really praying for the best…. more on that at a later date! But all the research into the publishing industry brought about a realization more than ever how reality is entirely subjective. There are all sorts of publishers, sizes of publishers, publishing trends, options and routes to take, editors, agents and onwards. And there is no way to really know for sure what is the best option. For example, a book published with a smaller press compared to a Big Five, may end up winning many awards and hit bestselling charts all over the world, and a debut book with the Big Five may not be given much publicity or marketing attention at all. On the other hand, perhaps a smaller press may not present the same opportunities and attention and international distribution. There is no way to really tell. In the end, it comes down to content, connections, luck, effort and so on. Though one option may present a bigger kickstart, who’s to say that there are more opportunities to follow up?
I will also be making a return to music this summer hopefully and put together a new EP/Album that will be full of pop punk/alt rock/acoustic goodness. In the mean time, I’ve polished a collection of short stories and creative non-fiction pieces for my courses which I’ve been satisfied with. Here is one of the pieces which is a collection of aphorisms, philosophy, fragments, words of wisdom, thoughts, and so on. I will also post it on the blog later.