Wishing everyone a restful holiday and a wonderful time with loved ones!
Away with 2023!
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Can Con 2023 Schedule
The summer went by so fast! Now I’m suddenly scrambling to pull myself together for Can Con 2023, a writing and publishing convention held in Ottawa. Things were going well, I actually did a jog in the park yesterday, but then in the afternoon I lost my favorite pair of headphones in the supermarket and my day went haywire from then on (I found myself crawling on the supermarket floor in search of them in case they got kicked under the shelves, but they stayed lost).
Sometimes I feel like whenever I feel happy, that is when things go really wrong. Anyhow, I’m hoping things will go well at the conference now that my bad streak has happened…below is my schedule if you happen to be going to the conference, feel free to come chat with me!
- Friday, October 13, 8:00pm – 8:50pm – Making a Podcast That Survives and Thrives
- Saturday, October 14, 10:00am – 10:50am – Hope in the Age of AI-Generated Content
- Sunday, October 15, 10:00am – 10:50am – Putting the PR in DePRession: Indie Publishing and Mental Health and 1:00pm – 1:50pm Dark Helix Press office hours (offering free consulting on publishing)
The schedule looks action packed with lots of writing sessions, book launches and interesting topics about the future of publishing. It’s one of the few conferences left in Canada that features genre writing and it should be hopping!
Writing five books in six months is an amazing feat!
Recently on the Artsy Raven podcast we spoke to Vincent Yee, #writer of Clara Wu Books! He shared his story and his incredible journey of writing five books in six months before embarking on a marketing campaign which landed him on the The Kelly Clarkson Show! #asianamerican #diversityinbooks #writinglife
Spotify podcast link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ASr1qrVZqSYuXThu01zVA
Youtube podcast link: https://youtu.be/nxPLTIAZLBE
Being Embarrassed by your Writing
Last week, daycare asked me to bring in a copy of a children’s book written by my child, a picture book about marbles which is a fairly specialized topic! The next day, I packed up a copy of the book and on the way to daycare my child began sobbing. Real gigantic tears falling down their cheeks and howling while we crossed the street.
It turned out they didn’t want me to bring the book to daycare because they thought the other children will see this picture book and make fun of them. I told them it was an accomplishment to publish any book and not to let the haters get to you.
As a parent your influence is limited once they go to daycare or school and I can’t control what happens there. The daycare staff felt bad and told us that we can bring the book back home and perhaps bring back another day. Now the book is resting on a table at home.
It is scary being a writer because you don’t know who will be reading your words. Never mind writing, all your social media posts are being looked at by strangers. Over time I hope my child will gain more confidence to share their work one day, and not be so scared. I suppose the upside is maybe they will be more aware of what they are posting onto social media if they are worried about reputation? Or maybe they will post idiotic things together with their peers? The road to the future is unknown, but experiences will guide us along the way on this strange journey of parenthood and childhood!
Happy Canada Day!
Just sending out a “Happy Canada Day!” greeting to everyone!
I just want to stay inside and write, but it’s such a beautiful day today and my kraken child has continuous needs. Maybe one day they can pour their own apple juice and make a meal for themselves, but this seems light years away! I will go outside and let the bugs have their feast (they never bite my husband, I suspect they know they will become entangled in arm hair), have a good day and enjoy the present!
Open call for Stephen Chow’s Upcoming Shaolin Women’s Soccer movie!
The internet is abuzz with Stephen Chow 周星馳 posting an open call on Instagram to cast his upcoming Shaolin Women’s Soccer movie. Stephen Chow Sing-chi is a Hong Kong filmmaker, director, actor and comedian, known for Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.
In many of his movies, he has a preference for casting “unknowns” and inexperienced people to provide a freshness to his projects. He had announced previously that he wants to complete another movie before he is 65 and since he is 61 now, this might be the movie. This open call is international, so why not apply and dream a bit?
His Instagram post is about his birthday wish asking for “people mountain people sea” which means “a lot of people” to apply for his movie’s casting. He asks for non-ugly women and no photoshopped pictures. However, people in the comments section are asking about transgender roles (Wang Lei), being a man (Edison Chen) or a woman who has had multiple children (Myolie Wu). He asks for everyone to throw their name into the bucket anyways!
The Instagram (click here for link) post doesn’t contain much details, just to send in a picture along with “qualifications.” Singapore’s 8days news site translated some of the comments on the post from celebrities and such.
I sent in something and also asked for am interview in the message. Will see if I get any responses. Good luck to all of us!
Those clever phishers
Recently I received multiple emails from a PR company claiming they can generate media opportunities for me, whatever that means. I clicked on the emails because the heading mentioned a past interview I gave to another website and I thought it might be a real request since I also receive a lot of messages from legitimate PR companies. These emails mentioned my interest of publishing diverse voices and named my publishing company. Then I noticed that although the emails came from different people and were signed by different people, the messages were exactly the same and all of them requested I cc their co-worker “Shane.”
By mentioning something from someone’s past and posing it as a genuine request in the subject line, this gives a higher percentage of people opening the email instead of deleting it right away. It’s also quite easy to figure out my interests from my websites and social media postings. I worry about what phishers will think of next.
Hopefully my mind will still be sharp before the next wave of phishers come after me again! If you have faced similar phishers or even more clever ideas, please share!
Word on the Street 2023
Word on the Street, a virtual and in-person literary festival has just started in Toronto! People can sign up for free virtual workshops featuring different writers via the event schedule and I will be at two booths on May 27-28 representing the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop and Canadian Authors Association. Handy that the two booths are next to one another because we are short staffed at both tables!
To prepare, I have been gathering books for display, putting together book raffle bundles and of course, making an all important mini Lego WOTS bookstore. Because I always need an excuse to buy more Lego!
See you at these Writers’ Groups booths: Asian Canadian Writers Workshop 76B & Canadian Authors Association 78B. Here is the raffle schedule, remember to come by for free draw tickets!
Reminder: How COVID affected Librarians, Authors & Poets/Performance Artists
A reminder that on May 25, I will be hosting an event for Canadian Author Association’s Toronto branch to discuss how librarians, authors & poets/performance artists were affected by COVID. Academic librarians from The University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) will discuss the disruptions they have faced and how libraries have responded to the pandemic. Author Dan K Woo and Poet/Performance Artist Johnny D Trinh will share how the pandemic has affected their writing life and what opportunities were missed or gained. These writers will also read from their works.
Registration for this zoom event is free and link is here: https://canadianauthors.org/toronto/events/
Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop is the sponsor for this event and there will be a draw for a $50 Indigo gift card. Dark Helix Press will also be giving away an eBook sampler. Links to these are on the event page.
Next time we are upset, remember people are people
Since starting social media accounts eons ago (remember My Space anyone? MIrc?) I have seen posts from people (who I don’t personally) bullying me. Have also received long emails about how I suck, etc. For a while I was angry, but anger is such a destructive force. I’ve learned to channel this energy into other things, such as writing and making books – basically creating stuff.
The other day I played Depeche Mode’s People are People in the car and this made me think about such past events of cyberbullying. In the end it’s not productive to hold onto the anger or to do revenge stuff. As much as I like watching The Glory or Revenge, let’s be honest, who has time to do this revenge stuff?
People are People selected lyrics:
I can’t understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
Although this song was released in 1984, the message still holds true! Have a listen next time you are upset to help let go of the negative emotions!
Musings of a Generic Asian 
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