Author: sundialgirl

  • Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

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    sundialgirl
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    I’m in the middle of checking 56 exams by tonight, but I was just struck with the thought that, despite everything I do, I’ll still have something strange said about me and my work. (I won’t say they’re negative, because my first reaction when I read them was to laugh out loud.) So just to…

  • Teacher training

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    sundialgirl
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    Preparing for a new semester has always been simultaneously the best and the worst part of teaching. There’s nothing more exciting than imagining what kind of thing you can teach in class – especially if it’s a new prep – and what kind of readings you can give to students. You wish and hope and…

  • December Doldrums and Delights

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    sundialgirl
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    The thing about December is that it decided to arrive at the tail end of an already terrible year. 2016 has decided to beat us up in terms of brutality (physically and psychically) on top of the everyday violence we already experience as human beings trying to live on this rapidly deteriorating planet. It probably…

  • Why Words Matter

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    sundialgirl
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    [sel-fish] adjective 1. devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one’s own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others. 2. characterized by or manifesting concern or care only for oneself: selfish motives. This isn’t the first time you’ve been called that, although you’ve never been in the habit of withholding what other…

  • The thing with feathers

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    sundialgirl
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    “Tonight I write the saddest lines,” said the poet, thinking it to be true. But there were sad days before, and sad days to come. Nobody has ownership of sadness, of mourning, of realizing that the world cannot hand you a reward just because you worked hard for something. Of course you deserve it, you can…

  • NaNoWriMo 2016?

    NaNoWriMo 2016?

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    sundialgirl
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    So the last time I tried doing NaNoWriMo was in 2011, where I literally tapped out after 2K words. But here’s the thing: I literally need to finish my Kabanata novel by the first of December, because I received a creative work grant from the university that allowed me to teach fewer classes this semester.…

  • Hey It’s Halloween!

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    sundialgirl
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    I’m not a very big fan of scary stories and horror films. I’m not the type of person who enjoys thrill-seeking adventures (see: my acrophobia), and while stories are still slightly better than films – especially slasher films, or horror films that concentrate on gore – it’s still a genre that I’m probably never going to enjoy as…

  • Reviewed by Ruey de Vera

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    sundialgirl
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    (Photo from Michelle Aguas, who also told me about the article. Thanks!) So my first official newspaper review has come out, from the Philippine Daily Inquirer‘s very own Ruel S. De Vera! You can check out the review HERE while I keep on working (it’s 1 AM right now, sigh) and getting ready for class tomorrow/today.…

  • Instructions on How to Launch a Book

    Instructions on How to Launch a Book

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    sundialgirl
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    Write the actual book This is very important. You will have nothing to launch if you did not write anything in the first place. To my past self’s surprise, I never really imagined writing a collection of short fiction; my writing trajectory in college was poetry, and so I wrote fiction as finger exercises, a way to…