Well, I am assuming that this is how it's supposed to work! *wavvles*
Do you have a nickname?
"Jaymee" isn't actually my legal name so that's as good a nickname as any. "Jha" is a nickname I go by online, because it's easy to type.
What do you like to read?
Cheesy epic fantasies, Victorian utopias, assorted theory. I also like clever stories that play with language and metaphors. I love stories that require maps! I used to like grand sweeping romances, and romance novels, but then the Red Pill of Feminism™ happened and I can't un-see all the problematic stuff now. Thank goodness for fanfic.
What kind of stories do you write?
Cheesy epic fantasies, utopias through grassroots formation and alternative relationships or forms of governance, and, uh, assorted theory. I've written a lot of steampunk, exploring an alternate history of my country. I also like writing silly love stories, and fantasy based on Malay and Chinese mythologies. Between ~science fiction vs. fantasy~ I fall on the fantasy side of the genre.
How would you describe your personality?
I ~*sparkle*~ and exude JOY and EXUBERANCE and then when you are happy I go back into my shell and refuse to talk to people again until such a time as I am needed once more.
More seriously, I am a very solution-oriented sort of person, and I get curious about a lot of random things. (I am capable of making affirmative noises if that is what you need, and sourcing out cute animal pictures.) Fond of lists (groceries, tasks, etc.), routine, and details, and by "fond of" I mean these are the ways I manage my anxiety. It's not to say I can't suddenly up and go dancing in the middle of the night, but that requires energy. I'm an Asker, not a Guesser, and sometimes I have no filter.
What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion?
Finishing my dissertation a bit more sedately! Probably travel home to Malaysia a little earlier and embark on a new short story project. Investigating small business models. I might also have attempted making a new dress, with pockets of course.
Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?
My garden. I finally got a little herb garden going, also potatoes. Hopefully they don't die while I'm gone.
Oh, who. I don't really have anyone! Most of my family are in Malaysia. The condition of academia is the demand to uproot yourself from any community to perform university work.
Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?
Nope. I've been in the workshop environment before, having done a Creative Writing minor, but never an everyday-for-weeks sort of thing.
What scares you most about Clarion?
Not being as smart as everybody else, mostly. I'll likely spend a lot of time apologizing for garbage drafts, too.
What do you do to relax or for recreation?
I nap a lot. I might bring my flute, some embroidery, and a favourite book. In the past I've also baked cookies and gone hiking, something physical that doesn't involve a gym.
What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?
A box of pots with a proper wok and a set of spices to cook with. I hope you guys like eating.
What is your ideal career?
Ideally I'd publish very popular and edifying books that will transform the world through entertainment. I'll settle for writing fun books that sell enough for me to live off on, though.
What else do you want us to know about you?
I am an obnoxious, arrogant, loudmouthed bother, likely to be seated at the right hand of the father! (I do literally sit to my dad's right at dinner when I'm home in Malaysia, but the table is a circle so I'm not sure how meaningful that is.) You can tell me to shut up, though.
I love music and dancing badly in the living room. Down for Hamilton sing-alongs anytime. I also am prone to pacing in circles around a large room to help me think when at work.
Do you have a nickname?
"Jaymee" isn't actually my legal name so that's as good a nickname as any. "Jha" is a nickname I go by online, because it's easy to type.
What do you like to read?
Cheesy epic fantasies, Victorian utopias, assorted theory. I also like clever stories that play with language and metaphors. I love stories that require maps! I used to like grand sweeping romances, and romance novels, but then the Red Pill of Feminism™ happened and I can't un-see all the problematic stuff now. Thank goodness for fanfic.
What kind of stories do you write?
Cheesy epic fantasies, utopias through grassroots formation and alternative relationships or forms of governance, and, uh, assorted theory. I've written a lot of steampunk, exploring an alternate history of my country. I also like writing silly love stories, and fantasy based on Malay and Chinese mythologies. Between ~science fiction vs. fantasy~ I fall on the fantasy side of the genre.
How would you describe your personality?
I ~*sparkle*~ and exude JOY and EXUBERANCE and then when you are happy I go back into my shell and refuse to talk to people again until such a time as I am needed once more.
More seriously, I am a very solution-oriented sort of person, and I get curious about a lot of random things. (I am capable of making affirmative noises if that is what you need, and sourcing out cute animal pictures.) Fond of lists (groceries, tasks, etc.), routine, and details, and by "fond of" I mean these are the ways I manage my anxiety. It's not to say I can't suddenly up and go dancing in the middle of the night, but that requires energy. I'm an Asker, not a Guesser, and sometimes I have no filter.
What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion?
Finishing my dissertation a bit more sedately! Probably travel home to Malaysia a little earlier and embark on a new short story project. Investigating small business models. I might also have attempted making a new dress, with pockets of course.
Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?
My garden. I finally got a little herb garden going, also potatoes. Hopefully they don't die while I'm gone.
Oh, who. I don't really have anyone! Most of my family are in Malaysia. The condition of academia is the demand to uproot yourself from any community to perform university work.
Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?
Nope. I've been in the workshop environment before, having done a Creative Writing minor, but never an everyday-for-weeks sort of thing.
What scares you most about Clarion?
Not being as smart as everybody else, mostly. I'll likely spend a lot of time apologizing for garbage drafts, too.
What do you do to relax or for recreation?
I nap a lot. I might bring my flute, some embroidery, and a favourite book. In the past I've also baked cookies and gone hiking, something physical that doesn't involve a gym.
What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?
A box of pots with a proper wok and a set of spices to cook with. I hope you guys like eating.
What is your ideal career?
Ideally I'd publish very popular and edifying books that will transform the world through entertainment. I'll settle for writing fun books that sell enough for me to live off on, though.
What else do you want us to know about you?
I am an obnoxious, arrogant, loudmouthed bother, likely to be seated at the right hand of the father! (I do literally sit to my dad's right at dinner when I'm home in Malaysia, but the table is a circle so I'm not sure how meaningful that is.) You can tell me to shut up, though.
I love music and dancing badly in the living room. Down for Hamilton sing-alongs anytime. I also am prone to pacing in circles around a large room to help me think when at work.
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| I have a Squishable Cthulhu. More gratuitous webcam pics here |
As an academic geek I'd love to hear more about your dissertation and also your version of steampunk
ReplyDeleteMy dissertation is about how multiculturalism in steampunk is often framed and thus compromised by whiteness! I get to do the depressing thing of analyzing how we talk and write and perform steampunk and all the ways that they are problematic™. A problematique of steampunk, as it were. I also talk about writing steampunk from a postcolonial perspective on my steampunk blog here: http://silver-goggles.blogspot.com/
Deletethat sounds awesome
Deleteomg, seconded. I can't wait to read your work.
DeleteIt's so nice to learn more about you! Solution-oriented listmakers for life. <3
ReplyDeleteOh, when I am listless I am, uh, listless >_>
Delete<3 It was very nice to read your answers too!!!
I was sold at the "I love stories that have maps". Actually, wouldn't be cool to create a story-map in a more crazy surreal way, like an epic fantasy where the mapping was not just part of the story, but the story itself? Latin Title: "Hic sunt dracos". Ok, end of creative rant... Giovanni, nice to meet you.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fantastic idea! I wonder whether anyone's used the "unreliable cartographer" technique before...
DeleteProbably not. And I like the "Unreliable Cartographer" sentence very much. I can already hear it in some future lecture "Oh, it's a typical unreliable cartographer". Cool, the Clarion hasn't started yet and I am already getting ideas for future stories...
DeleteI've never thought of the Unrealiable Cartographer and now I shall look this up! I love maps, I love geography, I'm a very big fan of the concept of geographic materialism (which is like historical materialism but rooted in physical geography). I've read one story where I could definitively say the setting was a character in the story (and the secret antagonist, that is The Hidden Force by Louis Couperous) but the act of mapping as the story, as a protagonist or antagonist (or love interest, ha!)... this should be a thing!
DeleteYou must draw this map, Giovanni! I shall cheer you on! Perhaps we could get an ENTIRE Clarion anthology out of this on the theme of Unreliable Cartographers. Perhaps they will even take place in the same world!
"Perhaps we could get an ENTIRE Clarion anthology out of this on the theme of Unreliable Cartographers. Perhaps they will even take place in the same world!"
DeleteI just got all starry-eyed.
"Perhaps we could get an ENTIRE Clarion anthology out of this on the theme of Unreliable Cartographers. Perhaps they will even take place in the same world!" -Jha
Delete"I just got all starry-eyed." -Kendra F
Same. Would we share the same unreliable map(s), and write stories of characters discovering the truth behind the false cartography? Or would we each get our own unreliably drawn map for our stories?
Introducing a story with maps by an Unreliable Cartographer intrigues me...
Hmmm... I'm imagining it now... we get some tracing paper. Someone starts first. Next person overlays their tracing paper on top of the first, draws something approximate-but-not exactly... like, move a mountain or two, add more lakes, etc., then the next person does the same, then the next. Then we each take the maps back, and work with that as the beginnings of a story. And by the end of the story the maps must have changed once more.
DeleteAnd then as the piece-de-resistance we all pretend to be a single cartographer. Muahaha!
I am browsing for cartography history books, there is a lot of stuff out there, difficult to sort it out...
DeleteAhaha that would be awesome, but let's not be too ambitious. I am crap at drawing, which is one of the problems I'd encounter ... but the concept demands to be expanded... I can clearly see it could go with hyper-subtle Borgesian short story, or with tacky but slightly metaphysical epic fantasy. Basically take the concept of the 'map at the beginning of the book': well the quest is not to explore the map, is to re-draw the map itself! I a going to explore a bit on ancient cartography and let you know what I find...
ReplyDeleteI knew a guy who did his dissertation on maps--specifically a map of a river in our home country, Sungai Perak, and how it has been read over the centuries to determine political borders and transitways, and thus the map of the same river changed over the centuries to reflect these perceptions. He based his argument in the idea that maps are a literature, and changes just like literary production.
DeleteBut imagine a world in which the physical geography literally changes? Like how do the residents deal with it. Or maybe the residents' perception of the geography changes according to their cultural values and ways of communicating? Therefore any exploration of any map requires a re-drawing, because maps differ due to cartographical linguistics...
IDK how that would work but it could be fun!
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DeleteYou know, I have been actually jotting down this stuff since early afternoon, and I was pretty much going in the same direction... It's really a good story idea. (what I know from a geographer friend of mine is that really happens, only in a long strech of time. As the toponyms change, so does the attitude of people to the places. But what if someone could change that in, let's say, a fortnight? Not the physical reality of places, but the cultural perceptions of them... A war could sparkle this way, or end in the same fashion. Ok, let's start a five thousand pages epic on this).
DeleteI embarked on a story with a similar premise! I might try to work on it some more at Clarion :D
DeleteBorges wrote a very short story about maps, in fact. Not sure if you guys have already read it: https://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/08/bblonder/phys120/docs/borges.pdf
DeleteYep, Borges was the original inspiration for this kind of thinking. The problem is, this kind of subject could be dealt with in so many different kind of stories... I think if everyone of has wrote a story about it, it will be all different (I think Conjunction had this kind of 'theme' a while ago).
DeleteMy own aisle would be the weird tale, the 'fantastique'... but yet again, I think it would very interesting to play with the tropes of straightforward fantasy. And even there, I could see at least two or three ways of approaching it...
Oh, and by the way, I loved Eddings with a vengeance...
ReplyDeleteThe Eddingses' Belgariad and Mallorean practically midwived me through high school!!
DeleteHeh, me too! I was 13 when I began the Belgariad, on a train to Como (11hrs ride). I remember it so very sharply. It's weird, I have read masterworks of Pirandello and Shakespeare, that indeed moved me more... and yet, the act of reading them is not so rooted in memory as that of enjoying Mr. Eddings work...
DeleteOr rather, the Eddingses, as you said (of course Polgara must have had a word in the matter, how could she not?)
DeleteLeigh Eddings was not credited earlier on, but the Rivan Codex makes clear her indomitable hand on the stories ^_^ I think in later editions the older books were also credited to "David and Leigh Eddings"? I was reading them later than you, so in my head it's the Eddingses (with the more boring, abstract covers) (although, since David Eddings refers to Tolkien as "Papa Tolkien" in my head it's Papa Eddings, and Granpa Tolkien). I know they're very rooted in my memories because I suffered depression and a lot of isolation through high school, and the two series are very much about isolated individuals who are crabby and grouchy coming together. These days I'll re-read The Redemption of Althalus, though, because it's the entire formula he uses for ten books squeezed into a single book, complete with the clever quips and aphorisms.
DeleteOddly my brother and I both started with Polgara the Sorceress, then Belgarath, then only did we read the Belgariad and Mallorean. (And of course, once you have read those in order, you MUST read Belgarath and Polgara, in order to properly close out the cycle.)
So weird. There was a time when I could have sworn I was the ultimate authority on Eddings... alas, this is not true any longer. I have stopped reading them at the Mallorean, which I considered far inferior to the first series... and that was it, really. I moved on farther, more complex shores. Which doesn't mean I am not fond of those books: they thought me a an early age the most important part of novel building, that of creating characters one deeply cares about.
DeleteAs for the rest, at the time I wouldn't have used the word 'bullying' or 'depression', but that's where I was, and Garion had not little part in taking my self out of it. So much for the danger of escapism...
Love the cuddly Chtulhu!
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ReplyDeleteJha, are you still living in R——, CA? That's where I live, and if you want to get together sometime and ask questions about Clarion, I'm willing. —Shauna (class of 2009)
ReplyDelete!!! YES I DO!
DeleteIf you want to go hiking sometime while we're at Clarion, let me know. I love going on long walks, especially in parks and on trails.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned reading fanfiction. This makes me very happy. ^_^ Any particular fandoms these days?
I'm very bad at being involved in fandom! I ran a Jupiter Ascending Tumblr for a while and grad school swept me from it, plus it was just so I could help connect people in the tiny-but-growing fandom at the time (it had JUST come out). I still look for Final Fantasy VII fanfic (specifically AeriSeph) when I have time and inclination, and I'm part of a Girl Genius fanfic LJ comm (some terrific writers there).
DeleteWe definitely will have to orchestrate some long walks!
Those who are interested in cartographic magic would like Christopher Rowe's 2006 story "Another Word for Map is Faith." Rowe's working on a novel, Sarah Across America, set in the same world, in which mapmakers can redraw the landscape.
ReplyDelete