Category: 1

This post is prompted by two things:

First, I heard Elizabeth Gilbert say, in an interview, that according to Joseph Campbell there was no such thing as a heroine’s journey, because the heroine did not need to go on a journey: she was the home to which the hero returned. I can imagine Campbell making such a statement, but the evidence in his own book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, contradicts it: he repeatedly describes heroines on journeys, including Ishtar descending into the underworld. Some heroines have gone on journeys; therefore, the heroine’s journey must exist.

Second, I tried to do some research on the heroine’s journey, and what I found seemed too complicated: it didn’t match up with the journeys I was seeing in the fairy tales I teach.

So I decided to write out a heroine’s journey based on the fairy tales I’m most familiar with…

As someone who’s asked to talk about Filipino science fiction and fantasy, and after listening to several podcasts (including the Skiffy and Fanty show) interviewing authors who eventually end up representing their country/continent/ethnicity, one question that inevitably gets asked is how they would describe science fiction or fantasy from their country: “What is Filipino speculative fiction?” “What is Chinese science fiction” “What is Carribean fantasy?” The interviewers have good intentions (and I’m one of those people who’ve used that particular phrase numerous times), but the more I think about it, the more problematic the question becomes.

At the root of the question are certain assumptions and privileges people take for granted. The first is that they are coming from a Western paradigm, where Western literature is at the center. The answers and responses of the interviewee will always be compared and contrasted to concepts and ideas from Western literature, because…

To commemorate our first night of Chasing Tales and to promote the work of our speakers from last August 23^rd’s magical night, we’re proud to announce that we are going to be releasing an awesome chapbook featuring work form Eliza Victoria, Erika Carreon and Carlo Flordeliza. This is set to come out on September 20^th at BGC’s Art Mart where we’ll be setting up shop that weekend. As per usual, the pre-order price is always cheaper: the pre-order price goes for P265, and the regular price will be announced once the book is available at our bookstore. The volume contains both short stories and excerpts from the upcoming novels of our speakers. You can pre-order by sending us an e-mail at info@moarbooks.net.

More updates soon!

Tomorrow (Saturday) we’re going to be hosting our first serious MoarBooks event. That is not to say that everything we’ve done up until now wasn’t serious but that it was mostly directed inwardly: publishing our own material, pointing interest toward ourselves; experimentation. I have always been my own guinea pig, following the train of thought that if I fail, at least I fail alone.

Once the experiment succeeds—what do you do next?

Tomorrow’s event is a step outside our comfort zone: it’s something that will point outward—toward (you) our audience, toward people whose stories we are fond of. We’re taking a leap into the unknown (an educated guess) and really trying to provide avenues for people who are interested in hearing and telling stories. Chasing Tales is a speaker series which primarily focuses on story-telling and narrative across various forms and genres. Tomorrow night will be specifically about Fantasy in…