The past weeks have been hectic, what with a new role at work, a deadline for an anthology, manuscript consulting for SFU. However, I'm pleased to announce that I have been better at carving out reading time in the past months--I'll talk about the titles in another post. Recently though, I have had the pleasure… Continue reading In Conversation with Francesca Ekwuyasi
Author: Leah Ranada
Catch Up
Bringing you up to speed: I got married early September. A month later, I released my debut novel. Big events made quiet and modest by Covid-19 but cherished milestones nonetheless. Perhaps it had been for the best, the universe way of granting my true desires. A celebration of our love and commitment without all-night partying… Continue reading Catch Up
Launching Cine Star
Exciting times ahead! The Cine Star Salon is coming out and I'll be on a couple of Zoom events to talk about it. The Royal City Literary Arts Society will feature me for their Tellers of Short Tales event on Thursday, September 23rd @ 6pm Pacific time. I'll be reading a bit and answer your… Continue reading Launching Cine Star
Excerpt from The Cine Star Salon
Things are picking up for me as I prepare for a late summer wedding and a book launch this fall. But here it is, the opening section of my debut novel, The Cine Star Salon. Launch and other related news will be announced soon, but I hope you enjoy this for the meantime. The clanging… Continue reading Excerpt from The Cine Star Salon
Restart
At the risk of jinxing a streak, I'll own up to being productive with my writing lately. I commit myself to a thousand words per session. My goal is to have a first draft of the second novel by summer's end. I have procrastinated about this for so long, thinking I need more research before… Continue reading Restart
Book Cover: The Cine Star Salon
Finally, I am sharing the book cover for my forthcoming debut novel, The Cine Star Salon. Love that it evokes that aspirational salon vibe while hinting at imperfections beneath the surface (check out that texture). A lovely work by Kate Hargreaves of coruskate.com. I promised an excerpt, but for now check out the synopsis at… Continue reading Book Cover: The Cine Star Salon
Spring Updates
Alas, it's May and we're still in the throes of this pandemic, battling variants, vaccine distribution happening. Too. Slowly. Though death toll has been high last year, I don't remember sending as many condolences as I did last April. Whether they're all Covid-19 deaths, I don't know, sometimes I'm not too close to the person… Continue reading Spring Updates
Butternut Squash Soup
Happy to report that I cooked a big pot of soup that can be considered a success. I've been enjoying it for three meals now, and I still have leftovers. Despite having lived in North America for close to 15 years, I have not made anything with butternut squash until last weekend. In my head,… Continue reading Butternut Squash Soup
My short story in On Spec Magazine
Short and sweet for today: my story, Self-Segmenter, is on the latest edition of On Spec Magazine. In this story, I blend folklore with history by tying the origin of the manananggal to a dark event in Philippine history. Speculative fiction is beyond my comfort zone, so I'm pleased that one of my rare attempts… Continue reading My short story in On Spec Magazine
Throwback
Google digs up photos you took with your phone, say, five years ago, so you can look back at your memories. Facebook does this too. They brighten my day. They bother me too. Are our devices and cloud storage becoming the more reliable curator of our past? Sunset captured during a commute. A brunch date… Continue reading Throwback
Leah Ranada 