Welcome to Smugglivus 2014! Throughout this month, we will have daily guests – authors and bloggers alike – looking back at their favorite reads of 2014, looking forward to events and upcoming books in 2015, and more. Who: Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, a Filipina writer living in the Netherlands. She attended the Clarion West Writer’s Workshop in 2009 and was a recipient of the Octavia Butler Scholarship. Her work has been published in various online and print publications in the Philippines as well as outside of the Philippines. Please give it up for Rochita, everybody! This year, more than any other year, has brought me a stronger awareness—not only of the field, but of myself and my relationship to the field in particular. Whether it was a conscious choice or not, I found myself looking at the field in relationship to where I stand and the insights that come from this kind of positioning have been challenging as well as enlightening. In today’s society, social media plays a vital role in bringing our attention to movements, but more than social media, personal contact with those involved—the act of reaching out to connect—these are the things that allow us to see better what […]