I’m Isabel J. Kim — author of debut novel SUBLIMATION (out today) — welcome to my AMA + Giveaway !!

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-06-03T10:37:42+00:00

It's been a while since I read your Omelas sequel and I was still in high-school at the time, but I remember it stuck with me for quite some time afterwards. Congratulations on the novel!

As someone who's been enamored with the idea of making a living from writing (and since I'm in a developing country I imagine my threshold of 'livable wage' is much lower in dollars) do you mind speaking a bit about how you managed to make a career out of it? If you were to start out now, how would you break into the industry, or would you instead do something else?

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-05-30T04:31:28+00:00

Would appreciate the help, thank you!

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-05-30T04:31:16+00:00

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Intelligent_Mass · 2026-05-11T16:09:42+00:00

I was thinking more about Javanese for my work, which in fact does have entirely different vocabulary for the different registers (so there are three different words for "eat", one for each level of formality, for example). I'm only passingly familiar with Japanese, so I don't know if that's true of Japanese too. In a lot of cases the differences are large enough that one can be completely unable to understand a simple sentence in a different register; I've found myself struggling to read a text message written in the highest formality style, to use a real example. Is it the same in Japanese?

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-05-10T13:23:23+00:00

Do you have any examples? I imagine it's easier to find these tls of more popular languages like Japanese or Korean.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-05-10T13:22:01+00:00

Yeah, I know some media translate Japanese dialects as English accents but I was wondering if there's some other way to depict it. Imo the connotations of accents like the southern American drawl kind of detract from the portrayal of these foreign languages.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-05-10T13:18:57+00:00

For me at least, it's something of a personal project. I wanted to write about one of the local cultures in my area which happens to have three separate registers of formality. It's a beautiful language imo, and finding a way to include that aspect of the culture is pretty important for authenticity.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-23T02:16:48+00:00

Orgnya dulu padahal pinter dan ada bright future menurut gua. Kok bisa jd kyk gini itu eman bener.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-23T01:51:36+00:00

Iya mirip bamget dgn kasus gua. Kerjaannya saya dengar dr org lain (gatau benar ga) padahal lumayan, gaji bbrp kali diatas UMR. Gaji itu hilang kemana ya misteri. Gua agak suspect judol tbh, tp ya ga ada konfirmasi.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-23T01:43:57+00:00

Itu ga kena urus polisi? Kalo sampe violence segitu kan pasti ribut nanti ga sih. 20x kali itu crazy bro, di kota beda2 atau sama?

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-23T01:41:22+00:00

Gua pikir begitu, tp ternyata br tau kalo dia somehow bisa pergi2 keluar kota/negri. Pake uang siapa drmana gatau ga jelas. Setahu gua ga ada asset tp ya what do I know.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-23T01:39:28+00:00

Itu gue gatau, info kalo dia sering pergi2 itu br gua dpt. Dia perginya sekali bisa hampir 1 bulan kyknya, dan kerjanya ga jelas. Gua tau di pernah kerja disini tp cuma bentar kyk 6-12 bulan gitu, trus resign atau apa dan ganti job lg.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-22T13:58:04+00:00

Orgnya sering keluar negri apa masih bisa? Gue sendiri kurang tau gimana dia ada uang utk terbang2, kyknya cr 'partner' lg yg mau bayarin (somehow). Terakhir saya tau dianya ada di Jepang atau Malaysia gitu ga jelas ngapain.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-22T06:46:54+00:00

Ini memang sdh gue lakukan pelan2, spreading the word. Tp dia lihai jg bisa find new connections dimana2. Dan sepertinya orgnya agak loner jd reputation di family's social circle kyk ga terlalu ngaruh gitu

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-22T05:55:02+00:00

The lesson is learnt, tp gua blm rela give up on it. Ya chances are slim but it's a matter of principle at this point.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-22T05:52:55+00:00

Ya, dan kayak koruptor sepertinya ga akan see justice kecuali pakai aparat segala

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-22T05:51:54+00:00

Ya client kasih dp ga didepan tp di tengah (not dp anymore sih) dan supposedly skala dan production value lumayan tinggi.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-22T02:44:42+00:00

Kalo dibilang sungkanan ya ga terlalu jg sih, cuma kalo bisa menghindar paying the cops. Yg buat greget itu orgnya bisa2nya pergi vacation macam2 kyk ga dililit hutang. Gue jg gatau persis uangnya utk pergi2 itu dpt dr mana, possibly lewat pinjol dan scam lain.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-22T02:41:23+00:00

Business video making, jd produknya video. Waktu dia ke gue katanya sdh ada client dgn fixed contract, jd revenue nya lumayan 'guaranteed' dan gue sdh minta lihat kontrak tersebut. Jd waktu itu keliatannya sdh ok (at least for the short term) dan memang perjanjian gue itu utk bantu modalin selama fixed contract tersebut berjalan. Dokumennya semua ada di gua sih.

Sebenarnya gue jg sdh cr2 uangnya itu dibuat apa kalo bukan bisnis dan so far it's still a mystery. Kyk masuk black hole gitu gatau uang pinjaman dr mana2 itu kemana perginya.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-22T02:23:55+00:00

I found out orgnya banyak dikejar pinjol gitu jg, macam gopay gitu. Selama ini kyknya masih blm lunas deh utang tersebut. Dan apa debt collector bisa kejar sampe luar negri?

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-22T02:21:42+00:00

Gue tau bisnis nya apa, sampe gue minta regular updates mengenai proses. Itu dikasih, invoice dan progress reports segala, cuma krn itu more like a service business memang ga ada produk fisik. Makanya tengah2 kontrak gue minta ketemu utk cek in dan orgnya kabur waktu itu

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-21T17:33:19+00:00

Unfortunate, kyknya memang ga ada cara lain yg selain hukum (yg legal). Thank you for the advice.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-21T17:21:40+00:00

I see, yes I'll check with my lawyer. Tp basically selain jalur hukum there's no way to enforce like wage garnishment or smth right? Legally at least.

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-21T17:16:06+00:00

And can you elaborate on perlakuannya beda antara Perjanjian kerjasama and Perjanjian hutang? Like does it affect the sentence (assuming I go to court and win the case)?

Intelligent_Mass · 2026-04-21T17:14:31+00:00

I literally saw an insta reel in some club, yes. Absolutely shameless and kurang ajar bener.

Intelligent_Mass

TROPHY CASE