...and other stories

I just got confirmation from Karina Bolasco of Anvil that my collection of short speculative fiction is slated for publication next year, by Anvil, in either the first or second quarter. I'm very happy because this is yet another fantasy slowly threatening to come true, just like April this year when Ateneo Press published my novel Salamanca and I couldn't pinch myself hard enough.

A collection of short stories feels different from a novel. With Salamanca I felt completely exposed, since it was an extended narrative and I had to somehow engage the reader until the end. The novelistic space was intimidating, like having to fill up an impossible cavern with small items. With short fiction, I feel exposed in pieces. The span of a short story is small, with only a few thousand words to tell a tale. Each one - impossibly, again - must be sharp and be able to perform alone, which is a wickedly delightful challenge. I'm not successful with everything I write but I do try - some read better than others.

The new tension for me is creating a new inventory of stories. It's pretty slow going right now with all the things I'm doing which means, as usual, it's a matter of scheduling disciplined writing time (sigh).

So, coming in 2007, "The Kite of Stars and other stories".

(Yes, I think I will "w00t" now) w00t!