apol of our eye

Much of the editing for the anthologies Nikki and I put together is done remotely - which means that all communication between the writers and us is done via email. Granted, it's speedy and efficient. But many a time have we longed to put face and personality to a story we've enjoyed.

Apol Lejano-Massebieau is one of the most gifted writers we've read. Her fiction is always thoughtfully crafted (check out her delicious "Pedro Diyego's Homecoming" in Philippine Speculative Fiction III and you'll see what we mean).

So it was a pleasure to actually meet her, have lunch and get to know her a bit more while she sojourned in the country (she's based in France). The LitCritters and I chose Via Mare at Rockwell (to which Apol replied "I love Via Mare!").

Tabletalk was wonderful as we shifted between being writers and foodies and shared stories. Alors! If only we had more time (and multiple tickets to the south of France)!