philippine speculative fiction IV table of contents

Nikki and I went through multiple readings of all the submissions (read everything, step away, read again after several days, discuss, read again, step away, read again, short list, wrestle with each other, finalize list - plus one last re-reading and discussion session, which resulted in two stories going by the wayside and another, whose virtues shone after rereading, coming in).

And what we have this year is a beauty.

Some stats for Philippine Speculative Fiction IV:

24 original stories (which means all stories were not previously published anywhere, making this volume an all-original anthology)
-- 12 stories by women
-- 12 stories by men

17 authors not previously published in any of the older volumes of the Philippine Speculative Fiction annuals (this makes me very very happy, as fresh voices and perspectives help describe and map the spec fic topography/space better, in addition to the 7 great stories by returning authors)

We've sent out the letters of acceptance and regret - and thank everyone who submitted. We appreciate all the writing done and the stories told, but could not include all submissions (close to a hundred).

Here's the TOC (not the final sequence, this is alphabetical by story title) for Philippine Speculative Fiction IV:

A League of Champions by Ronald Cruz
A Retrospective on Diseases for Sale by Charles Tan
All We Need is Five Meals a Day by Jose Elvin Bueno
Beats by Kenneth Yu
Breaking the Spell by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
Breathing Space by Maryanne Moll
Dino's Awesome Adventure by Carljoe Javier
Dreams of the Iron Giant by Joseph Nacino
First of the Gang to Die by Paolo Jose Cruz
From Abecediarya by Adam David
Haya Makes A HUG by Erica Gonzales
Hopscotch by Anne Lagamayo
Mang Marcing and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vincent Simbulan
Parallel by Eliza Victoria
Press Release by Leo Magno
Revenge of the Tiktaks by Noel Tio
Sky Blue by Celestine Trinidad
The Dance of the Storm by Isabel Yap
The Day That Frances, The Copywriter, Became God by Monique Francisco
The Maiden's Song by Kathleen Aton-Osias
The Paranoid Style by Sharmaine Galve
The Rooftops of Manila by Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo
The Secret Origin of Spin-Man by Andrew Drilon
The Sewing Project by Apol Lejano-Massebieau

Our next step is copy editing and house style formatting, cover design, book design and layout, final art, prepping the package for delivery to the printer, printing, (whew!) and then...

The book launch is scheduled for December 13, 2008, 5:30PM at the U-View Theater of Fully Booked (main branch) over at Bonifacio High Street, The Fort, Taguig City. Everyone is invited (be warned though, we tend to fun at our launches).

Again, many thanks to all who submitted and kudos to the contributors. Here's to another year of pinoy spec fic!