psf 4 publication and launch moved to feb 09

Due to timing, scheduling and production issues, Philippine Speculative Fiction IV's publication is moved to February 2009.

For the past three years, we've managed to get the annual out in December, but this year we simply aren't able to. I'd rather we delay a bit to ensure a quality publication than put out something subpar.

I'm unhappy with this, of course (the structured/scheduling especially so), but them's da breaks.

And now, back to the grind.

kid lit

My first children's book has been picked up a publisher and is due to come out around the first half of next year.

I'm grateful to the editor for selecting my story and am quite excited to see it illustrated (the standard layout is 14 spreads, which means something like 14 color illustrations).

This is quite encouraging - I'm thinking of shopping around my other story, to see what happens. And I hope to write a new one or two in near future (maybe the Christmas break?).

More details soon.

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!

pubs and a nom

After a particularly stressful day yesterday, I was hoping for a little relief. Events made me reconsider how people approach relationships. Things that happened saddened and drained me. I'm getting tired. At the end of the day, I couldn't wait to get home to Sage (and we told each other stories, hers funny, mine bittersweet).

A little bit of cheering myself up then.

Short fiction scheduled to appear in 2008 (details as publication draws closer):
"How My Mother Flew"
"Something Like That"
"The Music Teacher"

And Salamanca is shortlisted for the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award.

psf iii - the road to publication

With covers and layout complete, we've turned over all the digital files and guide print outs to the printer. We expect to see cover proofs and the blueprints of the inner pages by this weekend, so we can make final corrections or adjustments. After that, we'll give the go signal for printing and the next time we see the stories we've been working on, they'll all be in a book.

Then we'll have the book launch at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street on December 8th, continue marketing and selling the book to the bookstores, take time off, and begin the process for Philippine Speculative Fiction IV.

On reflection, it's hard to believe we'll have the third volume out by next month. Has it been three years already since I first began?

*update: PSF III's ISBN - 978-971-9343-2-8 (I'm quite relieved to have an ISBN because for the past two years, the National Library has been insisting that the antho series is a periodical - thus warranting an ISSN instead. But it IS a book, so there.)

psf3 - final covers

A big thank you to everyone for your comments and input. Here are the final covers (front and back).

You'll note that we kept the top hat and added an alibata character.

The name of my extremely talented designer is Paolo Dizon, by the way, and I'm very proud of him.

cover studies: psf III

Early next week, we're finalizing the covers and interior pages of Philippine Speculative Fiction III (we're dropping the word "vol." and going with roman numerals) and preparing the package for our printer.

Here are two covers I feel strongly about, for different reasons. As seems to be tradition with these things, the cover does not reflect a particular story. I'm leaning toward the horroresque cover but am very attracted to the other one (in case you can't see it, it's a heart with a top hat).

Thoughts?


Cover 1


Cover 2

philippine speculative fiction vol.3 TOC

Here's the TOC for Philippine Speculative Fiction vol.3 (listed alphabetically, by author's surname). This is not the sequence that the stories will appear in the book.

Table of Contents (2007)

The Singer's Man by MRR Arcega
Keeping Time by FH Batacan
Hamog by Joanna Paula Cailas
The Flicker by Ian Rosales Casocot
Facester by Dominique Cimafranca
Frozen Delight by Marguerite Alcazaren de Leon
Sky Gypsies by Timothy Dimacali
Peekli by Andrew Drilon
The Datu's Daughters by Raymond Falgui
Visitors by Luis Katigbak
Reclamation by Sarge Lacuesta
Pedro Diyego's Homecoming by Apol Lejano-Massebieau
Brigada by Joseph Nacino
The Death and Rebirth of Nathaniel Alan Sempio by Alexander Marcos Osias
Carmen and Josephine by Elyss Punsalan
In Earthern Vessels by Rodello Santos
Sidhi by Yvette Natalie U. Tan
Urban Legends by Charles Tan
The Ascension of Our Lady Boy by Mia Tijam
The Hand by Marianne Villanueva
The Music Child by Alfred A. Yuson

This year we have a mix of new authors and more familiar names tapping into the Filipino imagination and presenting their takes on fantasy, scifi, horror and other delicious genres (including, for the first time, 'spec chick')

Congratulations to all the authors above and thanks again to everyone who took the time to send us wonderful fiction to read (and argue) about. It was hard work going through the 110+ stories, selecting which to publish, and we had to pass on a goodly number of impressive stories because of several factors (page count, duplicate theme, etc.).

As I said in an earlier post, a number of the stories that didn't make it are already publishable and/or contest worthy - so submit them to Story Philippines, Philippine Genre Stories, Philippines Free Press, Philippine Graphic - as well as to the Fully Booked competition.

The Philippine Speculative Fiction anthologies are very special to me and my co-editor Nikki. For as long as there are excellent spec fic stories written by Filipinos, we'll move heaven and earth (haha) to get the annuals out.

We're in the middle of the editing process and already my printer is requesting for the covers (mea culpa, I created a tight schedule, with the book launch set for Dec 8th), so we're working doubletime.

publications

Kudos to Nikki! Her new story, "Adrift on the Street Formerly Known as Buendia ", appears in this week's issue of Philippines Free Press. I quite enjoyed her quiet descent into surrealism with this one.

Also, we had a story each accepted in the upcoming tales antho edited by Christina Hidalgo. Jing sent me a list of the authors which I am sorely tempted to post (but will wait for her permission or a formal announcement from the publisher). It's quite a list; can't wait to see the book.

With stories coming out in the next issues of Story Philippines and Philippine Genre Stories, I can worry less about my own submissions and get focused on writing new stories.

almost there

Arriving in bookstores in September. I'll post the launch details soon.



Cover Design by Hiyas de Guzman
Book Design by Ani Habulan
Illustrations by Andrew Drilon
Anvil Fantasy logo by Andrew Drilon

the road to publication: blueprints

Another big step towards the collection's reality today.

I received the blueprints for the book from Anvil and made the last small corrections. It's exciting holding the blueprints and leafing through the pages (even though I think I have lost all capacity to edit these stories of mine beyond the obvious formatting errors).

All the blurbs are also in, and it's truly humbling reading through them. Keep in mind that the purpose of blurbs is to help sell the book - any other nicey feelings the author feels are incidental. But, yes, it feels good. I'd be lying if I said otherwise.

The last bits of work to be done involve the cover, especially the new Anvil Fantasy imprint logo to be designed by Andrew Drilon, whose interior illustrations rocked the publisher's world (and when you see them, you'll understand why - they're incredible). I'm happy to have my book inaugurate the new Anvil Fantasy line (even I disagreed with the use of "spec fic" as a bookstore label - too confusing, too vague). I'm certain it will be the first of many books of the imagination from many authors.

We're also looking at the new Fully Booked as the launch venue, moving the launch date after the Book Fair, which means sometime in September. The LitCritters will perform (!) a one-act play based on the title story, which won the Palanca in 2004 (which means in addition to literary criticism and writing stories, we'll be rehearsing too para hindi naman nakakahiya hahaha).

Managing magnificently through the process of getting the book out are the tireless Ani Habulan and Karina Bolasco of Anvil Publishing. I've been blessed to work with wonderful publishers - for Salamanca, it was ever-patient Maricor Baytion of Ateneo Press. I wish I had their grace (I'm more of the gruff, come on let's do this kind of publisher myself).

So malapit na.

halfway to the finish line

With all the manuscript work and proofing done (you will not believe all the small edits and corrections - in fact, I'm tired of looking at my own stories, haha), and all the cover artwork completed (you'll see the answer to "to cartouche or not to cartouche"), along with a photo by Benjie Ordonez, the most time-consuming part of the process is done.

Getting blurbs is the next step for "The Kite of Stars and Other Stories". Anvil sent copies of the collection to other authors (some I know, some I don't know) and I dealt with my pinoy sense of "nakakahiya naman" and asked two international spec fic writers I admired- and they said yes. What these blurbs will actually say is something I wait for with bated breath.

This reminds me of a joke the LitCritters have about the odd blurbs that you read on certain books, you know, the one with ellipses in the quotation. So something that reads:

"...an amazing book...cannot...put it down!"
-Gaudencio Rivera

Which sounds positive, could actually be derived from:

"What possessed the author to think that this is an amazing book is beyond me. I cannot say how much I reviled it. If you somehow have been cursed to have it in your hands, find a way to put it down!"
-Gaudencio Rivera

Sana naman hindi ganoon, haha.

After the blurbs come in, the final layout for the cover will be completed, along with the ISBN, barcode and other little things. By then, the lay out of the actual pages should be done.

We're looking at a late August release, in time for the Book Fair.

Fingers crossed, of course.

radio, print, web

Yesterday, Vin and I did a radio interview long with Kenneth Yu, publisher of the Digest of Philippine Genre Stories. The DJs of Mellow 94.7 were a hoot. Read the transcript here, courtesy of Charles. We had great fun talking about writing and speculative fiction (and yes, we need to get the word out to more readers and writers). The photo? It's Vin as Iron Man regretting all his Civil War hijinks.

Nikki's latest story "In the Absence of Eternity" appears in the anthology "Sawi", edited by Ada J. Loreno, BJ A. Patino, and Rica Bolipata-Santos. The book, available now in various bookstores, also features fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry from a whole lot of people including Jimmy Abad, Cesar Aquino, Ian Casocot, Kristine Fonacier, Cyan Abad-Jugo, Apol Lejano, Merlie Alunan, Guillermo Persigan, Carla Pacis, Naya Valdellon and more.

My story "The Dragon in the Bell" appears in next week's issue of Philippines Free Press.

Speaking of Philippines Free Press, I'd like to encourage everyone to go and submit your speculative fiction pieces to the magazine. Literary Editor Sarge Lacuesta happily dismisses notions of genre (so no need to conform to the perceived need for realism) . Sarge, along with Kenneth of PGS and Jade Bernas of Story Philippines (check out O. Bryan Alvarez's "The Chain Letter Siege" in the latest issue), is open to the literature of wonder, so write a story and send it off.

And if you haven't yet, check out the Read or Die and Philippine Speculative Fiction blogs.

the road to publication & up gawad centennial

I just received the second proofs of my short fiction collection from my publisher, with all the initial comments and corrections from Nikki and myself already imbedded. They've also sequenced the additional pages I requested, such as the dedication page, and used the updated author bionote I sent them.

So all that remains is for me to plunge one last time into the text, rereading my stories for the odd font changes or missing periods and such, before signing off.

Since my design company is providing the cover, I'm still waiting for the required elements that will appear on the front and back (the back is also part of the cover): Anvil's logo, the ISBN, space for the bar code, blurb/s, etc. I'm really hopeful that the publisher's budget permits a little extra for the cover, particularly some kind of lamination for the title (spot or sand lamination) or embossing. I think we have a great-looking cover, but every little thing helps to drive the aesthetic home.

I think part of me has been using this book as a reason not to write as much as I used to. It's as if I'm telling myself to get this done first before I can turn towards new fiction. It's not a very good reason, but I suspect it's the truth.

My inventory (unsold/unpublished stories) count is a dismal "1". I simply have to write more. Soon, I hope to add to the count with the story I'll develop for Jing Hidalgo's anthology of tales, a couple of stories for Perfect World, something for the erotica anthology Nikki's looking at editing, a Young Adult piece for Story Philippines, and - because like Olympic years, the novel category of the Palancas is upon us again next year - a novel (I'm thinking if I plan to write one anyway, might as well make it eligible for competition). Honestly though, with the stultifying heat right now, I cannot imagine how I will do everything.

Speaking of contests, there's a big one next year: the UP Centennial Gawad Likhaan (complete details here). Six awards—each one worth P200,000—will be offered for original, book-length works in the following categories: a novel or short story collection in English in English; a novel or short story collection in Filipino; a poetry collection in English; a poetry collection in Filipino; a full-length work or collection of creative nonfiction in English; and a full-length work or collection of sanaysay in Filipino. Deadline for submission is March 31, 2008 at 5 pm. The names of the winners and the members of the Board of Judges will be announced in June 2008.

Only original works (unpublished in print or online - which means no NaNoWriMo for me anymore, in case I get disqualifed) that have not a won prize anywhere are valid. Which really makes it a tall order as neither Salamanca nor my upcoming collection are valid. Interestingly, since I write neither poetry nor creative nonfiction in either English or Filipino, and writing a novel in Filipino is beyond my small skills, I can only compete in one category: novel or short story collection in English. Let's see, shall it be a new novel (gah) or about 50,000 words worth of new short fiction (gah again - and inventory envy bites me hard). These are two completely different things and one is no easier than the other. I just wonder how the judges will pit someone's novel against someone's short fiction collection.

We'll see how things go, if time can be made. After all, there is still Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol.3 to put together.

the road to publication: the kite of stars

"The Maiden and the Crocodile" Illus. Andrew Drilon

Anvil sent me the first review copy of my collection a few days ago, complete with all the illustrations, triggering the editing phase. Thankfully, the best editor in the world is my wife, so Nikki did all the heavy lifting, painstakingly reading the entire thing and marking her corrections. Today, I have to finish my own pass, changing what needs to changed, and helping the publisher format one of the stories that stumped them ("Princes of the Sultanate", coming out in Story Philippines in the future).

I briefly considered adding a new story I wrote recently, "Strange Weather", a traditional fantasy with lots of action, but decided to save it for the next collection (siyempre naman, hope springs eternal haha). Also, I haven't even attempted to sell it, so I'll pass it around the block first.

The review copy of the collection made me tear up, seriously. It has all the beautiful illustrations by Andrew Drilon, and has most of the stories I've written up to last year. It feels like I'm holding a chapter of my life in my hands so you cannot blame me for my emo moment.

I'll get my own edits done today, consolidate those with Nikki's, and send the copy back to Anvil where the corrections will be made. After that, I think they'll send another copy for final review and then we're good to go.

Talking to Charles (who appeared like a djinn to to deliver books from Banzai Cat - thanks, man!), I realized that I'll have two books out this year: the collection plus the annual spec fic anthology. Now that epiphany provoked another emo moment (though happier and lighter, of course).

Writingwise, I have new stuff on my plate,including an invitation to a new anthology of tales edited by Christina Hidalgo, to be published by Milfores this year. Plus there is the young adult antho, a short story for kids, and one for another antho I just got wind of. And I still have to replenish my inventory, which at the moment, has exactly one story in it.

And there is the new novel... gah.

Whoever thinks that writing is easy has simply got it all wrong.

Call for Submissions: Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol.3

I am now accepting submissions of short fiction pieces for consideration for the anthology "Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol.3".

Speculative fiction is the literature of wonder that spans the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror and magic realism or falls into the cracks in-between.

1. Only works of speculative fiction will be considered for publication. As works of the imagination, the theme is open and free.

2. Stories must cater to an adult sensibility. However, if you have a Young Adult story that is particularly well-written, send it in.

3. Stories must be written in English.

4. Stories must be authored by Filipinos or those of Philippine ancestry.

5. Preference will be given to original unpublished stories, but previously published stories will also be considered. In the case of previously published material, kindly include the title of the publishing entity and the publication date. Kindly state also in your cover letter that you have the permission, if necessary, from the original publishing entity to republish your work.

6. First time authors are welcome to submit. In the first two volumes, there was a good mix of established and new authors. Good stories trump literary credentials anytime.

7. No multiple submissions. Each author may submit only one story for consideration.

8. Each story’s word count must be no fewer than 2,500 words and no more than 5,000 words.

9. All submissions must be in Rich Text Format (.rtf – save the document as .rft on your word processor) and attached to an email to this address: dean@kestrelimc.com. Submissions received in any other format will be deleted, unread.

10. The subject of your email must read: PSF3 Submission: (title) (word count); where (title) is replaced by the title of your short story, without the parentheses, and (word count) is the word count of your story, without the parentheses. For example - PSF 3 Submission: How My Uncle Brought Home A Diwata 4500.

11. All submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter that includes your name, brief bio, contact information, previous publications (if any).

12. Deadline for submissions is September 15, 2007. After that date, final choices will be made and letters of acceptance or regret sent out via email.

13. Target publishing date is December 2007/January 2008.

14. Compensation for selected stories will be 2 contributor’s copies of the published anthology as well as a share in aggregrate royalties.

Kindly help spread the word. Feel free to cut and paste or link to this on your blogs or e-groups.

Thanks,

Dean Francis Alfar

the kite of stars cover studies

Designing the right cover for a book is quite a challenge. And it only becomes more challenging when it is mine (haha). But one of my favorite designers, Hiyas de Guzman (who designed the cover for Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol.2), took a crack at it and I'm happy with the results.

"The Kite of Stars and Other Stories", collecting 16 of of my short stories, is scheduled to be published by Anvil Publishing later this year. Each story will have a spot illustration, courtesy of Andrew Drilon.




This second study incorporates a cartouche, which ties in all the text, similar to the Pullman books.

The brightness of the colors is easily adjustable - right now though, I tend to like this dusky feel. It makes the golden title pop.

Thoughts?

fantastic nikki

Wow, April's turning out to be a great month for writing.

Nikki just made her first US magazine fiction sale - in Fantasy Magazine, edited by Paul G. Tremblay and Sean Wallace. Fantasy Magazine is a quarterly magazine of all forms of fantasy fiction: high fantasy, contemporary and urban tales, surrealism, magical realism, science fantasy, and folktales. It has featured some of our favorite authors such as Theodora Goss, Jeffrey Ford, Hal Duncan, Caitlin R. Kiernan and Peter S. Beagle.

Her piece is slated for the Winter 2007/2008 issue later this year.

I am so proud of her - and suddenly feel the need to update my inventory and get some submissions to other markets going, haha!


Current Issue: Winter 2006/2007

story in story

Over the weekend, I got word from the publisher of Story Philippines that they are buying my story "An Excerpt from 'Princes of the Sultanate' (Ghazali: 1902); Annotated by Omar Jamad Maududi, MLS, HOL, JMS." They've slated it for later in the year as they wrestle with the formatting my story requires (95% of the story is in the footnotes), along with a couple of authors I'm delighted to be published alongside with.

I'm generally happy with Story Philippines, though certain story selections sometimes make me shake my head - but that could be attributed to taste and preference. All in all, it's a healthy and spec fic-friendly market. I hope to see more issues released this year. Both Nikki and I have had stories published there earlier ("Doe Eyes" and "The Maiden and the Crocodile").

Meanwhile, the junior version of Story Philippines is looking for short stories for children (ages nine to twelve), written in English, 3000 words and below, about anything under the sun as long as it's unique, interesting and rated PG. Original and unpublished submissions should be emailed to storyjunior@gmail.com before April 30, 2007.

personal writing updates

So far, so good.

A couple of my stories are slated for publication here and abroad in the near future (details when the time is closer): "In The Dim Plane" and "Into the Morning".

Also, I think "An Excerpt from 'Princes of the Sultanate' (Ghazali: 1902); Annotated by Omar Jamad Maududi, MLS, HOL, JMS." has been accepted by the publication I sent it to but I'm not 100% sure, so we'll call it a strongish maybe.

I'm keeping my toes and fingers crossed that the US publication will accept the other story I sent over, but it's too early to tell.

And I may have something coming up in the Philippines Free Press, my sad sad attempt at science fiction.



Speaking of which, the Philippines Free Press Literary Awards will be held on April 10, 2007 at the Mandarin Hotel. Last year, the LitCritters came over to celebrate with the winners and this year we'll be there again. Because something interesting might happen. We'll see.

**Update**

My story "Six from Downtown" is a finalist for the Free Press Awards. When I got the message yesterday, I wasn't 100% certain so I waited until I got a second confirmation this morning. I'm still a bit stunned and quite delighted. I wrote the story while I was at Dumaguete last year, mostly in my hotel room while I was stranded by an unseasonal storm. I used elements of horror and domestic realism with a smidgen of fantasy. I don't know who the judges are this year but I'm thankful to be shortlisted in the first place. As for actually winning, well, bahala na si Batman.