Day: January 3, 2012

philippine speculative fiction 7 lineup + a guessing game!

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PSF7 stats and trivia:
 
 
14 males / 10 females
23 of the 24 will find its first home in PSF
1 story was written after an author realized she was broke (I have every faith she has recovered since then, folks!)
1 story is the last leg of a troika of erotica (it rhymes!) written over a period of 3 years
3 stories are from first time fiction authors
1 story’s idea was stolen from a pastor’s sermon
1 story is the last short fiction the author will be writing until he finishes his novel
0 stories were from time travelling Filipino Vikings (darn it, I was hoping with the numbers we would have at least 1!).
 
The Stories: Philippine Speculative Fiction VII
 
 
1. All That We May See by Kenneth Yu
2. All the Best of Dark and Bright by Victoria Isabel Yap
3. Bastard Sword by Nikki Alfar
4. Chasers by Chris Mariano
5. East of the Sun by Dean Francis Alfar
6. Faith in Fiction by James Constantino Bautista
7. Mother of Monsters by Philip Corpuz
8. Never Land by Mo Francisco
9. Oblation by Paolo Chikiamco
10. Pet by Kristine Ong Muslim
11. Sarsarita Time by Melissa Sipin
12. The Call of the Chained God by Dariel Quiogue
13. The Changes by Benito Vergara
14. The Commute to Paradiso by Charles Tan
15. The Day Nostalgia Swept Over a Town by F. Jordan Carnice
16. Dragon’s Orb by Vincent Michael Simbulan
17. The Likeness of God by Crystal Koo
18. The Little Things the Datu Did by Andrew Drilon
19. The Love Spell by Julian dela Cerna
20. The Nature of Apocalypse by Joseph Anthony Montecillo
21. The Scrap Collectors by Arlynn Despi
22. username: tanglaw by Eliza Victoria
23. What the Body Remembers by Tin Lao
24. What You See by Ian Rosales Casocot

We watched two Metro Manila Film Festival entries this year.

Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story – The film’s trailer was exciting enough to quicken the pulse and generate interest, but I couldn’t say the same about the film, which was occassionally dry and dragging and awkward, and not helped at all by Jorge Estregan’s wooden performance. There are production errors, editing hiccups, (see this hilarious review on Radikalchick’s site) but it’s not all bad: Asiong is beautifully photographed and beautifully scored, sound quality is laudable, and you can see the amount of time and the level of craft and art it took to frame every frame.

And it’s great to see our action stars on the big screen again! Nakaka-miss.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll 13 – Couldn’t even remember which SRR I last saw in full, but I think this is worth watching. I loved the cast performance in “Tamawo”, but the episode could use more gore, more dreadful atmosphere, more rain, more menacing monsters, and better build-up. “Parola” is a strong story, probably the most psychologically complex story I’ve seen in SRR, but could use better special effects. “Rain, Rain, Go Away” could use a better title! But seriously the last episode, which deals with Ondoy, is horrific even without the supernatural elements. And it has moments of real comedy (it has the Eugene Domingo, after all, and the episode is directed by Chris Martinez) that do not destroy the horror. Now that’s something.

links and plugs and other happy things

Estranghero Press’s science fiction anthology, Diaspora Ad Astra, is now live! Featuring my story, “Rizal“, as well as stories by Dean Francis Alfar, Alexander Osias, Carljoe Javier, Isabel Yap, Anne Lagamayo, and many others. Edited by Joseph Nacino and Prof. Emil Flores.

Philippine Speculative Fiction VI and Alternative Alamat are included in this list of Notable Books from 2011. Happy to have stories in both! PSF VI carries my story, “The Storyteller’s Curse”, while Alternative Alamat has “Ana’s Little Pawnshop on Makiling St.”

Katrina Stuart Santiago talks about Alternative Alamat, and five other books that she believes you must buy this year.

Buy, buy, buy! Read, read, read!