April 2013 – Eliza Victoria

pre-order the print copy of ‘unseen moon’ (until may 10 only)

Unseen Moon by Eliza Victoria

6″ x 9″ (15.24 x 22.86 cm)
220 pages

Paperback

Fiction / Horror / Suspense / Crime

Cover art and design by Biboy Royong

Ghosts in a mansion. A home invasion. A group of friends haunted by a murder. An unlikely friendship, a dead body in an abandoned house. A girl falling to her death, and another falling into the viewless darkness.

Unseen Moon collects five suspenseful stories by award-winning author Eliza Victoria.

Story excerpts, ebook link, and pre-order form after the cut.

Continue reading pre-order the print copy of ‘unseen moon’ (until may 10 only)

Just a quick post for some writing news. Over the weekend I have received proof copy of Issue 34 of Neon Literary Magazine – I have three poems in it! It will be available soon, both online and in UK stores.

And here’s a draft of the upcoming cover for the ebook edition of A Bottle of Storm Clouds, forthcoming from the folks at Flipside.

from the beach to the casino

I had a fun, food-filled weekend. On April 19 to 20 the department went to Palm Beach Resort in San Juan, Batangas. According to their website, “The Resort is designed to be a private retreat for those who prefer the tranquility and peace of a place with a well-preserved natural setting as an alternative to other overdeveloped destinations.”

It is definitely a private place. It’s a long drive from the main road (it felt like the edge of the earth), and there is no signal.

But it is serene and beautiful.

Where we stayed, and the path to the dining pavilion. They serve good food!

On Sunday, we visited Solaire with J’s mom to have lunch at their sosyal food court.

Solaire Resort & Casino has beautiful decor.

And fresh flowers!

The food court looks great, but I think the food is too expensive.

Cute take-out box. :)

my bdj box: april

I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down when I unboxed BDJ’s March box, but this April box is a different matter.

For one, they fulfilled my wish for a facial mist and a summery scent!

I really think the March box was a fluke. The stickers are back with better resolution.

And look at the full-sized products!

Each BDJ box costs PhP 480. The cumulative amount of items in this month’s box once again exceeds the cost of the box. Full-sized items are underlined:

Bifesta Age Care Cleansing Lotion (PhP 419, 300ml bottle) – I have an oil cleanser, and its nice to have a cleanser that feels more like water.

Garnier Light Intensive 3 in 1 Whitening Essence Mask (PhP 89 per pack)

Avon Anew 360° White Day Cream (PhP 799, 30ml) – Can be a bit sticky, but it gets absorbed by the skin after a while. Softens.

Celeteque Hydrolized Moisturizing Mist (PhP 349, 120 ml) – My favorite item in this box. This is heaven-sent in this horrid heat. I spray some before I prep my face for work, and before I go to bed. It is very refreshing.

Avon SSS Glutathione Lotion with Marula (PhP 350, 250 ml)

Revlon Nail Art (PhP 375) – Some subscribers got neon nail colors, which made me cringe because that’s hard to wear at the office; thank God BDJ sent me a dark green shade.

Selena Gomez Eau de Parfum

Goody Slide-Proof Pins and Elastics (PhP 449.75)

Bonus: Candi Nail Polish Remover Wipes (PhP 65 for 30 pads)

Vouchers: BelleToday Personalized weight loss coaching with Dr. Jean-Michel Cohen, Bioessence Premium Pass, Goody 20% off coupon

This is my last box for now (I subscribed for three months) because I need to save money for a trip in May. I might re-subscribe near the end of the year; it’s been a fun experience, despite the meh-ness of the March L’Oreal box.

And I have a lot of great skin care products now! (Disclaimer to the beauty industry: Guys, I just want good skin, not necessarily white skin. Most of BDJ’s April products are whitening products. Come on, how about some morena love?)

Subscribe if you are interested.

the holiday, in pictures

April 9 is Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valour), but we didn’t really do anything valorous. Let me just share some photos:

Snoe Beauty’s Exfoliating Oatmeal & Milk Whitening Scrub – I have been using this for a while now. It’s a nice, dry scrub, which smells like Nido Powdered Milk. Haha. It’s my first time to use a dry scrub regularly, and it leaves me feeling refreshed. (I don’t really care about the whitening aspect of this product, or any product. Love your skin color!) Click here if you want to buy.

I’ve also been using the mini Beauty Bars that I got from Snoe Beauty for free with my order a while ago. I might get the full sizes in the future.

Theo & Philo chocolates – We were at Aji Ichiban at the Power Plant Mall when we saw these at the counter! Finally! Locally made chocolate bars, yo. Not too sweet! We love both variants. Except when I bit into the Dark Chocolate and chewed on a large chunk of siling labuyo. That was a shock. Burned my tongue, but I will still buy this. PhP 100/bar at Aji Ichiban.

We actually just wanted to buy this. Pudding!

In a marshmallow! The best.

And to cap the day, some cupcakes from Sweets N Things, and coffee. :) How was your Tuesday?

a separation

A Separation is a 2011 Iranian film by Asghar Farhadi. It won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film in 2012, and is included in Roger Ebert‘s top ten films of 2011. This film is set in modern-day Iran; Simin, the wife, wants to take her family abroad to find better opportunities for their 11-year-old daughter, but Nader is having doubts about leaving, not wanting to leave behind his senile father. The film opens with the couple in divorce court. Iran is a nation run by the rules of Islamic law, and the law says that Simin can’t do anything without the permission of her husband. So, she says, she will just divorce him. However, the law also says that their daughter cannot go anywhere without the father’s permission. Enraged, Simin leaves their home and goes to her mother. Nader then hires a pregnant woman named Razieh to take care of his father. Islamic law says that a woman cannot work in a house with only the man present, so Razieh doesn’t tell her husband. She is so religious that she has to ask if it is a sin to change an old man’s soiled underpants. And I’m going to end the summary here because you really really need to see this incredible film.

What do we know about Iran, really? What pictures and notions we have are caricatures from Western cinema and various propaganda. Subservient women and bearded men, camels and the desert and the war. And yet A Separation opens with Simin fighting Nader, and Nader feeling not power as a man in a patriarchal nation, but helplessness. I love this one scene where Nader tells his daughter to get the change back at the gas station. He watches his 11-year-old daughter arguing with the proprietor on the rear-view mirror, and he smiles to himself, as if to say, That’s my girl.

The film shows an Iran trying to live with its various rules, but sometimes, as Roger Ebert said in his review, “the law is not adequate to deal with human feelings.”

some love for ‘a bottle of storm clouds’

Hello Monday blues/laziness. I got some booklovin’ to drive you away.

Here’s from a reader currently residing outside of the Philippines, but managed to have her Dad pick up a copy of A Bottle of Storm Clouds :

I asked my dad to buy me a copy of A Bottle of Storm Clouds while he was in Manila. I am reading it incrementally, because I don’t want it to end, haha. Reading it, I feel fascinated and homesick. I’m rediscovering old favorites– The Just World of Helena Jimenez, Intersections– as well as finding some new ones which I might have missed when I was going through your website in the past (Sugar Pi is really sweet and subtle, and Reunion is a new favorite of mine– I am a sucker for a good reincarnation plot.) I really enjoy how you include math and science and fantasy in your writing.

Here’s from Sean Wright, Australian writer and book reviewer, and webmaster of Adventures of a Bookonaut:

On Goodreads, he says: “Nice unencumbered writing style.” And “Very solid collection, if you like modern dark fantasy takes on folktales, if you are a fan of Lanagan or Kaaron Warre, pick it up.” Thanks Charles Tan for sending Sean a copy. :)

And thank you past, present, and future readers. You make my day!

The book is available in all major Philippine bookstores. Coming soon in ebook format. ;)

PLUS: Visprint’s price list for the 2013 Summer Komikon. Not sure yet if I’ll be able to attend, but do go and visit the tables!

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