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.
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!
Back from the long weekend! I enjoyed staying at home but did not enjoy the heat. No, sir. I have heat rash on my face and arms. A bit annoyed also, because I’m having very little writing done due to work, planning a vacation with my siblings, cleaning the apartment, cooking my own lunch, and other things. I used to have so much writing stamina, but nowadays after work I just go home and watch TV or read a book. I need to save up and buy me some extra hours!
Anyway, this blog post is about book sales (wheeee) and I just want to say that I have received my first sales record from Visprint. I don’t expect much from my sales (Filipino authors, who go through literary life with no agents and no advances, often expect not to be paid, and get surprised when they do get paid a fair amount of money) , but I was happily surprised by the numbers: 507 copies of A Bottle of Storm Clouds sold from September 2012 to February 2013, with 30 copies sold at the book launch during the WIT event. It’s been sold in places in the country that I’ve never been, like Iloilo, GenSan, and the Mt. Cloud Bookshop (I know, yikes, I’ve never been to Baguio). This is why I still love traditional publishing: I can never sell 500 copies on my own (I think), and with such reach.
If you’re one of those who bought a copy of the book, thank you! And thank you to Ms. Nida, Kyra, and Visprint.
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My thanks also to Flipside Publishing for providing me with reports. For 2012, Lower Myths sold 13 copies, and The Viewless Dark sold 8. (I hear you snickering back there. It’s not a lot, I know, but I’ve received good reviews, and I’m grateful. But of course: do buy a copy?)
Apocalypses, I‘m happy to announce, has sold 23 copies so far.
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These numbers are small I know, but they’re not yours they are my own – charot. I’m just here to sell some books.
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In the pipeline: the ebook version of A Bottle of Storm Clouds, a print version of The Viewless Dark as part of an anthology, and a science fiction novel.
Yep.
Here’s a review from Monique of Marginalia, from the tail-end of 2012:
“To sum it up, I immensely enjoyed this book: the stories were well-written, they weren’t predictable, and they involved themes and ideas that are close to home.”
It’s the second day of the new year and I’m scrambling to get some work done. So? How have you all been? Wait, let me just share with you these links before I dash:
For more information about my published works, please visit this page.
Back home, found these babies, old issues of Asimov’s SF.
And here’s J, channeling Bruce Lee in Bulacan.
More blather about 2012 to follow. But I’m grateful, grateful, grateful. Happy New Year, everybody! :)
Well, if this ain’t the best way to cap off my week: Tina Matanguihan of One More Page reviews my three books.
Lower Myths is a good starter for Eliza’s works, if you’re into quick, fantasy reads with a local flavor. Of course, it could also be too short for you, but that’s why you’d end up looking for her other works just to satisfy that craving. :)
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A Bottle of Storm Clouds is one of those books that you can’t help but keep on reading but you also don’t want to end just yet. I tried not to read this book too fast because I wanted to savor each story. There’s something interesting and entirely different in each story — some of them were creepy, most of them sad, but all had really good fantasy elements that stretched my imagination wider than it did before. :) I liked how Eliza hinged most of the stories with real human experiences like grief and sadness, family and friendship and love and even selfishness and life crisis.
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The Viewless Dark…even if I read this in broad daylight, I still felt creeped out every now and then with the story. I liked how the story unfolded from the death of Flo and into flashbacks that pointed just to how exactly Flo ended up that way to what happened to Anthony’s family. I liked how vivid the setting was and how sufficiently creepy the “possession” they set up, until the final twist in the end which undid everything I thought I knew. And then Eliza wraps it up in a different way, giving it a poignant, almost hopeful ending.
Read the full post here.
Before November ended, I got an email from the lovely Kristine Ong Muslim, asking me to participate in The Next Big Thing blog cycle, where writers have to answer 10 book-related/self-promo questions about themselves on their blog, then link up to 5 other writers. A chain letter of sorts, but hopefully not an annoying one.
Here we go!
1) What is the title of your latest book?
It’s a short story collection called, A Bottle of Storm Clouds.
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
One day I just realized that I have enough stories to fill a collection, and wouldn’t that be fun?
3) What genre does your book fall under?
It’s a collection, so it has a bit of everything: horror, science fiction, fantasy, realist.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
BEN WHISHAW!
Just kidding. He can’t play any of my characters because he’s not Filipino. He can try, but that would be weird.
You know what, I have no idea. Maybe Zanjoe Marudo as Gerardo Nagtahan in “Siren Song”? Really grasping at straws here.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Sixteen short stories mixing the magical with the mundane.
6) Who published your book?
Visprint!
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
These were previously published stories collected since 2007, but some of the stories have been written long before that.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don’t know.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Perhaps I should talk about influences: Donna Tartt, Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Nick Joaquin, Gregorio Brillantes. And my family, who, like most Filipino families, treat the magical and the supernatural as something common.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
It has stories coming from many genres. “Ana’s Little Pawnshop” appears to be a favorite, according to the readers who have approached me, but other readers have different favorite stories, and that’s a wonderful thing.
Tagged, you’re it! Visit these authors’ sites next week, Dec. 19, for their answers.
Brooke Wonders in “Everything Must Go” reinvents the tired trope of the drunkard father, the grieving mother, the children caught in between, and the house they have to leave behind, by stretching metaphors to their limits. It’s incredible storytelling, and what language.
He watches his father remove a fifth of Jack from its sock-drawer hideaway and down a few quick swigs. Through his father’s transparent flesh, Bird can see the liquor slide slow down Glass’s throat until it joins the tawny liquid sloshing waist-high. Tiny waves break against his bellybutton. The immediate difference is imperceptible, but as the days rush by, Bird watches the amber tide rise from bellybutton to chest to clavicle, until Glass has filled himself up nearly to the brim, his eyes shiny as bottle caps.
I listened to Kate Baker’s audio adaptation of the story while jogging last night. Enjoy.
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/audio_11_12b/
Another thing: Carljoe Javier’s Top 10 reads for 2012 is now live on Flipside. A Bottle of Storm Clouds is included in the list! Thanks, Carl.
A Bottle of Storm Clouds by Eliza Victoria
This collection of short stories goes in such a wonderful range of directions. It portrays the familiar, school, kids, family issues, but also delves into worlds strange and fantastic. I have liked Eliza’s writing since I first read it, and this first book of hers is something I have been immensely impressed by.
I met Ms Janina Gillian Santos at Visprint’s WIT 2 event. Thanks for the support, Janina! She reviews my short story collection on Dibuho Pilipinas.
Before I actually met the author, I’ve already read one of her works in Philippine Speculative Fiction. It was a story called Monster. Honestly, I really did not pay attention to the writer’s name, but what I found out was she has a thing for taking creatures of Philippine Mythology and spinning humanity into them. This is what caught made me re-read Monster several times. It reminded me of another Filipino work I enjoyed – the indie film Yanggaw. In Eliza Victoria’s world, even aswangs go online and surf the Internet. They work for a living. They party, drink beer, and do drugs. They fall in love. Not the typical portrayal in mainstream media that’s already kaskas.
I remember Ms. Eliza wearing a cute dress and tights when I first saw her. I thought she was funny and girly. Her stories, however, are anything but. They remind me of twisted fairy tales. One particular story was An Abduction by Mermaids, which starts out with an apathetic guy working in a newspaper office. He gets a call from his mom who tells him that his sister has been abducted by mermaid. Guess what happens? Of course, the main character has to go on a quest, but it isn’t a quest you’d be prepared for. It doesn’t end with happily ever after either. It seems that none of Ms. Eliza’s stories do. Actually, they don’t seem to end at all. I guess I would never cease to wonder what would happen to David Cruz, whose sister was supposedly kidnapped by mermaids. Or how it was possible for all the dead of a small town to rise from the grave and live again. Or if business deals with gods and goddesses were really as brutal as Ms. Eliza portrayed.
Truth be told, it was the second time I’ve read the book, but I couldn’t really resist flipping through the 197-page volume again.
You can read the rest of her review here.
It’s Cyber Monday! (Well, in the States, it’s Tuesday here.) Check out these books on sale by Flipside Publishing.
Do consider buying:
The Viewless Dark by Eliza Victoria | $0.99 (PhP 40.59) | Amazon | iTunes | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Flipreads
Visprint will deliver books anywhere in the Philippines for free – till Dec. 10. Read more here.
Do consider buying:
A Bottle of Storm Clouds by Eliza Victoria | PhP 220
We’ve seen the Lights & Sound show at the Ayala Triangle. Drop by if you have the time.
Lights and Sound Show
Nov. 16 – Dec. 30
Watch the lights come to life in Ayala Triangle Gardens every 30 minutes from 6:00 to 9:00 PM
And I bought some new books. Again. (The KJ Parker title I split with J.)
Now reading: Prince of Thorns, to be followed by Gone Girl.
