Friday awesomeness: I received my complimentary copies of A Bottle of Storm Clouds from Visprint! Thank you Ms Nida and the rest of the Visprint family!
The book looks so beautiful – and I’m saying that not just because my name is on the front cover.
Each story is accompanied by a unique illustration.
This story, “Siren Song”, is original to the collection. Grab a copy to read this one. :)
My honorary first reader:
Details, details:
If all goes well, the book will hit the local bookstores this weekend.
The launch will be at the Visprint WIT (Writers in Talks) event in late August or September. Stay tuned for that. We plan to have at least 3 excerpt readings. I will be inviting writer and reader friends to read for me. (I hope they’ll be free on that day!!!)
How you can support the book:
1. Buy the book. Of course! :)
2. Share this link and other ABOSC info on your social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, Plurk, Tumblr, etc.).
3. Review the book. Share your thoughts. Doesn’t matter if it’s positive or negative.
Thank you!
Oh, you’re still here? How sweet.
And because of that –
SURPRISE SUNGAZER BOOK GIVEAWAY!
I will be giving away one (1) signed copy of A Bottle of Storm Clouds each to two (2) lucky winners.
All you have to do is leave a comment here in answer to the question: What is your favorite science fiction, fantasy, or horror short story, and why? Leave a link to the story, if you wish. Doesn’t matter if local, foreign, or from outside of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Make me want to read that story. Or if I’ve read it, make me want to read it again.
No, you cannot tweet, email, or FB message me with your answer. Contest winners will be chosen only from the answers left in the Comments section of this blog post. Don’t forget to leave an email address. (Well, WordPress asks for it anyway.)
The contest will run from today, Monday, to Wednesday, August 1, at 12 noon. In case WP acts up, I will extend the contest duration.
Winners will be announced Wednesday afternoon or Thursday, Aug. 2.
Open to residents living in the Philippines only.
I will get the winners’ full names and full addresses, and the books will be shipped, hopefully immediately (it depends on how busy I am) via 2Go.
Disclaimer: The copies I will be sending are from my own set of advance copies from Visprint, but Visprint is not a sponsor of this contest. Neither is 2Go. I am the only one running this shindig. Impress me!
Once again: What is your favorite science fiction, fantasy, or horror short story, and why?
Let’s talk about stories!
Eliza Victoria 
My favorite (and I use the term loosely as, like most readers, what I consider ‘favorite’ changes when the next great story comes along) science fiction story thus far is Movement by Nance Fulda (nominated for Hugo and Nebula for 2012). The premise is challenging (it’s about autism); the language wonderful. But it is in how the author was able to weave the staccato and the lyrical to paint a believable picture of a very gifted individual that makes me love this piece. For those interested, a link to the story is here: http://www.nancyfulda.com/movement-a-short-story-about-autism-in-the-future.
The story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is my favorite horror short story because aside from it being surprisingly disturbing, it also has feminist undertones. Reading it is an unsettling affair, and rereading it even more so. I pretend I’m Nancy Drew each time I reread it, solving “The Secret of the Woman in the Wallpaper”, looking for clues and answers with the answers changing a bit each time, to my delight. Here’s a link: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/YelWal.shtml
My favorite SF story is Ray Bradbury’s All Summer in A Day. I read it as a child and I was terrified by the cruelty of Margot’s classmates. Children are generally assumed to be sweet and innocent, but in reality, they can be very, very mean, especially when they form a pack.
When I read this story as an adult, it was still heartbreaking.
It’s “Snow, Glass, and Apples” by Neil Gaiman. I had pretty much a set schema for fairy tales before I read this – those of the Disney variety. It left me very shaken, knowing someone could write something like this, turning children’s stories into something profoundly disturbing. Then I in my mind I realized it was actually a return to reality, in the vaguest sense of the term. Perhaps “roots” would be a better term instead. The Grimm Brothers were telling stories again, even more horrific than ever (in which I had not known or read about their stories previously), and from this short story I’ve been reading SFF and horror fiction every since. :)
Yay! Found the full text:
http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/stories/snow-glass-apples/
My newest favorite SF book is A Human Element by Donna Galanti. It’s a a story of love and loss and you can’t help but sympathize with each character. It’s about family, friendship, forgiveness, and the faith that everything will be alright in the end…. after a creepy game of hide-and-seek, that is.
Here’s a link to the author’s website: http://blog.donnagalanti.com/wp/writing/
Hi Charmaine! Thanks for joining. :) But the question asks for your favorite short story, not novel. Post another comment!
Oops! Got carried away… My bad. Will post another comment then… Heehee
One of favorite SF stories is “Ashland” by Elyss Punsalan. When I first read it, I was struck by her mastery of language, character and nuance and how she rendered the silent solitude of a woman in a place of no sound. It deserves a wider readership – and makes me proud to be a Filipino writer like she is. It’s part of last year’s PSF – http://www.amazon.com/Philippine-Speculative-Fiction-Volume-ebook/dp/B008JBOBP2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1343634627&sr=1-1&keywords=Philippine+Speculative+Fiction+Volume+6
My favorite science fiction short story is Alfred Bester’s “Time Is The Traitor”, which makes use of the phrase “one in a million”. Rich and powerful John Strapp loses the love of his life, Sima Morgan–and he uses the power of these mathematical odds to find a girl identical to her. I loved the irony of reality versus expectation in this, and the way the twist was delivered.
One of my favorite quotes from the story is: “Up to then he was nobody. Then came the tragedy, and with it the hysteria and the ability. Don’t tell me one didn’t produce the other.” Agency and human failure are the moving forces here, instead of some unseen godly force. An awesome read. :)
“The Magic Christmas Box”, in either English or Tagalog (Tagalog version here: http://www.philippinegenrestories.com/2011/12/ang-mahiwagang-kahong-pamasko/ , English version in PGSoffline Christmas issue)
Though I had seen an earlier work in Story magazine, this is the story that formally introduced me to Bhex Arcega and made me never want to let go of her. It had a simple, heartwarming story done really well, a sweet differently-abled hero who rose above his challenges thanks to a little inspiration and encouragement, and above all showed that kindness wins in the end. I still wish this had a stand-alone book version out every Christmas, with pretty colorful illustrations and all that.
It’s beautiful…
Book tour, book tour, book tour!!!
Hahahaha thank you!
My favorite SF story is Kristine Ong Muslim’s “Moonman” (link:http://www.phantasmacore.com/2012/04/moonman/). It’s straight forward and cool in its narration, though it still leaves a streak of mystery (what is the moonman? Is he an alien from outer space? Or, as Billy suggested, somebody who got radiation?). It also shows the capacity of human beings to destroy something they cannot fully understand, and passing it off as a rational decision.
“Birthday Girl” by Haruki Murakami. I love it because every time I re-read it I seem to find some detail I missed the first time around. i don’t know if it’s actually possible, but I feel like this short story grows and contracts, expands and diminishes with every read. It’s kind of a miracle in itself.
When asked the question, a multitude of stories come to mind. I’m sure by this time tomorrow, I will have thought of more stories that I could easily call my favorite, and I only happened to forget at this time how much they have moved me, or changed my view on important things, or questioned certain paradigms I operate in. But there is one story that never fails to move me, and make me ponder on the nature of perspective.
I discovered it years ago, something I stumbled upon entirely by accident (aren’t some of the best stories discovered this way?). “The House of Asterion” (By JORGE LUIS BORGES) is a beautiful story that shines in the short burst of images and emotions it displays. I cannot be any more detailed without taking away from the experience of reading it, its subtle and painful revelations are what makes it so unique. I read this story every so often, and its last words always leave me with a sense of uncomfortable sadness and genuine empathy.
http://anagrammatically.com/2008/02/23/translated-la-casa-de-asterion-becomes-the-house-of-asterion/
Some of the very best speculative fiction are the stories that force you to question the viewpoints you take for granted, and the perspectives we choose to ignore. The unique voices that are often drowned out by the majority, by cultural norms.
“Keeping Time” by F.H. Batacan. Read this story from PSF3 and it creeped me out. I wish she’d expand it into a full-scale novel though. Super bitin! I’m so intrigued by how the story will unfold, wondering if Mike, the lead character, will actually survive the “plague”. Will he be alone? WIll Marisol survive as well? Or will he helplessly watch her die?
Ow. I was just thinking about when that book will be released (a print copy at last!).
@Drea I love The Yellow Wallpaper too.
But my “favorite science fiction, fantasy, or horror short story” would be…”Three Days in a Border Town” by Jeff VanderMeer. Read it in the short story collection “Science Fiction: The Best of 2004.” It had all the elements I enjoy – visual, engaging and mysterious. The story is pretty solid amid being open-ended.
It keeps me thinking and wondering. And I like to think.
I appreciate how VanderMeer used the 2nd person point of view without sounding unnatural, plus his descriptive writing.
I found a copy online > http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/threedays.htm
P.S. I think after all the stories you published you deserve your own domain/website. :)
Thanks Tine! Matagal ko na plano magkaroon ng .com, kaso yung mga binibigay ko na website url sa mga publications is sungazer.wordpress…pagisipan ko muna hihi. :)
Yung akin ngayon P1k lang per year. You can just redirect your wordpress to the .com address pag nag-migrate ka na to your own domain. :) Yung .wordpress ko nakalagay lang dun yung new website address ko. Pero naisip ko lang ok din na may wordpress ka. Mas ito yung blogging platform mo. Yung own domain mas para sa profile mo as a writer. Para bang site where fans can visit to read about your work. :)
Hehe, salamat sa tip! How do you pay though? PayPal?
Hmm. Yes Paypal. I have an account with http://solidhosting.ph/ Filipino company sya so madaling ma-contact kung may problem man. Mabilis din ang response. I bought the starter hosting plus a .com domain. P1100 total normally pero may promo sila nun kaya P100 off.