Author: elizavictoria

one for psf 6

From ze Inbox:

Dear Eliza,

Nikki and I are delighted to accept your story, ‘The Storyteller’s Curse’, for publication in this year’s Philippine Speculative Fiction! We both were impressed with your grasp of language and character.

And Kate Osias said more lovely things about the story’s plot and structure that might spoil possible readers, so I just won’t post the rest of the email, haha.

This is awesome! 2011 is shaping up quite nicely.

PSF VI is being edited by Palanca Award-winning authors Nikki Alfar and Kate Aton-Osias. Watch this space for updates and developments. My stories have appeared in previous installments of this anthology. :)

the walking dead

I initially wasn’t interested in seeing this series, despite all the hype, and the fact that 1) it’s on AMC (like Mad Men!) 2) it’s based on a comic book and 3) it’s helmed by Frank Darabont.

I initially wasn’t interested in seeing this because IT’S ABOUT ZOMBIES. Blergh. The last zombie show I enjoyed was Zombieland, but that was more satire than anything else. 28 Days Later is a favorite: suspenseful and alive. Well, I also  enjoyed the mindless gorefests: George Romero films, Rec, the Resident Evil films, but I wasn’t too keen on watching more undead growling and shambling slowly, as they have done for years and years in this genre (until they began running in some of the more recent films). It just…it would feel kinda old.

I can’t take them seriously, these zombies, and the people that run after/away from them. Which is the point, really, zombie films mean to scare and entertain, not make you cry, or think about the characters hours after the ending. (Unless we’re talking about 28 Days Later – a favorite, I tell you.) Zombies – they’re cartoonish. Sometimes they make me jump, but in the end, I don’t really care about them. Just shoot them all in the head.

The Walking Dead made me care after six episodes. That’s something. Thanks for the surprise, Mr. Darabont. When’s Season Two coming out?

weekend update

(I just started using Picnik, this cool online photo editing app that I first heard from Almi. It’s really cool. Expect better-looking photos here from now on, haha!)

Jaykie and I spent Friday mostly in UP. Jaykie played Magic with the HGC boys while I read a bit of Le Guin’s The Dispossessed. There were several Le Guin books in the book bargain bin inside Antas, but I chose this one because I’ve heard so much about it. Also, I just think it’s a shame I haven’t read Le Guin yet.

I wanted to go to Cubao X to visit Adam David’s indie book expo, or to the UP Bookstore to look through the titles offered for the annual sale, but those plans fell through due to time constraints.

I found it lovely that it got cool by four and dark by five p.m. Very Christmas-y. We went to the tiangge to buy gifts for people and jewelry and books for me! I got Alex Garland’s The Tesseract. Still pricey at P280, but it looks new. I also began reading it, and it’s quite amazing. The setting’s Manila, so I’m quite interested to finish it.

I also bought rings and bracelets. I wanted to buy all of the necklaces, but you know, self-control and all that.

We then had dinner at the Persian place and drove around UP to see the lights. No pictures, because my camera phone sucks and won’t do the sights justice anyway.

Saturday, while Jaykie’s in class, I went off to Megamall to meet with my former Pook Palaris housemates. With the exception of June, who is a batchmate, they were all two batches younger than me, but have all graduated and are now earning more than I’m making haha. They wanted to meet Jaykie; I’ll bring him next time, girls. Pizza Hut plus a bracelet from Rowcee plus Mocha Blends plus laughter. Ang sarap tumawa! I love them all.

Before the meet-up, I visited Forever 21 for the first time. THE COSTUME JEWELRY ARE OVERPRICED. There, I said it. In all-caps. The clothes overwhelmed me, so I ended up buying just a pair of shades, which for some reason reminded me of Betty from Mad Men, heh.

Hola, 60’s!

Maybe I’ll go back to F21. Buy a skirt or something.

* * *

Congrats to the Inquirer Read-Along team for a successful event! Twenty-five simultaneous read-alongs, from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi! Huzzah!

the night i won at the philippines free press literary awards, and other stories

I’m still lacking sleep (and I’m still high from last night’s events haha) so forgive me if this turns out to be an incoherent post.

Summary: “Reunion” won first place at the Philippines Free Press Literary Awards, and our group (Editorial A) won first place in the company group presentation contest. So: in the early evening I wore a dress, hyperventilated as I accepted my trophy (I have a trophy! From Free Press! With my name and story title on it!), and later that night I donned a cheerleader outfit for “Pyramid” and a feathery hat for “Bad Romance”. There’s a story there, don’t worry. I don’t have pictures of the performance itself, but I’ll shamelessly (yes!) share them when I get them heh. And I have pictures!

I. Philippines Free Press Literary Awards/Zobel Dining/Makati Sports Club/6 pm

Went half-day at work and camwhored a bit as I prepared:

I love my earrings!

I also received the check from Basement Stories for “Incidental Light”, with a lovely note from Carol Kirkman. Thanks!

Jaykie and I arrived a little before 6 p.m. The dining hall was still quite empty. So we had white wine and took pictures.

The spec fic gang is here! Lookie candid shots.

Dean Alfar, Nikki Alfar, Kate Aton-Osias. (In the background: Andrew Drilon having a chat with Monique Francisco, who was also in PSF IV and also a finalist for the Short Story category that night.)

Alex Osias and Vincent Simbulan.

I also finally met Sasha Martinez (very bubbly and bakla – I like!) in person (we have no picture, boo). She was also a finalist for the same category. (She won last year for “The Catherine Theory”.)

The first category announced was Short Story. Nikki Alfar read the citations and the names of the winners. Third place went to Daryll Delgado for “In Remission”. Second place went to Mo for “Jimmie”. I looked at the list of finalists again and saw Amadis Ma. Guerrero’s name. Ha! I have no chance.

And then Nikki said and the first place goes to “Reunion” by Eliza Victoria, and I think I went slightly crazy. Looking back, I think there were signs: Ms Susan Locsin approaching me saying she’s glad I’m a finalist “but I really don’t know who the winners are”, Sarge Lacuesta putting exclamation points in his replies to me in the email (“You have to come!!”), and Dean Alfar giving stage directions, apparently to help me haha. Unfortunately I broke all of his rules, including the simplest “stay in the middle and bask in your glory until the judge says, ‘Thank you'”.

Here’s the citation:

For its ambitious narrative that reunites the fate of two brothers across the centuries and historic milestones, for showing that the creative imagination cannot be restrained by the boundaries of geography and time, for proving that the best attributes of humanity shine even in the darkest of historical periods, and for declaring without conceit that in the end, humanity is its own best excuse for being, the Philippines Free Press Grand Prize for Short Fiction is awarded to REUNION by Eliza Victoria.

The Eliza Sandwich! (tm, Dean Alfar)

The poetry awards went to Marjorie Evasco and Noelle Leslie Dela Cruz (there was no 3rd prize winner). Congrats!

Thanks to everyone who approached me that night and congratulated me. And to everyone who has congratulated me in person or online since then. You are all dears. And yes, I will continue to write. (Before we left, Ms Locsin said, “Don’t stop writing!” Oh, I won’t dare. :D ) The photo below’s from Mo. :)

II. Philippine Daily Inquirer/Rizal Ballroom/Makati Shangri-La/8 pm

It’s the 25th anniversary of the paper! I missed the President though. Oh well.

We’re sitting at the advertisers’ table. Hehe.

Jon Santos and Wille Nep were there, as the presidents and other personalities. :)

Research team!

More photos!

The InCHOIRer.

Photobooth!

So we did that *dance number or something*

(“Vhong” and “Anne”.)

(“Charice” and back-up dancers, followed by “Kris” and “Josh”.)

(“Lady Gaga” with back-up dancers.)

and we won the grand prize!

Photos from Ruthie, Princess, Cyril, Irene, and Almi. :D

There’s definitely more pictures from the event floating around, but that’s all for now!

the deathly hallows: part 1

The first two films were near-faithful adaptations of the first two Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. Helmed by Chris Columbus, who directed Home Alone, among other films, the first two had that feel-good, cheery feel, despite the monsters. And anyway the ghosts looked like Casper and the troll looked like a CGI joke, so there was no real dread, no real sense of helplessness.

Alfonso Cuaron stepped in to direct the third film. Focus went from story details to style: the Whomping Willow was used to show the passing of months, the dementors were filmed underwater to approximate fluidity, and the film ended in a freeze-frame. Most fans considered it their least favorite film perhaps because it felt radically different from Columbus’s installments, but it was a beautiful film. However, details concerning the Marauder’s Map etc were edited out. It’s this annoying sickness that will hound one Potter film after another -important plot points get edited out, and we are left with scenes that, though enjoyable, feel like fillers.

The fourth film introduced new characters and surprised me with its humor, but there was a glaring error in the characterization of Dumbledore – he was the Zen teacher, what was he doing pushing Harry against walls and sounding like a crazed high school principal? The fifth film was blah, the only saving grace the lovely Helena Bonham Carter – she made a perfect crazy bitch. The sixth film was quite enjoyable and engaging for me – until it forgot to explain why the Half-Blood Prince is called the Half-Blood Prince. Not even a line? Really?

And then the last film, cut in two. It opens with an extreme close-up of Bill Nighy’s eyes, which, coupled with that determined voice and the flash of cameras and the news of dire things to come, made me settle more comfortably in my seat: ah, this is going to be good.

And it was. The film offers several memorable moments, and a soaring soundtrack. There is humor when the trio enters the Ministry of Magic, beauty in the lush landscapes and the misplaced innocence of a particular wedding, and horror in the torture of beloved characters (Helena Bonham-Carter, you crazy bitch, I adore you). The animation, which made me sit up and pay close attention, reminded me strongly of Guillermo del Toro.

There are still dragging moments, too much exposition, too many characters, but the film is a necessary step. Now that we’re so close to the end.

tally, some musings

Inspired by Aliette de Bodard’s post about shameless self-promotion for the Nebula Awards! Ha! I’m no Aliette, and I don’t think any SFWA member will take the time to ~nominate me, but it’s always fun to do a tally.

For 2010 I have published seven short stories.

  • “Sand, Crushed Shells, Chicken Feathers”, Philippines Free Press, March 22, 2010.
  • “Salot“, Demons of the New Year, March 24, 2010.
  • “Once They Were Gods“, Expanded Horizons, April 1, 2010.
  • “Monsters”, Philippine Speculative Fiction V, April 24, 2010.
  • “Brothers”, Cantaraville (Issue Ten), April 2010.
  • “Jeremy’s Magic Well”, Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, Inc. July 2010. Illustrated by Ray Nazarene Sunga.
  • “Elsewhere”, Usok #2, November 3, 2010.

The Nebula Rules say, “All works first published in English, in the United States, during the calendar year, in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, or a related fiction genre are eligible for the Nebula Awards® in their respective categories.” And “Works first published in English on the Internet or in electronic form during the calendar year shall be treated as though published in the United States.”

That means my eligible stories are “Salot” (horror/fantasy), “Once They Were Gods” (fantasy), and “Elsewhere” (science fiction).

I have two reprints this year:

  • “Incidental Light”, Philippines Free Press, January 3, 2009. (Reprinted by Basement Stories, October 2010. link.)
  • “Parallel”, Philippine Speculative Fiction IV, February 28, 2009. (Reprinted by Expanded Horizons, November 3, 2010. link.)

Not sure if the Nebula accepts nominations of reprints, but anyway both are eligible. “Incidental Light” is a fantasy, while “Parallel” is sci-fi.

So far, I have published eight poems.

Also, a bunch of essays and reviews. Quite a good year.

I started a novel, but quickly gave it up because it felt like a short story being stretched to its limits. I’ll stick with the short story form, thank you very much.

This is also the reason why I never joined the NaNo. Ever. :p

Last night I began writing notes for a new story. I still have no idea when I’m going to start writing it. Lazy, lazy bee.

With special guests: High Chair poetry books, PGS, Tobias Wolff, bright bed sheet, and electric fan haha.

Re-reading these babies. Mmm poems.

Got these from Jaykie’s sisters from Boracay! :D

I bought a pair of gloves. Doing the laundry sometimes wounds my fingers. Domestic wounds, woe.

Jaykie’s better, and for that, I am thankful.