Category: writing

“parallel”, reviewed

David Hebblethwaite of The Portal reviewed the November issue of Expanded Horizons, which carried my story, “Parallel”.

He had lovely things to say about the issue and my story.

Expanded Horizons (“speculative fiction for the rest of us”) is a webzine that aims to represent and foster greater diversity in the sf field. The six stories in its November issue certainly achieve that, as well as showcasing a range of approaches and styles. Malon Edwards brings a touch of magic to his short tale of a college football star. Zen Cho tells of a “smell magician” who takes a stray cat home—even though she doesn’t like cats. Eliza Victoria contributes a poignant and very human take on the notion of parallel universes. Silvia Moreno-Garcia shows how humans can be just as mysterious as we might expect aliens to be. Omar Zakaria’s tale of fantasy adventure takes a serious turn and ends up interrogating itself. And perhaps best of all is Csilla Kleinheincz’s tale of two lovers driven apart by magic that may or may not be real. Rounding out the issue is “The Key Keeper,” an excellent piece of artwork by James Ng.

…

“Parallel” by Eliza Victoria (originally published last year in the fourth volume of Philippine Speculative Fiction) announces its parallel-universe theme brilliantly, as Christopher’s friend Ben draws up in a car he stole from himself (“’He didn’t see me,’ Ben insisted. ‘And besides, I left a note. Wormholes do work! High five Einstein!’”). But what might at first seem as though it’s going to be a romp  proves to be rather more serious, as it becomes clear why these two have visited a parallel universe: Christopher’s younger sister Olivia died in a road accident in his world; he’s there to find another version of her, and take her back through the wormhole with him. Strikingly, the technology for travelling between universes is barely examined; the focus here is firmly on character and emotion, and Victoria explores those wonderfully. The universe to which Ben and Christopher have travelled isn’t quite of the kind they anticipated, and it leads Christopher to ask himself some tough ethical questions. And the poignancy of the ending lifts the story to another level.

About The Portal:

The Portal is a free, volunteer-run, online review of short-form science fiction, fantasy, and horror from around the world. We review work in English and also provide English-language coverage of short fiction markets, anthologies, and genre literary activities in many language communities.

We concentrate on short-form fiction for several reasons.  First of all, short fiction is a prime place for new writers to develop their artistry and discipline. It’s also a source of development for editors and publishers, who can learn to work with authors, build their business skills, and make a reputation. Finally, the abbreviated length of short fiction makes it conducive to translation.

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 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!

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.

double whammy

Today, my Inbox brings good tidings.

1) From Vanilla Press –

Dear Eliza,

Once again, I want to thank you for your submission “Summer Evening”.  Carrie, Ben and I were all extremely impressed with your skill and mastery of character.

We made the difficult decision not to include your story in the November issue, purely because we had accepted several suspense/horror stories already and wanted to maintain some genre variety.  However, we do hope you will allow us to publish it in the upcoming Winter 2011 edition, which will go live in February.

So I sent them an e-mail saying that February 2011 is good for me. That’s not too far away. :)

2) From Sarge Lacuesta, literary editor of the Philippines Free Press –

Hi Eliza,

Congratulations! Your story “Reunion” has been selected as a finalist for the 2009 Philippines Free Press Award [redacted]

The programme will begin at 6 o’clock in the evening. I do look forward to seeing you there, and I thank you for your excellent contribution to the country’s oldest magazine, and to Philippine Literature.

*confetti*

Somebody find me a dress.