Updates

weekend news + recommendations

Came home this weekend for my father’s birthday.

I can’t do any writing when I’m at home (too lazy? too comfy?), so I just spend the time on my back watching whatever show’s available, or reading. I recommend:

21 Jump Street

(Shot of goths.)

“These are the goths”

(Shot of nerds.)

“These are nerds.”

(Shot of hipsters.)

“I don’t know what these are.”

The smart nerd and the cool jock from high school end up in the police academy and become best friends. After an arrest gone wrong, they are transferred to 21 Jump Street, where they are assigned to do undercover work as high school students. Based on the series starring Johnny Depp. I don’t know how this film adaptation compares to the series, but this wins plus points for me for all the action film meta-jokes and the film’s acute awareness that the high school of ten years ago is very much different from the high school of today.

Take Shelter

Curtis lives with his wife and hearing impaired daughter in the Ohio countryside frequented by storms and tornadoes. He starts having nightmares about rain that looks like motor oil, birds flying in strange formations, and his dog and neighbors attacking him and his child. The nightmares start bleeding into his days. He has a history of mental illness, so fearing he is developing schizophrenia, he reads books, sees his mother, and talks to a counselor at the free clinic. But he also takes out a risky loan and starts repairing their tornado shelter, to the anguish of his wife. Is Curtis insane, or a prophet of dire days to come? This film is highly recommended. (And Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain should have received Oscar nominations for this! What the hell?)

Shawshank Redemption

This is a rewatch. If you haven’t seen it – what is the matter with you? This is one beautiful story that stands the test of time. It’s still as good as ever.

Different Seasons by Stephen King

Contains four short novels, three of which were adapted into films (Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, Stand by Me). All four stories are absorbing reads.

ALL OF THE BATMAN

I am particularly interested in the Dick Grayson storyline within the Batman universe. My only exposure to the first Robin is through the films (all meh) and the brilliant animated shows Batman: The Animated Series and The New Adventures of Batman and Robin. Recos? I already have Robin: Year One, but I have read Long Halloween, Dark Victory, The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller! Brilliant!), and a bit of the All-Star Batman and Robin series. (Frank Miller! What the fuck is this shit?)

Went back to the metro on Sunday and played with J’s cute nephew.

Well? What have you been up to? :)

nominate your bets for the 1st ever Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards

Source: Rocket Kapre

It’s common in most fields of entertainment to have, on the one hand, critics awards – think the Oscars – where winners are decided by a panel of judges or committee of experts, and on the other hand, popular awards – think the MTV Movie Awards (once nominees are decided) – where the winners are determined by fan vote. In the Philippines, published literature has always been the province of the National Book Awards, but there has never really been an equivalent popular awards for literature.

Until now!

As part of the upcoming 2nd Filipino Reader Con, the Filipino Book Bloggers will be holding the 1st ever Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards:

The Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards seeks to engage the Filipino reading public in honoring their favorite Philippine-published titles. An initiative of the Filipino Book Bloggers Group, the Filipino RCA was established to develop awareness and appreciation of Philippine literature; recognize the reader’s role in creating the meaning and experience of a literary work; and give the readers a voice in the Philippine book industry.

Nominations are open from July 9 to 22. To nominate a book, just fill out the online nomination form. The nomination form gets sent to the Filipino RCA committee.

Nominations will be posted on the Filipino ReaderCon website on a weekly basis. Links to reviews of nominated titles will also be posted on the site.

The awards are open to titles published in the Philippines from January 2010 to December 2011, in the following categories:

  • Children’s picture book
  • Chick lit
  • Novel in English
  • Novel in Filipino
  • Comics / Graphic novels
  • Short story anthology
  • Essay anthology
  • Poetry

Get to it! :D

‘the viewless dark’ now on amazon

The Viewless Dark is now on Amazon.

Do check it out and share the link. I’m quite proud of this novella and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2012

When Anthony found Flo dead, locked overnight in one of the reading rooms of the university library, he knew it must have something to do with Mary. Mary Prestosa, fourth year graduating Philosophy student, whom they had been investigating. Mary, who surprised her roommate one night by suddenly standing up from her bed, throwing the windows open, and jumping down, headfirst, to the dormitory grounds below. Mary, whose memory marked the trail of mysterious deaths and bizarre occurrences that followed her own fateful fall: the fifth-year Computer Engineering student who prowled the campus on all fours, thirsty for blood, believing he was a wolf; the revelation of an all-girls’ satanic cult; the demonic possession of a fourth-year student from the Department of Psychology; and now—Flo, dead.

The students traced it all to Mary. They believed Mary didn’t commit suicide. They believed Mary tapped into something dark, and released it, and was consumed.

And Anthony was determined to pry out the truth.

Product Details

  • File Size: 186 KB
  • Print Length: 56 pages
  • Publisher: Flipside Publishing (July 9, 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B008JF8JLU
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled 
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled 

Cover, excerpt, and book description.

Please like the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewlessDark

Check out these other titles:

Alternative Alamat

Lower Myths

and the Philippine Speculative Fiction series

‘the viewless dark’ cover revealed

Are you ready, ready, ready?

The Viewless Dark

When Anthony found Flo dead, locked overnight in one of the reading rooms of the university library, he knew it must have had something to do with Mary. Mary Prestosa, fourth year graduating Philosophy student, whom they had been investigating. Mary, who surprised her roommate one night by suddenly standing up from her bed, throwing the windows open, and jumping down, headfirst, to the dormitory grounds below. Mary, whose memory marked the trail of mysterious deaths and bizarre occurrences that followed her own fateful fall: the fifth-year Computer Engineering student who prowled the campus on all fours, thirsty for blood, believing he was a wolf; the discovery of an all-girls’ satanic cult; the demonic possession of a fourth-year student from the Department of Psychology; and now—Flo, dead.

The students traced it all to Mary. They believed Mary didn’t commit suicide. They believed Mary tapped into something dark, and released it, and was consumed.

And Anthony was determined to pry out the truth.

Excerpt.

Cover art by Les Banzuelo, color and design by Adam David.

room magazine + kaleidotrope

Ugh. Monday. But some good news:

  • Room Magazine has accepted my poem, “Hospital Work”, for their Labour issue (Issue 35.4). Room is “Canada’s oldest literary journal by, for, and about women. Published quarterly by a group of volunteers based in Vancouver, Room showcases fiction, poetry, reviews, art work, interviews and profiles about the female experience.” A good place to be.
  • My sci-fi story, “The Mechanic“, is in the Summer 2012 issue of Kaleidotrope. Feel free to share the link. Hope you enjoy reading.
  • I’ve seen a partial proof of A Bottle of Storm Clouds and it LOOKS GOOD.

ghostwatch

Ghostwatch is a 90-minute mockumentary TV film first broadcast on BBC1 in 1992. It is presented as a live show that aims to investigate paranormal phenomena. The Ghostwatch team goes to Fox Hill Drive and investigates a house belonging to the Early family, and which is said to be haunted by a malevolent spirit. Two girls and their divorced mother talk about hearing strange sounds, a hand knocking on the walls, and invisible cats yowling around the house. One of the girls is photographed with scratches that mysteriously appear all over her face. Her sister calls the spirit “Mr Pipes”. To find out if the Early family’s stories indeed are true, Ghostwatch sends a team of three – cameraman, boom operator, and reporter – to stay in the house for Halloween.

It’s complete fiction of course, but Ghostwatch lends it veracity by hiring actual BBC personalities to conduct the interviews and take phone calls. If I were a British child seeing this for the first time in 1992, I would have been completely thrilled and traumatized. It will be one of those Halloween specials that I will remember for many years to come. It is a slow burn. It starts off slow to lull you into submission, until all hell breaks loose.  Because it is “live” TV it has no reenactments, just a narration of events, which I like. Sometimes reenactments just ruin the story for you; sometimes what you imagine is worse than anything a film crew can ever show you. This is why I love hearing ghost stories from other people. No reenactments there, but the goosebumps still appear.

If you’re the kind of viewer who wants to see things happen, then don’t fret. There is payoff after the wait. And what a payoff. I slept with the lights on.