Scribbled: Turtle Warriors

Some news on the writing front: my short story "Chasers" appears in the Philippine Speculative Fiction Anthology 7 available on Kindle and Flipreads. It's a theme I often explore in my work -- the undefinable nature of contemporary relationships, its demands and compromises. Not exactly ground-breaking stuff, I know, but it's something I'm comfortable with. Write what you know and all that.

From the Amazon description:

A heartbroken youth discovers the first woman, Maganda, in a garden. The youngest, most beautiful of ten siblings gets sold as a bride to a Tiq’Barang. A segment of the Filipino population suddenly transform to look like American celebrities. The Philippine Speculative Fiction series are anthologies that showcase the rich variety of Philippine literature: between these covers you will find magic realism next to science fiction, traditional fantasy beside slipstream, and imaginary worlds rubbing shoulders with alternate Philippine history—demonstrating that the literature of the fantastic is alive and well in the Philippines.

Stories from this series have been included in the Honorable Mentions list from The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror edited by Ellen Datlow and Kelly Link & Gavin Grant.

I wrote this a few years ago and I'm really glad it found its way to a collection. Thanks so much to Kate Osias, Alex Osias, and Dean Alfar for this opportunity.

Kwentillion: Book Spotlight

Ficsation is joining the countdown to Kwentillion's 1st Young Adult Reader Carnival! I won't be able to attend as I live a plane ride away (it's this weekend, July 21, Saturday, from 1-5PM, at the National Book Store Bestsellers branch at Robinson’s Galleria) but I'll participate by weighing in on some exciting YA titles heading for our bookshelves in the next few months. Here's one upcoming YA title that I'm very eager to pick up:

Carnival of Souls
Melissa Marr
(HarperCollins, September 4)

What is it about:
Welcome to a world of daimons. Welcome to The City. Once in a generation, daimons like Aya and Kaleb are given the chance to join the powerful ruling class through a deadly and ruthless competition known as the Carnival of Souls. For them, this is the ultimate test of survival.

Meanwhile, far from the City, exiled and hidden away among humans, is Mallory. Though she tries to live a normal life with her father, she knows that her destiny will always lead her back to the one they've left. But can she really prepare herself for what awaits her back in The City -- and at the Carnival of Souls?

Why I'm excited about it:
Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series shuttled the reader back and forth between the dark and mysterious machinations of faerie and gritty urban situations. In Carnival of Souls, she revisits a formula that has worked for her via a richly-layered second world, one whose social and political systems set the stage for a deadly tradition. Add some strong fantasy Hunger Games overtones to the mix, and Carnival of Souls promises to be a brave beginning to a new series.

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Carnival of Souls will be available at National Book Store in September 2012.

The 1st 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.

Writers are praised by critics, handed awards by institutions. Wouldn't it be nice if readers like us have a say, too? Welcome the Filipino RCA. Titles published in the Philippines from January 2010 to December 2011 -- yup, a two-year period -- are eligible for nomination. I meant to post this earlier since nominations began last July 9 but don't worry, you can still weigh in until Sunday, July 22. (Click here for the nomination form).

This year, the awards will have eight categories:
• Children’s picture book
• Chick lit
• Novel in English
• Novel in Filipino
• Comics / Graphic novels
• Short story anthology
• Essay anthology
• Poetry

Winners will be announced during The 2nd Filipino ReaderCon on August 18 at the Filipinas Heritage Library. The ReaderCon site also does updates on what's been nominated so if you have any favorite Filipino books that haven't been mentioned yet, now's the time to nominate them!