Philippine Speculative Fiction 7 (PSF7): Lineup Announcement

Over a hundred stories were submitted, with roughly around 400,000 words in total. It took us one whole month to read (and reread, and reread) the stories. Another week was spent arguing, negotiating, deciding and then re-deciding which stories would be included in this year's anthology(it was a tough process; aside from the fact that Alex's and my poetics are vastly different, the stories submitted were all of a certain quality that it was literally like pulling teeth to get us down to 24); and another month for me to get all our rejection and acceptance letters out. But after what seemed like a loooong time, we finally (finally!) have the PSF7 lineup!

PSF7 stats and trivia:

14 males / 10 females

23 of the 24 will find their first home in PSF

1 story was written after an author realized she was broke (I have every faith she has recovered since then, folks!)

1 story is the last leg of a troika of erotica (it rhymes!) written over a period of 3 years

3 stories are from first time fiction authors

1 story's idea was stolen from a pastor's sermon

1 story is the last short fiction the author will be writing until he finishes his novel

0 stories were from time travelling Filipino Vikings (darn it, I was hoping with the numbers we would have at least 1!).

Philippine Speculative Fiction 7: Lineup!

1. All That We May See by Kenneth Yu

2. All the Best of Dark and Bright by Isabel Yap

3. Bastard Sword by Nikki Alfar

4. Chasers by Chris Mariano

5. East of the Sun by Dean Francis Alfar

6. Faith in Fiction by James Constantino Bautista

7. Mother of Monsters by Philip Corpuz

8. Never Land by Mo Francisco

9. Oblation by Paolo Chikiamco

10. Pet by Kristine Ong Muslim

11. Sarsarita Time by Melissa Sipin

12. The Call of the Chained God by Dariel Quiogue

13. The Changes by Benito Vergara

14. The Commute to Paradiso by Charles Tan

15. The Day Nostalgia Swept Over a Town by F. Jordan Carnice

16. Dragon's Orb by Vincent Michael Simbulan

17. The Likeness of God by Crystal Koo

18. The Little Things the Datu Did by Andrew Drilon

19. The Love Spell by Julian dela Cerna

20. The Nature of Apocalypse by Joseph Anthony Montecillo

21. The Scrap Collectors by Arlynn Despi

22. username: tanglaw by Eliza Victoria

23. What the Body Remembers by Tin Lao

24. What You See by Ian Rosales Casocot

Now, if any of you can guess by title alone (well, and what little clues I have given), on which story is which based on the trivia above, I will believe that you have some secret mind power; or, at the very least, that you have secretly hacked my email. Seriously, if you can, by the power of your gut feel, guess which one's which, you can win a copy of Philippine Speculative Fiction vol. 6 (PSF6) which I will give during the launch. Send your guesses to kate.osias at gmail.com :)

PSF6 News

The anthology has garnered positive reviews, with several bloggers / editors / writers voicing their opinions and favorite stories in the antho. (RocketKapre keeps track with a number of them; go to this website if interested www.rocketkapre.com). The most recent news bit was from GMA News Online (by Mean Ortiz), which named PSF6 (along with Alternative Alamat edited by PSF contributor Paolo Chikiamco and Heartbreak & Magic by PSF contributor Ian Rosales Casocot) as one of the notable books of 2011. Yay! :)

And... that's it for now folks. Tune in for more updates on the launch! :)

Shameless Plugging: Two stories out

Just plugging my two stories out currently online (for free!):

There's Makisig's Heart (my take on an Ilokano epic):

http://philippinegenrestories.blogspot.com/

And, Connections, my non-specfic story (gasp!):

http://philippinesfreepress.com.ph/?p=4440

Read up if you guys have the time, and let me know what you think. :)

PSF7: 5 days to go! and Other Matters

PSF7

Let's go people, I have faith in y'alls! Remember, I always respond within 24 hours (unless it's a Saturday, haha), so please resend if you have not heard from me.

For those who have submitted already, our reading period begins in October, so expect to hear from us somewhere in early November (or earlier, depending on the average length of the stories we have received).

Other Matters

Attended the Nick Joaquin Literary Awards last week (also known as Mo Francisco's birthday bash, haha). It was... interesting. The food was good. Met new writers (who, of course, I badgered into an oral contract to give stories for PSF). But the program was unclear.

That said, Alex and I (in separate instances) won luggage in the raffle. Not a bad evening. :)

Other (Other Matters)

If you need some inspiration for your stories, here are some fiction from PGS:

http://www.philippinegenrestories.com/

Also, there's a new story from PSF contributor Tin Lao:

http://philippinesfreepress.com.ph/2011/09/24/workshop/

Philippine Speculative Fiction volume 7

People are still basking in the afterglow of the successful book launch of PSF6 (you can read about it here, here and pictures here), which makes this the best time to open our virtual doors for the next volume: Philippine Speculative Fiction volume 7 (PSF7), to be edited by yours truly and fellow writer, action-adventure-sci-fi enthusiast (and also my husband!), Alex Osias, is now officially open for submissions.

Please read the guidelines below. Don't be afraid to email or facebook me (yes, I have declared 'facebook' to be a verb), if you have questions.

On a related note, PSF6 immediately sold out last Saturday. We are thinking of doing another print run, so if you want a copy or several, drop me a note so that I can forward it to our publisher, Dean Alfar.

___________________

Editors Alex and Kate Osias invite you to submit short fiction for consideration for Philippine Speculative Fiction volume 7.

Philippine Speculative Fiction is a yearly anthology series, which collects a wide range of stories that define, explore, and sometimes blur the boundaries of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all things in between. The anthology has been shortlisted for the Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Award, and multiple stories from each volume have been cited in roundups of the year’s best speculative fiction across the globe.

First-time authors are more than welcome to submit; good stories trump literary credentials any time.

Submissions must be:

1. speculative fiction—i.e., they must contain strong elements or sensibilities of science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism, alternate history, folklore, superheroes, and/or related ‘nonrealist’ genres and subgenres

2. written in English

3. authored by persons of Philippine ethnicity and/or nationality

Submissions are preferred to be:

1. original and unpublished

2. no shorter than 1,000 words and no longer than 7,500

3. written for an adult audience

In all cases, these preferences can be easily overturned by exceptionally well-written pieces. In the case of previously-published work—if accepted, the author will be expected to secure permission to reprint, if necessary, from the original publishing entity, and to provide relevant publication information.

Submission details:

1. No multiple or simultaneous submissions—i.e., submit only one story, and do not submit that story to any other publishing market until you have received a letter of regret from us. We don’t mind if you submit to contests.

2. All submissions should be in Rich Text Format (saved under the file extension ‘.rtf’), and emailed to kate.osias at gmail.com, with the subject line ‘PSF7 submission’.

3. The deadline for submissions is midnight, Manila time, September 30, 2011. Letters of acceptance or regret will be sent out no later than one month after the deadline.

Editors’ notes:

1. Please don’t forget to indicate your real name in the submission email! If you want to write under a pseudonym, that’s fine, but this can be discussed upon story acceptance. Initially, we just need to know who we’re talking to.

2. If you’d like to write a cover letter with your brief bio and publishing history (if applicable), do feel free to introduce yourself—but not your story, please. If it needs to be explained, it’s probably not ready to be published.

3. We advise authors to avoid fancy formatting—this will just be a waste of your time and ours, since we will, eventually, standardize fonts and everything else to fit our established house style.

There will be compensation for selected stories, but we’ve yet to determine exactly what. In previous years, we’ve provided contributor copies of the book, as well as small royalty shares, but we are considering shifting Philippine Speculative Fiction to digital format, so we may be shifting to outright financial payment as well.

Please help spread the word!

Thanks,

Alex and Kate Osias, co-editors

Dean Alfar, publisher

PSF6: Test Covers

PSF 6: Lineup Announcement

After several months of reading (and reading, and reading), intense discussions, emails and follow ups, Nikki and I are pleased to announce the Philippine Speculative Fiction 6 line up (in no particular order):

1. Alternative Histories by Ian Rosales Casocot
2. Strange Adventures in Procreation by Andrew Drilon
3. Lament of the Counselor by Jay Anyong
4. The Grim Malkin by Vincent Michael Simbulan
5. A Smell of Mothballs by Mailin Paterno
6. Ashland by Elyss G. Punsalan
7. Carpaccio (or, Repentance as a Meat Recipe) by Arlynn Despi
8. Eternal Winter by Maria Pia Vibar Benosa
9. From the Book of Names My Mother Did Not Give Me by Christine V. Lao
10. Hollowbody by Crystal Koo
11. Offerings to Aman Sinaya by Andrei Tupaz
12. On Wooden Wings by Paolo Chikiamco
13. Prisoner 2501 by Philip Corpuz
14. Resurrection by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
15. Simon's Replica by Dean Alfar
16. Break in at Batay Street by Francis Gabriel Concepcion
17. The Big Man by Asterio Gutierrez
18. The Bookshelves of Mrs. Go by Charles Tan
19. The Impossible and the R.S.C. Gregorio del Pilar by Alex Osias
20. The Kiddie Pool by Kenneth Yu
21. The Storyteller's Curse by Eliza Victoria
22. Villainoguing by Joseph Montecillo

For those interested in stats (like me, haha) this year, we have 22 stories total, of which 21 will see their first publication in PSF6. There are 15 guys and 7 gals in the anthology and the story subsets include horror, sci-fi, 2nd world and urban fantasy.

It is such a great honor to be on the editorial team this year. I hope to see you all in the book launch, which we expect to happen sometime in March!

PSF6 Update: TOC coming soon!

Hello folks! Sorry for the delay, but due to technical problems, we haven't been able to announce the TOC. But never fear, we are still right on schedule for the ultimate deadline. :)

Stay tuned for more updates on this blog, or find me on Facebook for more frequent, status-sized updates. :)