Philippine Speculative Fiction 6: Deadline Today

Hello everyone. First of all, thanks to everyone who have submitted. Nikki and I are deeply touched with all the hard work people have put into writing their stories, with some submitting their stories in between call center calls, while others sent theirs in between meetings outside the country. It’s really incredible to see how much story affects so many of us that despite the demands of our careers and families; despite the limitations of finances or time; despite the distractions that abound, so many still found ways and means to explore their imagination. What’s even more incredible is that so many took the time to write them.

For those still in the process of editing, writing, trimming, adding, deducting, dividing and bullying your stories into place, take heart. You still have several hours left to pacify your stories and submit. :)

Now, for some business.

I personally have tried to respond to everyone who submitted within (roughly) 24 hours. There are a number of reasons why you may have not received an email from me confirming the receipt of your submission:

1) Gmail failed. Hard to believe, but I hear it happens. Your email or my response may have been lost in the fiery underbellies of the Internet where all viagra-related spam should be.

2) I failed. I am, of course, merely human with a predisposition for coke zero. While high on the said beverage, I may have deleted or erroneously categorized your submission. I tend to believe I’m fairly organized, so chances are, I logged in your submission but have not responded to you because of my sugarless high.

3) You failed. I use Gmail’s filtering functionality to keep your submissions out of my spam folder. This means that your subject heading is extremely important. While I do catch the occasional recalcitrant submitter and transfer them safely into the submissions folder, I cannot be certain I’ve caught all.

Whatever the reason, the safest thing to do is to simply re-send your submission to me (kate.osias at gmail). Don't worry if you've forgotten whether I've responded or not. Just send again to be on the safe side, and let me figure out how to work out our submissions inventory.

Again, thank you for all the hard work people. Looking forward to reading your submissions! :)

Philippine Speculative Fiction 6!

I am honored to be co-editors with Nikki this year! Read the invite below :)

______________

Editors Nikki Alfar and Kate Aton-Osias invite you to submit short fiction for consideration for Philippine Speculative Fiction volume 6.

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 Filipinos or those of Philippine ancestry

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 submissions—only one story will be considered per author.

2. All submissions should be in Rich Text Format (saved under the file extension ‘.rtf’), and emailed to kate.osias@gmail.com, with the subject line ‘PSF6 submission’.

3. The deadline for submissions is midnight, Manila time, November 15, 2010. 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.

Compensation for selected stories is, alas, currently up in the air. In previous years, we’ve provided contributor copies of the book, as well as small royalty shares—but we don’t want to make guarantees just yet, as we are presently exploring alternative publishing avenues. Rest assured, though, that Philippine Speculative Fiction volume 6 will see publication by the first half of 2011, in a form that will be accessible to the general reading public.

Please help spread the word! We’d really appreciate it if you’d publish this invitation on your blog, e-group, etc.

Thanks,

Nikki Alfar & Kate Aton-Osias, co-editors

Dean Alfar, publisher

I'm not a fluke; I'm lucky

Yay!

Thanks to my hubsand (who edited), the LitCritters (who inspired), and Dean (who believed).

Good News, Bad News

Monday found me opening an email from the people at Serendipity saying that my story is part of the Best of Serendipity. While on one hand, I'm ecstatic (to be part of only 12 stories of the virtual anthology is wonderful), I was a little put off by the fact that they had forgotten to inform me and had just remembered to tell me yesterday evening (Manila time). But I forgive them because I was a late in my submission even then, so I guess we're just even (it doesn't hurt that I also owe them my citation in the Year's Best as well :).)

But while a late email wasn't enough to keep me from jumping up and down with joy, knowing that Serendipity has already issued its final issue was. It seems like a lot of the markets are closing down this year and it makes me feel sad. It seems like I'm seeing the death of an era. An era that I had just discovered so recently.

Oh well.

Anyway, I would appreciate anybody and everybody if they could visit Serendipity and see the other wonderful stories that they had the honor of publishing over the years (and, if you have time, visit mine as well :P).

Hopefully, Serendipity and others like it, will find another life, another form, in the not so distant future.

How Japan Can Save The World (What, no cheerleader?)

Some interesting bit of news from Newsweek.

On other news, my last quarter storm has passed. On to more maudlin (if not exactly routine) projects.

Goodness, its February already...

Picture Taking with the Gang

Here's some of the pix from last December 30.

Its been an on-going joke that Hector (who is exactly one week older than Dean and Nikki's youngest, Rowan) and Rowan would have the kind of love story that would rival those epic florid romance novels. While I do find the notion interesting, for me, what I'm most glad of is that at the very least, my son will have someone his age to play with and grow up with.

I know it's selfish. But growing up as an only child (my brother only came along when I was 11), wasn't pretty. Everybody I knew had some sibling who would be their kakampi despite whatever gang wars that occured in our little universe. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints, I don't think Alex and I could afford another child to give Hector company. Seeing Rowan and Hector together consoles me a bit, in that, at the very least, he is not alone. In addition, he also has his Ate Sage (Dean and Nikki's eldest), although having grown up with a brother so far behind me in years has made me doubtful if Hector and Sage would actually find something in common.

Whatever the case, I fervently hope that though Hector and Rowan and Sage don't share the same gene pool, they will consider each other family.

Editor's Choice and New Year Epiphanies

Yay! Just found out today that my story, Ghost Between Moments published in Bewildering Stories was considered to be part of the review editors' favorites for the fourth quarter! That's so cool!

Now, if only I could write more. 2009 looms in the not so distant horizon and its going to be quite a challenge to equal my 2008 writerly accomplishments, but, we'll see. If I do fail, at least it will not be because I did not try, right?

*

This year has proven to be a year of growing up for me. Now, more than ever, I'm forced to accept that I'm not quite the end product, but instead, I'm simply a work in progress. Perhaps I'll always be a work in progress. In the past, I had believed that you could have one perfect state - just like characters in a book, who eventually reach a point where, flawed or not, they no longer feel the urge to change - but of course, the one perfect state is impossible unless you're like Buddha or something.

And that's fine.

It doesn't bother me as much now that I make mistakes; nor does it behoove me to admit and acknowledge them. Instead, I strive to not repeat the errors in my past and move on. I don't dwell; neither do I whine (too) much. I've even learned how to talk (with less sarcasm) about what bothers me, even when the pain is raw. But most importantly, I know, with irrevocable certainty that someone is more important than me in the bigger schema of things. My son, though not the center of my universe, definitely occupies several galaxies that before his existence, I had not known were voids of emptiness.

On to 2009!