Ex Libris: A. Lee Martinez's Gil's All Fright Diner

So a vampire and a werewolf walk into a diner and it sounds like a joke. But it's really A. Lee Martinez's funny debut novel, Gil's All Fright Diner.

Right from the starting line Martinez takes no prisoners as redneck buddies Earl and Duke (actually the Earl of Vampires and the Duke of Werewolves) find out there is an evil haunting Gil's All-Night Diner in the small town of Rockwood. Given what Earl and Duke are, evil here is obviously a relative term as they face off against zombies, cosmic monsters straight out of Lovecraft, and horny teenagers with idle hands out to end the world.

Funny books (whether SF like Douglas Adams or fantasy like Terry Pratchett) poke fun at human nature-- even of human monsters-- and Martinez is no exception. Everything is cut-and-dried for the laughs to start rolling early. Earl hates garlic, is adverse to being staked with wood, and avoids sunlight as much as possible. Duke, on the other hand, changes to a big furry beast, is deathly allergic to silver and loves moonlight walks.

From there, Martinez runs with the horror tropes we've already subsumed and plays them up for laughs. Combine this with a fast-paced story, folksy-easy writing, and endearing characters, and you'll find yourself a number of chapters in before you can say the first sentence out loud.

Basically, don't expect depth with this book. Just grab the popcorn bag, shut off your brain and watch the lights go down and the reel start running. But unlike other popcorn movies-- er, books, you'll definitely enjoy the show with this one. (Rating: Really 2 out of 4 paws but it's fun enough to merit 3 paws.)

Five Days and Counting

Well, the day's almost over and the end of this week will be my last day with this job.

I have to admit that I'm leaving with a bit of a heavy heart: the writing is good and the people I work with are cool. Unfortunately, the pay isn't much and given my age, I can't allow myself to slack off. I may be disinclined to work corporate but that doesn't mean I should work for peanuts. You find work where you can get it, but you work, goddamit. Nobody else is going to pay the bills for you.

Yes, I have a new job-- one I'm going to start with on Monday. Funny enough, things fell serendipitously in place when I accepted this new one: I had promised myself after my last job that I'd spend two months checking out the freelance lifestyle before I go back to working regular. And though what happened was really more of a semi-freelance thing (i.e. my current work was easy enough that I could accept other part-time jobs), I saw how addicting it was to find writing gigs, get it, and get paid. Unfortunately, finding the gigs was damn hard to find.

Two months down to five days. It's been an interesting period of my life.

(P.S. We have new 15 minutes!)

Small Worlds

Garr! I just realized that one of my co-workers at the office-- well, barely even that as she had resigned a month or so after I came in-- was actually Erin Denise Chupeco, the third placer at The 2007 Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards (a.k.a. the Neil Gaiman Awards).

I just only managed to confirm this after talking to her boyfriend who works in the same office. And all this time we didn't know we had already passed by each other's presence like the mystical conjunction of planets in the solar system.

Weird. But then again, my boss is Karlo N. B. Samson, a good friend of alex. It just made me realize that: erin knows dean + karlo knows alex and alex knows dean + I know dean = dean is the center of the universe! Ah-hah!

(Picture taken from here.)

Bibliofilia: Dedalus Press

I swear, I can't write this post without a tear in my eye. But then again, knowing there's such a treasure trove of books out there in the world... *sniff* well, let's get on with it.

At the moment, I'm constantly on the lookout for fantastical fiction that's non-North American in origin. Consider it shaping of a global perspective of the fantastic. Yes, I'm also open to the idea of Latin American magic realism-- even given how Philippine literature had been mixing it up with magic realism even before LatAm did. Still, I figure there's much more to it than what's available (read: mainstream/genre) on our local bookshelves.

If you're not looking, you won't find it. So I was quite surprised at the number and types of books being put out by non-mainstream publishing firms. Take the case of UK publisher Dedalus Books, which prints primarily fiction-- though as their website says, they've invented their own distinctive genre, which they term distorted reality, "where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction which is very European." So, in other words, what we have here is tasty European fantasy!

And how tasty is this lot? Well, given their series of Dedalus Books of European Fantasy, quite diverse indeed. As of present, the series of books include:

• Dedalus Book of Polish Fantasy
• Dedalus Book of Greek Fantasy
• Dedalus Book of Austrian Fantasy
• Dedalus Book of British Fantasy
• Dedalus Book of Dutch Fantasy
• Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy
• Dedalus Book of Portuguese Fantasy
• Dedalus Book of Spanish Fantasy

Finnish? Portuguese? My mind reels at the possibilities. The only thing stopping me from going on an all-out online shopping spree is three things: (a) no money, (b) no credit card, and (c) I'd rather order this through a local bookstore (probably Booktopia). And it doesn't help that Dedalus is having funding problems, dammit.

Given such a sad state of affairs, I am relegated to "window-shopping", i.e. browsing through their online catalogue and promising all that is (un)holy that someday, my ship will come in. Preferably with my order of Dedalus books with it.

For more frustration, incorporated, here are the covers for these lovely books...

*sigh*

(And just in case you're wondering, this is the first bibliofilia post wherein I talk about book series. What kind of book series? A lot. *grins*)

Nothing Personal

After a great talk with ramblingsoul, doug, and [identity-protected] last night at Mag:net Katipunan, I came across this quote from a Salman Rushdie interview at the Guardian which I thought was serendipitous:

I may not like the things you believe and, by the way, the fact that you believe them makes me think less of you as a person. I may despise you personally for what you believe, but I should be able to say it. Everybody needs to get thicker skins. There is this culture of offence, as though offending someone is the worst thing anyone can do. Again, there is an assumption that our first duty is to be respectful. But what would a respectful cartoon look like? Really boring! You wouldn't publish it. The nature of the form is irreverence and disrespect.

Quite apt, I would think, given the fatwa pronounced on Rushdie.

I Like Coldplay; ergo, I'm ___

I have an interview by charles over at his blog as part of the run-up to The 3rd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards this year.

It's just a short interview but it has a picture of me that makes me look either gay or bewildered, I'm not sure which.

Writing Exercises

Yes, I'm back into that and I know they're lousy exercises. But hey, it's fun and it's the only thing I can fit in my schedule.

Though if anyone wants to send me a picture or a word that I can write about, be my guest.

Why We Like Bears

I was talking to doug candano a couple of weeks back at Route 196 and we got to mentioning some of our favorite writers. Though doug's taste is in a different reading field altogether, he's not ignorant of the fantastical (not fantasy, mind) with Angela Carter, Steven Millhauser, Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borge.*

One of the books he recommended to me was Dino Buzzati's The Tartar Steppe. Curious, I did a google-check on the latter and found out he had also written The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily. Now, this book rang a bell in my head: whether as someone's recommendation online, a book I saw on the shelves or even a dream I had, I'm not sure. But I figure, what's not to like about a book that has bears invading a part of Italy, an army of boars, talking cats, and what-not? And this quote by Buzzati is quite endearing:

It seems to me, fantasy should be as close as possible to journalism. The right word is not "banalizing", although in fact a little of this is involved. Rather, I mean that the effectiveness of a fantastic story will depend on its being told in the most simple and practical terms.

Check out that great cover. And yes, the categorization is a children's book hence the introduction and end notes by Lemony Snicket (and the question remains if Snicket is writing or is being written).

This is one reason why I like finding out about writers (whether fantasy or fantastical) I normally wouldn't have known about and why I try to read outside the genre (and outside the area of North American or British Isles for that matter) when I can.

Anyone else have recommendations or suggestions? Here's a quid pro quo: I once suggested for dean a very fine book in Orhan Pamuk's My Name is Red. A murder-mystery novel that gives a look at Istanbul in the late 16th century, I'm still savoring the wonderful writing of this one chapter by chapter. (And if you've paged through this book, you'll know what I mean by chapter.)



*Ironically, I also have this interesting bibliophile habit of selecting only one work from each great literary writer. For Carter, I've picked The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman, for Millhauser it's Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer, from Calvino it's Invisible Cities, while with Borges, it's Labryinths (unless I have a different book altogether).

It's something to do with me looking over the shelves of bookstores as a child and some book titles sticking to my mind until I was older. Weird, I know.

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Motherfucking Custodes

I know this post is a week late but I still can't get over reading Manuel Quezon's argument against the recent court ruling on the Manila Pen arrests of journalists and the bewildering comments that followed after. Particularly, I couldn't get over the hate that anti-traditional media bloggers had and wondered why weren't they getting the point.

Personally, I only speak from experience, coming from both worlds of traditional and online news media, as well as being a blogger. And it seems to me that those commenters don't seem to see the strike against free speech of traditional media is actually a strike against free speech per se. It reminds me of that poem written by the German Pastor Martin Niemöller about the dangers of standing by while the Nazi government carts away the people who are different from you, "First they came..."

The original goes:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Whether a traditional journalist or blogger, one could replace the words above with the tag 'journalist' or 'blogger who I disagree with' and it would still be apt. And on the issue that the law has precedence over free speech, one of the few things I remember from my political science background is the fact that laws are supposed to serve people, not the other way around. The judge should have dressed down the journalists for reckless endangerment AND the police for brutality. But then again, this is the Philippines so what do you expect?

On the idea of bloggers being better than journalists (and vice-versa), all I can say is: call out stupidity, false reporting and illogical arguments where ever it may be. Stupidity is universal: it's not limited to any particular group, whether bloggers or traditional journalists. As they say, don't bullshit a bullshitter.

Blathering idiots.

The Book Orphanage is Open Again

[Update: Added a couple more books to the SF section! And red markers indicate the book's already bought.]

Well, it's that time of the year again when the piles and piles of books in my room threaten to drown me underneath its pages. (Which is not a bad way to go but that's neither here nor there.) Anyone interested can just leave a comment below the post. The paperbacks are 15-20 bucks a pop while TPBs and hardbound are 45-50 each. (And yes, if you noticed, there are a few here that were in the previous book sale list.)

Here's the list:

Fantasy--

• Unicorn and Dragon- Lynn Abbey
• Talion- Michael Stackpole
• Heart Readers/ White Mists of Power- Kristin Rusch
• Ravenloft: Heart of Midnight- J. Robert King
• Princess of the Flames- Ru Emerson
• Sir Apropos of Nothing- Peter David
• Weavers of Saramyr- Chris Wooding
• Tower at the Edge of Time- Lin Carter
• Ring of Lightning- Jane Fancher
• Spirit Ring- Lois McMaster Bujold
• Ariosto- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
• Watchtower- Elizabeth Lynn
• The Fellowship of the Talisman- Clifford Simak
• Songsmith- Andre Norton/ A.C. Crispin
• The Wolf of Winter/ Illusion- Paula Volsky
• Lyrec- Gregory Frost
• The Fires of the Faithful- Naomi Kritzer
• The Fires of Windameir- Neil Hancock
• Forests of the Heart- Charles de Lint
• Wizard War (US version)- Hugh Cook
• The Dark Shores- Adam Lee
• Shadow Knight- James Clemens
• Lord of Snow and Shadows- Sarah Ash (HB)
• Conqueror’s Moon- Julian May (HB)
• Shadow of Albion- Andre Norton and Rosemary Edghill (HB)
• Black Chalice- Marie Jakober (HB)
• Fire Logic- Laurie Marks (HB)
• Household Gods- Harry Turtledove/ Judith Tarr (HB)
• King’s Peace- Jo Walton (HB)
• Wicked- Gregory Maguire (TPB)
• ADDED- The Baker's Boy- JV Jones
• ADDED- Monument- Ian Graham (damaged, missing pages 41-88)
  

Horror--

• Undead and Unwed – May Janice Davidson
• Kitty and the Midnight Hour- Carrie Vaughn (advance copy)
• Blackhouse- Peter Straub/ Stephen King
• The Tomb- F. Paul Wilson
• Conjure Wife- Fritz Leiber
• Black Oak: Genesis/ Hush of Dark Wings/ Winter Knight- Charles Grant
• A Kiss of Shadows- Laurell Hamilton
• Storm Front- Jim Butcher
• Symphony/ In the Mood/ Chariot- Charles Grant
• The Keeper- Sarah Langan
• Midnight Sun- Ramsey Campbell
• Dawn Song- Richard Marano
  

Science Fiction--

• Archangel Protocol/ Messiah Node- Lydia Morehouse
• Star Wars Commando: Republic Commando: Hard Contact/ Triple Zero- Karen Traviss
• Star Wars: Traitor- Matt Stover
• Heavy Time/ Hell burner- C.J. Cherryh
• Forge of God/ Anvil of Stars- Greg Bear
• Gridlinked- Neal Asher
• Rally Cry/ Men of War/ Never Sound Retreat- William Forstchen
• In the Heart of Darkness/ An Oblique Approach- David Drake/ Eric Flint
• Mortal Engines- Philip Reeves (TPB) (YA)
• Airborn- Kenneth Oppel (TPB) (YA)
• Witches of Karres- James Schmitz (HB)
• The Watch- Dennis Danvers (HB)
• ADDED: Cowl- Neal Asher
• ADDED: Donnerjack- Roger Zelazny/ Jane Lindskold
• ADDED: Voyage of the Star Wolf/ The Middle of Nowhere- David Gerrold
• ADDED: Redliners- David Drake
• ADDED: The Secret of Life- Paul McAuley
• ADDED: Steel Beach- John Varley
• ADDED: Honour Guard/ The Guns of Tanith- Dan Abnett
• ADDED: A Fire Upon the Deep- Vernor Vinge
  

Others--

• Top Dog- J. J. Carroll
• Only an Alligator, book 1- Steve Aylett
• Love and Sleep, book 3- John Crowley (ARC)
• Master of All Desires- J.M. Riley (TPB)
• Deus Lo Volt!- E. Connell (TPB)
• L.A. Confidential (movie cover)- James Ellroy (TPB)
• Master and Commander – Patrick o’Brian (TPB)
• Trash, Sex and Magic- Jennifer Stevenson (TPB)
• Q- Luther Blissett (TPB)
• Carter Beats the Deal- Glen David Gold (TPB)
• Here be Dragons/ Falls the Shadow/ The Reckoning- Sharon Penman (TPBs)
• The Flaming Sword- Christian Jacq (TPB)
• Full Dark House- Christopher Fowler
• Drama City- George Pelecanos
• Zero Game- Brad Metzer
• Tears of the Giraffe- Alexander McCall Smith
• Big Trouble- David Barry (HB)

Non-fiction--

• Me Talk Pretty Someday/ Holidays on Ice- David Sedaris

Have pity on the poor books, why don't you...