A Touch of the Far-Away

My mom just arrived from abroad and one of the things she got me was a copy of the latest Locus magazine (issue March 2007). Wow, my very first genre magazine.

Definitely got to say this about American magazines: they have a certain feel that speaks 'far-away' for me. Maybe it's the almost brown, non-glossy pages or the ads of upcoming books. And the book ads remind me of those SFBC catalogues.

On another note, Locus is definitely a reader's magazine as opposed to Asimov or F&SF, which are more of writer's magazines (or digests). All those book lists at the back of the issue made me so dizzy, I had to sit down for a while.

Anticipation Blues

I just got word from andrew that he managed to get a copy of Joe Hill's The Heart-Shaped Box and the fact that it's out now is annoying the hell out of me.

FYI, Hill is the son of Stephen King and his 'hidden' identity had supposedly been one of the worst-kept secrets in the horror writers' community. Imagine that, you're the son of the King of Horror Writers and you want to write horror: how the heck are you going to get out of your father's shadow? (This is not deja vu as I've talked about how hard it was to get a copy of his story collection here.)

So I had the Powerbooks Greenbelt branch reserve a copy for me a week ago-- together with a copy of Hal Duncan's Ink-- and they promised they'd let me know once the books come in. Then andrew texted me yesterday that he managed to get a copy at their Megamall branch, the last one it seemed. Obviously, that left me wondering: where's my copy?

Annoyed, I called up the Greenbelt branch and they told me: sorry, they don't have their copies yet and that they couldn't do a thing about it. So no book for me.

*sigh* Patience is a virtue I hear.

On the other hand, I once tagged Duncan's first book Vellum as one of the best books I've read and Ink is the sequel/second book in that duology. Well, Fully-Booked Rockwell has trade-paperback copies of this but having been suitably impressed, I'm currently holding out for a hardbound copy of this monster to match my copy of the first book. Why settle for the expense? I'm a geek in that sense of the word when one has suitable expertise in a particular field (whether books, shooting guns, or esoteric knowledge like aliens landing on Earth), one does not stint on the small stuff.

In other news, I managed to catch 300 at the moviehouse earlier in the week and it was less than 'glorious' for me despite praise from friends and reviews. I suppose it was because I managed to finish Steven Pressfield's quite satisfying book on the subject matter, The Gates of Fire, before I watched the movie. Knowing the details on the Spartans' holding action against the million-strong Persians makes any Hollywood movie pale in comparison-- even if it's based on the well-received comic book by Frank Miller (and despite the movie's fantastic re-imagining of the event).

Or maybe it's because my rather high expectations of the movie based on this quite moving trailer. Funny enough, I had a sense that I could be expecting too much from the movie but despite this-- and despite this rather scathing movie review by Nick Mamatas-- I thought I could handle it. But I suppose the kicker that had me disgruntled by the end of the movie was the narrator's rather overlong declamation at the end of the movie. Geez, man, get over it and get on with the Battle of Plataea!

(On an additional note, skinny passed on this NYT review by Neil Stephenson, which more or less encapsulates how I feel about the said movie.)

Political Cats

As if I didn't have enough to do, I've revived my political commentary blog.

Meh. Not that I have anything important to say, more like a space to say it. Which is the whole point, right?

The Return of the Meme-Killer!

Tagged by rambling-soul. (Heh. Obviously, ramble hasn't heard of my avowed inclination to kill all memes passed on to me. To steal a quote, wasak to all memes!)

1. One book that changed your life.

I suppose if I were to really think about it, it was Peter Bowler's The Superior Person's Book of Words. With this book, I realized that words can be weapons, sharp enough to cut another without bleeding. Of course, I also realized that if one has to have wit, one also needs a sharp mind to use it. I've never looked back since then.

2. One book you have read more than once.

I don't really read a book more than once given how many books I still have on my to-read pile. However, there are some books I don't mind dipping into again and again, i.e. John Steakley's Vampire$ and Pamela Dean's Tamlin, which uses those oft-repeated tropes (vampires and elves respectively) in interesting ways. Ironically, these two books also bear the title 'books to be replaced if ever I lose my copy.' (Hmmm. Must elaborate further...)

3. One book you would want on a desert island.

What, with no hope of rescue? I'd get Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho. [Identity-protected] told me this one's depressing and am thinking that I'd probably end up killing myself afterwards. Something to motivate myself, yes?

4. One book that made you laugh.

Last one that was good for a laugh was Terry Pratchett's Guards series, i.e. Night Watch and Men at Arms. At the time, I wanted to try Pratchett but I didn't want to jump in too wholeheartedly. That man has more books written than there is money in my wallet.

Yes, unfortunately, I haven't read anything lately that's made me laugh.

5. One book that made you cry.

Ditto with crying. The really last one was Stormy by Jim Kjelgarrd when I was a wee kitten. Hey, I was a sucker for good dog stories then. Nowadays, if I want to bawl, I'd cut up a bowl of peeled onions.

6. One book you wish had been written.

I wish I had written The Da Vinci Code. That way, I'd be rich enough to write the stuff I want, including a subversive DVC version that has the secret history of onions in every 23rd word of the book .

You mean you never heard about the history of onions?

7. One book you wish had never been written.

Funny enough, I've never really thought about it. None, I guess. Now if you were to ask me, "what's one book that's a total waste of time but has been published a lot and because of this, has mulched vast tracts of forests, alas", well, we'd be here for a long time...

8. One book you are currently reading.

Lewis Hyde's Trickster Makes the World, about the study of the Trickster myths. It's an interesting book and has fascinating applications to the real world. For example, has anyone thought that Naruto, with his nine-tailed demon fox spirit, could actually be a vessel of change?

9. One book you have been meaning to read.

*looks at my to-read pile* You're kidding me right?

Tagging: No one! (Unless you wanna revive this thing.)

Another One Bites the Dust

Well, I just got word from Alan of Rabid Transit that they're not coming out with the latest issue.

That's another story submission down.

Ah well, back to the drawing board...

After of the last two rejections, I do think I need to fix my writing files on what stories I have on hand, what I need to write, what I still need to edit, yadda-yadda.

Unfortunately, I may be a cat but I have the sensibilities of a pack rat.

(In the meantime, I might as well work on other things...)

Me Write Pretty One Day*

(*with apologies to David Sedaris)

Well, just got word from Jeff Vandermeer. Alas, Jeff said that he liked my submission for the pirate anthology but unfortunately, another story had come in that had all the same elements. So, no go. Goes to show that there's an advantage about being early to the ball, eh?

But it's not so bad: Vandermeer liked my story. Woot.

Still, there was a point when I thought of giving up on the unfinished story, what with the pressure and the already-past deadline. After all, look at the established names already accepted in the antho:Sarah Monette, Elizabeth Bear, Kage Baker, and Howard Waldrop. Who wouldn't be scared off?

Coupled with this is I'm reading the latest Year's Best anthology edited by Link, Grant and Datlow and I'm constantly despairing over my feeling that I'll never write a story good enough for the annual. Oh, I know I'm a decent story-teller: I know my own strength and I'd like to think that I'd never bore anyone reading my stories. But writing 'pretty' stories (as I like to call 'em) like Graham Joyce, Kelly Link or Lucius Shepard? In terms of learning the literary language, I've got a long way to go, baby.

To compensate for this, [identity-protected] suggested not limiting my reading to genre stuff and that I should expand my reading horizon. However, I can proudly say that I don't read just spec fic (read: fantasy, SF, horror) but also non-fic and literary material. I do admit that I'm sorely lacking in the classics front but the funny thing is that I'm easily influenced by the prose of whatever I'm reading so it's not much of a big jump.

My question is, where do I start? I've got some Hemingway here, some Shakespeare there. Maybe Dante? Boccacio? Poetry is also supposed to be good so I've a compilation of Romantic poets on hand. But after a while, I'm overwhelmed on the hows and wheres and whats of my quest for self-improvement. After all, the right word at the right time must be combined with the beauty of the language. How does one balance these in writing? Maybe I'm being too ambitious, the way a carpenter wishes to be an architect.

skinny once asked, "What can I offer to the readers that others haven't read before?" I told him that it doesn't matter what others think, that it is what one writes that matters. Moreover, I thought, there's nothing new under the sun and that it's all just a matter of spin. He of course brought up Dan Brown's old faithful. Blasphemy, of course, and I vaporized him immediately. Still, he has a point.*

I'm not a writer (in the literary sense), I'm a storyteller, dammit. I don't write because that's what I am, I write because I like making stories, the way we made stories in our head when we were kids. The way we like listening or reading good stories that we never wanted to end.

In the end, in the face of all of these discouragements, the only thing I can do is just keep plugging away at the laptop or computer and keep submitting my stories. There are still so many stories to be told.

One last word: "Honest is easy. Fiction is where genius lies." (Guster, Demon)

*Just to clarify, my chat with skinny was pretty long and convoluted as he gave some pretty incisive insights on the craft of writing. (Gotta say, I do think it's more of a craft rather than art. But that's my opinion.)

As he says:

i think, there are so many writers in the world: what am i adding to that? what's the point of me making it just that tiny bit more difficult for other writers by crowding into the scene? i think the problem is with the literary scene is there's no longer much room for that sort of self-centeredness; there are too many writers in the world these days, so, why does this writer deserve to be published but not this one? more importantly, why should i read this writer and not that one? so the question i have to ask myself: why do i think other people 'should' (note the quotes) read my work?what's the purpose of getting it out there? if my only answer is because i want my stories to get out there, is that i need to make a buck out of something i like doing, i feel like i'm doing readers like myself a kind of disservice cluttering the scene

Something to think about when writing your stories and submitting it. As if us writers don't have enough dark thoughts to worry at. *wry grin*

Failure to Launch

Argh.

I don't think I'll make the deadline.

Updated March 7, 2007:

Whew. Despite my feeling that I sent it past the deadline, Jeff sez it's okay.

Conquering the World One Book at A Time

I must have been out of my mind.

I ordered a number of books last November from the ever-dependable Booktopia, thinking that it would be nice to start the year with some good books. As usual, I went overboard-- but that should be no surprise, right?

Unfortunately, my order finally came through 'round February or just when my wallet was somewhat leaner after Christmas bonuses. But how could I resist? A lot of good books that came out since the last time I ordered are from small press like Nightshade and Pyr. That means the books are a bit more expensive. But what the hell, you only live once, right?

The books I got were:

1. Glen Cook's A Cruel Wind, A Chronicle of the Dread Empire
2. Chris Roberson's Paragea
3. Liz William's Snake Agent
4. Robert E. Howard's Kull the Conqueror
5. Jay Lake's Trial of Flowers

My previous post on Cook aside, I'm particularly excited over A Cruel Wind, which is an omnibus of his earlier Dread Empire series. Noted fantasist Jeff Vandermeer (whose book taste I trust) did the intro on this one so it definitely should be good despite the years since it was first published.

Likewise, I've been hearing a lot about horror master Thomas Ligotti from jp and andrew so I've been champing at the bit for a taste of Ligotti's stories (his online stuff notwithstanding). Alas, his material is pretty hard to find so when I found a copy of his short-story collection Shadow at the Bottom of the World on the Booktopia bookshelves, I snatched it up. Moreover, andrew has heavily recommended horror writer Ramsey Campbell so I thought Ligotti's book would look good together with Campbell's own short-story collection, Alone with the Horrors that I got from Aeon Bookstore. Ironically, it took me quite some time to get this one, with a copy showing up at Booktopia and disappearing before I decided to get the one at the Katipunan bookshop.

The new year also brought some interesting finds in 2nd-hand bookshops. Thank goodness for these else I'd have gone crazy waiting while trying to save money just to buy their more expensive cousins.

These include:

1. Amos Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drunkard and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
2. T.E.D. Klein's Dark Gods
3. Richard Bowes' Minions of the Moon
4. Jeffrey Barlough's Dark Sleeper

This was an interesting selection of book-finds. First of all, Tutuola is more known in the literary circles rather than genre. However, I heard a lot of interesting stuff about Tutuola's stuff and consider The Palm-Wine Drunkard one of my best finds. This also appeases my need to look outside the Western world for general literature. On the other hand, I found out that T.E.D. Klein was this other horror writer whose stories are hard to find. So when I sourced this dusty yet still good paperback copy of Klein's short stories worth 30 bucks (or less than a dollar), I couldn't resist.

(Digression: Yes, I've noticed that am getting a lot of horror stuff. I suppose am just checking out the older, less-known stuff in horror that are now considered 'classics' the same way I checked out fantasy's lesser known lights like Lord Dunsany, James Branch Cabell, and GK Chesterton. What better way to know where the genre is going by reading where it came from, right? It's not all about JRR Tolkien and Stephen King, yanno.)

Last but not least, [identity-protected's] sister offered to get me a book while she was in the US and on the spot, I suggested Caitlin Kiernan's Threshold, about a girl who hunts monsters. Thankfully, she-- the sister, not the girl-hunting monster-- was kind enough to get me the paperback reprint.

Now if I could only split myself twelve ways to Sunday to read all these books...