Thank You, Science Fiction, For Spoiling My Childhood

As seen on Leigh Reyes--My Life As A Verb, Thank You, Science Fiction, For Spoiling My Childhood. An excerpt:

I can’t read regular fiction. I’ve tried. I don’t care if it’s won a Booker. I turn the page and there’s this guy meeting his literary agent in a bar, and I wait for the Deleutherian delegation in their lightgrav suits, but they never appear.

Thank you, science fiction, for spoiling my childhood.

Thank you for making me want to die on the moon when I was 8 years old. The first science fiction story I read was Requiem. It was in a book without a cover, a book a grandaunt’s friend had brought home from the Clark Air Base library. In Requiem, a man dies on the moon, alone. I didn’t understand why, but I thought it was grand. “Home is the sailor, home from sea / and the hunter home from the hill.”

Thank you for making me disobey my mother. We were not allowed to watch TV on school nights. I broke the rule for Star Trek.

Thank you for encouraging me to copy Ray Bradbury. Oh, how I wanted to write like him, all run-on sentences and mysterious inhalations, little green men and wicked prognostications, sipping dandelion wine and munching golden apples until my belly ached and my fingers were sticky-sad with late October and someone else’s word-and-world whimsy.

Thank you for making me over-confident in my numeracy. I had read so much about interstellar warp drives that I really believed I could calculate how to make one work. (This explains why I hold no grudge towards my trigonometry, algebra and calculus teachers.)

Click here to read the entire entry.

The Latest From The Cave Of A Reading Hermit

My latest entries for my New Worlds blog, From The Cave Of A Reading Hermit:


The Tales That Hooked

A Look At The Past And The Future For New Worlds Fantasy Gamers

Invasion Of Piracy?

Just Got Hit By Constant Change

On Criticism

Taking A Picture Is Like Writing A Story (And Vice-Versa)

This Is Banned Books Week


My older entries are here and here.

PGS Contributor MRR Arcega Remembers Ondoy

PGS contributor MRR Arcega remembers typhoon Ondoy in this post, where she reminds us of the Ruin and Resolve anthology promo first, and then talks about the book After The Storm: Stories On Ondoy (now out in stores) where she shares her essay, "Kung Paano Hindi Matangay". Congratulations, Bhex!

Filipino Reading Groups And Interesting Threads

Here are links care of ArtSeblis, who left them in her comment here:

Filipino reading groups and interesting threads. Here they are:

Filipinos on Goodreads

Voracious reading habit and terrible book buying addiction of Filipino book club members, here and here.

Interest of book club members to read Filipino books, here, here, and here.

There are more and I may not have found the best conversations. At the Flips Flipping Pages we talk about books and everything concerning books, from covers to book tax.

The Death Of The Book Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

Maybe all the talk about books going the way of the CD (shrinking market) is premature. Here's an article, The Death Of The Book Has Been Greatly Exaggerated, from Technology Review. An excerpt:

Tech pundits recently moved up the date for the death of the book, to sometime around 2015, inspired largely by the rapid adoption of the iPad and the success of Amazon's Kindle e-reader. But in their rush to christen a new era of media consumption, have the pundits overreached?

I'm calling the peak of inflated expectations now. Get ready for the next phase of the hype cycle - the trough of disillusionment.

The signs of a hype bubble are all around us. Mostly in the form of irrational exuberance.

In Clearwater, Florida, the principle of the local high school recently replaced all his students' textbooks with latest-gen Kindles - without, apparently, any awareness that formal trials of the Kindle as a textbook replacement led universities like Princeton and Arizona State University to reject it as inadequate.

Then you have pundits like Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT's Media Lab, making statements to the effect that the physical book is dead in 5 years. This is the kind of statement that, to be fair, has either been taken out of context or is demonstrably untrue, in as much as any prediction can be proved false before the future arrives.

Here's the reality this kind of hype is up against: back of the envelope calculations suggest that ebooks are only six pecent of the total market for new books.

How can that be possible, when Amazon recently said that ebooks are outselling hard-cover books at Amazon.com? Easy: Amazon is only 19 percent of the total book market. Also, Amazon has something like 90 percent of the world's ebook market.

It's facts like these that led one blogger to ask whether or not Amazon is "lying" about eBooks outselling printed books. Amazon isn't lying, of course, but its announcement that ebooks are outselling hard cover tomes was just the flashpoint pundits needed to trot out their own bottled-up desires.

Harlan Ellison Says He's Dying

Writer Harlan Ellison says he's dying. (Well, if you think about it, aren't we all?)

He'll make his last public appearance at MadCon 2010. He says that he'll answer any question thrown at him. An excerpt from the article:

Never one to hold back, Harlan Ellison shared his thoughts and feelings freely in a 90-minute conversation from his California home, the Lost Aztec Temple of Mars.

On how he knows he's dying

"An old dog senses when it's his time -- dogs have that capacity; nobody doubts that. Nobody. But everybody doubts when you say, 'I'm dying.' They think you're being a Victorian actress. They think you're doing Bernhardt."

On mortality

"I'm not afraid of death, and there is not one iota of suicide in me. All I want to make sure is that when the paper comes out, it says, 'Harlan Ellison died in his sleep.' You're talking to, essentially, a pretty happy guy. No, not 'pretty' happy -- that's television talk. I am inordinately happy. I am wonderfully happy. I am Icarus-flying-to-the-sun happy. I have led a magical life. I have led exactly the life I would wish to lead. I have led the life I guess that everybody in their heart of hearts wants to lead."

On days gone by

"I loved writing. I loved the word. I loved movies, and we had no television when I was a kid, but I loved books, and I read book after book after book after book. Unlike many another writer who was educated and had college, I was on the road at age 13. Not because of anything bad with my family -- it was just, I had a wanderlust. I was like the great writer Jim Tully or Jack London. I stood there at age 10 in Paynesville, Ohio, and I said, 'This is all mine! All I gotta do is go and get it.' And so I started running away. After a while, my mother said, 'I'll pack you sandwiches. Would you like peanut butter-and-jelly?' Sometimes I'd get as far away as Kansas City and wind up working as carny and then wind up in jail, and get sent home. And I'd go back to school and I'd do very well, and then I'd run away again, and I'd run away to way up into Canada and work in a logging camp."

Ruin And Resolve Anthology Promotion

To remember last year's major typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, Rocket Kapre is releasing the Ruin And Resolve anthology for free until October 8, 2010. Click here for more information.

Filipino Book Bloggers (Part 4)

The Filipino book bloggers who attended the first get-together last September 25, 2010, 3 p.m., at Shangrila Mall in Pasig:

Chachic's Book Nook (Chachic)
Taking A Break (Jason)
Asia In The Heart, World On The Mind (Tarie)
One More Page (Tina)
Guy Gone Geek (Aaron)
Ace Of Books (Ace)
Rocket Kapre (Pao)
The Seeker (Rezel)
The Polysyllabic Spree (Aldrin)
Coffeespoons (Honey)
I Flip Pages (Gege)
ArtSeblis (Michelle)
Pelikula Tumblr (Jansen)

Special mention to Jasper of Avalon.ph who was also there early on. Jasper has gone out of his way to contact local authors and publishers so that they can sell their books through his site, and he doesn't charge them a thing. He says it's his way of supporting local authors and publishers so that they can get their work out there on the web and have a way of reaching those who may want to buy their books online. Thank you very much, Jasper! More power to you!

Related links: Filipino Book Bloggers 1, 2, 3, 4.

Filipino Book Bloggers (Part 3)

Overall, it was a fun afternoon spent with fellow Pinoy book-lovers. Though the venue could have been a little less crowded and noisy, one wherein everyone could've spoken their minds and be heard, I'm sure this was also a product of the event attracting more people than expected. That this number would've taken time off from their regular Saturday afternoons to be there says a lot about their love for books.

I also agree with one of the bloggers that the talk could also have been a little less serious, with a chance for everyone to introduce themselves to each other. I hope that the serious talk didn't turn anyone off, but if there are going to be future get-togethers, then yes, I agree that more fun, jokes, and mingling would be welcome to balance the overall seriousness of this first meeting. Oh, and yes, more talk of books and stories, too.

My next post will have the last photos I took, as well as the blogs of everyone who attended.

Related links: Filipino Book Bloggers 1, 2, 3, 4.

Filipino Book Bloggers (Part 2)

Early talk at the get-together went to local publishing, taking off from where someone started by sharing her experiences with publishers during the recently concluded Future Of The Book conference. In a nutshell, she was taken aback that many of the publishers were surprised at the existence of so many young readers who blog, that they, in fact, didn't know that this highly passionate and vocal segment of the reading market existed, or that they even kept in touch with each other via online social networks, email, or just plain following each others' blogs.

The general feeling is that local publishers just put out the books they want to put out without regard for what the reading market want to read. There is a heavy emphasis on certain categories of material locally, so much so that other categories (or genres, if you will, haha) are underserved, or even unserved. Publishing, someone else said, is a business, that much is clear, but if marketing as a part of business is also understanding and knowing the consumer, then the publishers could do a better job of learning more about this passionate segment of readers that are more than willing to read a more varied lineup of local books. How to learn about them? Well, since these readers are active online, it would do well for publishers to track and read their blogs, then to support them as a book group, to perhaps even give advanced reading copies of books they're interested in so that they can blog about them, which can serve as some sort of online advertising already. Even a negative review may actually help in learning just what local readers are after from local publishers.

The point is, publishers should keep track of readers, especially the young ones, and it's not as difficult to do as before thanks to the internet. In this way, they can learn about what their market likes and dislikes and then make their publishing decisions accordingly, and less of either a guessing game or of a single-type of release.

For balance, it was also pointed out that even if it is slow, there has indeed been a shift in the types of books being released. Even if the more common and expected types of fiction and non-fiction are still around, there are a slowly growing number of other categories of books written and released by local writers, ones that are, as another blogger said, more accessible to readers. The growing variety can only help in growing the total number of readers.

The implication I got from listening to all the talk is that though it is good to have a lot of the standard fare that we've been getting through the years, it's also good to have books from the other end of the spectrum, those that tend to be taken less seriously, as well as everything else inbetween. The bottom line is choice for the readers, a choice of titles in fiction and non-fiction that can cater to the varying tastes that are part of any market made up of disparate individuals. The eventual sharing and discussion of these books, and ergo, of these tastes, the likes and dislikes, can actually then serve to grow interest in all sorts of books, and thus, grow the reading market. A steady serving of the same thing over and over again can only lead to disinterest, maybe even stagnation.

What is certain is that there are readers out there who love books and reading with a passion, and would absorb what local publishers have to offer if only what was being offered matches their desired reading material.

Whoah, so much for the serious, heavy stuff. My own personal and fun experiences of the get-together soon.

Related links: Filipino Book Bloggers 1, 2, 3, 4.

Filipino Book Bloggers (Part 1)

I PM'd a birthday greeting to an online book blogging buddy, Asia In The Heart, World On The Mind, early last week, and when she sent me her reply thanking me for the greeting, she asked if I was going to the meet up of Filipino book bloggers on Saturday, September 25.

Out of the loop, I was like, "Huh? What get-together? What's going on?"

It seems there was an online call over at Filipino Book Bloggers for, um, Filipino book bloggers to get together and meet last Saturday at the 6/f of Shangrila Mall in Pasig, and I wasn't aware of it. Oops, my bad. My thanks to Asia In The Heart, World On The Mind, for letting me know about it in time for me to go.

Meeting fellow readers to talk books was great fun. There were at least fifteen of us book bloggers there, fifteen people passionate about books and reading, fifteen people for whom cracking open a book and spending a lot of time and brain power immersing ourselves in a world of words is a regular and important habit to keep. Given how long and how much I've been advocating reading, to hear others of like-mind speak about reading and books with even more passion than I can muster made me happy.

I was easily (easily!) the oldest one there, so knowing that there were these new, younger faces--added to the others I have met over the years--told me that a local reading culture is stronger than others think. I've heard many people lament many times that our country does not have a reading culture and that reading, or the lack of the habit, is one reason why our country is not what it could be. Looking at the greater population across demographics and all socio-economic segments, maybe that statement is true, or maybe not. But what is true is that Pinoys can be readers and can develop the reading habit, as shown by how the activity has taken the heart of these bloggers. It's all quite encouraging, and overall, a good Saturday afternoon. There is hope here, hope to develop and promote reading and to ask for the kind of books local readers want to buy. I'm going to do my best to attend future get-togethers.

More photos and the salient points that were discussed in a succeeding blog entry.

Related links: Filipino Book Bloggers 1, 2, 3, 4.

The Kobayashi Maru Of Love by Carljoe Javier

I would just like to plug Carljoe Javier's new book of essays, The Kobayashi Maru Of Love. It's available at Avalon.ph. You can read a review of it here. Carljoe also shares his experiences as a writer here. Congratulations, Carljoe!

The Apex Book Of World SF Vol. 2

The TOC of The Apex Book Of World SF Vol. 2 has been posted here at Ecstatic Days, and it's wonderful to see that two Pinoys have stories in the anthology: Rochita Loenen-Ruiz for "Alternate Girl's Expatriate Life", and PGS contributor Andrew Drilon for "The Secret Origin Of Spin-man". Congratulations to Rochita and Andrew!

"Asian Supernatural" by PGS Contributor Alex Paman

PGS contributor Alex Paman's first book, Asian Supernatural, is now out and available at Amazon! (see above scan of its cover)

As described in the book's preface, it is "an attempt, for the very first time, to truly catalog ghosts and monsters from all the Asian and Pacific cultures in a single volume. Its contents come from oral tales, old anthropology books, travel narratives, and other native resources that were written before the advent of the internet."

It's pretty comprehensive; looking at the table of contents, it covers not just China, Japan, and Korea--arguably the first cultures that come to mind among many when "Asian supernatural creatures" are mentioned, but also countries like India, Tibet, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and yes, the Philippines.

Here are some excerpts from the introduction:

The recent popularity of Japanese, Korean, and Thai horror movies in American theaters has led to blossoming of sorts for Eastern ghost stories. Unlike their Western counterparts of emotional vampires, bloodthirsty zombies and blade-wielding serial killers, Asian spirits represent a dualism rarely seen in cinema, appearing as grotesque as they are beautiful to behold, as subtle as they are overwhelming.

In contrast to the Western convention of linear thinking and definition, the Eastern approach embraces a more intuitive and cyclical approach to life. The harmony of opposites, reincarnation, ancestor worship, karma and animism (the belief that trees, rocks and locations have inherent spirits) are overlapping principles that most people are governed by, and it is this universal perception of existence that has made the supernatural an integral and accepted part of everyday life.

Alex writes that he often wondered what would happen if "Asian demons came to the United States and began wreaking havoc." He goes on:

Since very few books were written about Asian ghostlore when I was growing up, I began collecting anthropology books while in college and literally anything else that contained sections on Asian spirit beliefs. I had never seen a book that listed all of our native demons, so this was my small way of compiling a library that would someday help me piece together an even larger picture. I immediately noticed parallels between seemingly disparate Eastern and Western traditions: vampires, zombies, choking ghosts, vanishing hitchhikers, and mysterious balls of light apparently spanned our cultures as well.

Years later, when I still couldn't find a book that listed all the ghosts and demons from my region of the world, I decided to utilize my collection and write one myself. The result is the humble little book that you hold in your hands.

You can check out Alex's book here.

It looks like you did a good job compiling all this into one book, Alex! Congratulations! Here's looking forward to more books by you!

English Blamed For Poor Literacy In The Philippines

Via PGS contributor Chiles Samaniego, here's an article that says that English may be the reason why literacy rates in the Philippines are poor. An excerpt:

The use of English as a medium of instruction even for starter learners may be the reason why some nine million Filipinos aged 10 to 64 find it difficult to read, write, compute and comprehend, according to an education official.

The use of a secondary language in classroom instruction inhibits learning among young students, eventually leading to poor literacy skills when they become adults, said Education Undersecretary Yolanda Quijano.

“Maybe it’s because our children are taught in English. They are trained to listen but because they don’t have the facility of the language they cannot answer back what they think and what they’re feeling,” said Quijano, a 43-year veteran educator.

Joseph Nacino Interview

Click here to read PGS contributor Joseph Nacino's interview on Fantasy Magazine (his story, "Logovore", was published there). An excerpt:

Could you tell us a bit about the process of writing “Logovore”?

Okay, the inception of the story came about from an idea of a person who eats words in order to live. Normally, I have a writing exercise that involves timing myself to write within a 15-minute period which is perfect if I want to flesh out a particular concept. But this time, because I was feeling particularly inspired with the idea, I extended my 15-minutes to give birth to the vignette, “The Word-Eater Falls in Love.” (For an idea of this came about, you can read my blog post about it here, which was first written in 2005.)

You said that “Logovore” was inspired by the idea of “how a person who survives on eating one particular language would be able to live in a foreign land.” Do you enjoy traveling or moving to new places? What do you like or dislike most?

Well, it’s always good to travel and I’ve been to a few cities in Europe, the US and Southeast Asia. So yes, I like traveling and new places. However, I usually get homesick for a Filipino face after a week or so and I can never really survive long without our basic staple, which is rice.

Also, one thing I like about traveling to new places is–of course–all the new sights to see like the canals in Amsterdam and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I also loved looking at the architecture in Paris but really, it’s best if you go there with a friend or loved one: it’s hard not to point at the Eiffel Tower and say “Look at that!” and there’s no one beside you.

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky! :D

Warning: Shameless gloating and plugging here!

Talk about good fortune dropping into my lap!

Lord Of The Rings geek that I am, I couldn't help but join Fantasy Magazine's Win A Lord Of The Rings Gift Package contest, and in a random drawing, I won! Hooray!

My thanks to Fantasy Magazine, to contest organizer Cat Rambo (whose many stories I've enjoyed reading), and to publisher Sean Wallace!

Sean, by the way, has just had twins with his wife, and he's enjoying the sleepless nights :). Congratulations, Sean!

Will Apple Take Over The E-Book Market?

Amazon rules the e-book roost, but if rumors of Apple being in talks with publishers to set up their own iBookstore, similar to iTunes, is it possible for them to overtake Amazon? Some think yes, some no, and some say it's two different markets and shouldn't be compared. An excerpt from the article, Apple, Soon To Be An E-Book Dominator:

Bloomber

g News, which broke the story, said Apple was in talks with publishers, but hadn’t quite ironed out the big issue, subscription revenue. “Apple’s effort is aimed at luring more consumers to the iPad and helping publishers sell subscriptions, rather than single issues,” Bloomberg said. “The main hang-ups between Apple and publishers, including Time Warner, Condé Nast, Hearst Corp. and NewsCorp, are who controls data about users and how to split subscription revenue, the people said. Pricing for subscriptions also hadn’t been worked out.”

Apple and the publishers in on the talks have been cagey with information so far, but much like tripartite alliance meetings behind closed doors, this hasn’t prevented leaks and conjecture from the media. The launch date for the newsstand could be as soon as late November. Or much later, if Apple decides to be its prickly self, and gives the publishers serious uphill over subscription revenues. Indications are that talks have temporarily stalled, although no one really knows whose fault that may be.

What may be another major bone of contention is Apple’s policy of not releasing information relating to iTunes customers. According to Geek.com, publishers who want this information for advertising “are concerned over the revenue sharing terms and Apple’s reluctance to release detailed information about its iTunes-using customers. Publishers want this data for marketing purposes and to bundle print and digital subscriptions.”

There is also the question of whether Apple should be taking a cut from sales at all. Publishers are of the view that Apple should not have control over revenue or user data, which they compare to TV manufacturers taking a cut from shows that air on their devices. However, Apple will have a thing or two to say about that, probably along the lines of their cut being for the user-friendly and very popular platform they provide, rather than for their hardware or the software that runs on it.

Not Recommended For Younger Readers

Here's a blog entry, "Not Recommended For Younger Readers", that talks about the appropriateness, or lack thereof, of subject matter in children's literature. An excerpt:

Last month I was talking to some writerly friends about a less-than excited review I had just found for The Boneshaker. The reader felt the story was far too dark to recommend to children, and commented that she was still a little shaken by it. “Haunted” was the term she used, actually. My immediate reaction on reading it was that, intentionally or not (and it wasn’t), it was actually a really great review, and the friends I was emailing responded the same way. I started one of my replies with the words, “May we all live to haunt some adults.”

At this month’s Brooklyn Book Festival, Mac Barnett told a story about the day his third-grade brother came home and informed his parents casually that he and a few buddies at school had started a swearing club. This, of course, reduced the audience to hysterical laughter, but Barnett was quick to point out that if you tried to represent that in a book, you’d be toeing a tremendously fine line. There is, he said, no way to write the life of any kid in an uncensored fashion.

All of this got me thinking. Obviously there’s an ongoing argument between writers, young readers, and their parents about what they can handle. Or maybe the disagreement isn’t so much about what they can handle, but what they should even be thinking about. Or maybe it’s both.

86% Of Pinoys Are Literate--NSO

The National Statistics Office reports that 86% of Pinoys are literate. An excerpt from the article:

The National Statistics Office (NSO) central office revealed that 58 million out of the estimated 67 million Filipinos aged 10 to 64 years old are functionally literate, meaning they can read, write, compute, and comprehend.

Based on the 2008 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), whose results were released this month and presented by NSO Administrator Carmelita Ericta at the 2010 National Literacy Conference and Awards here, the functional literacy of over 86.5 percent is slightly higher than the 2003 FLEMMS results which was at 84.1 percent.

The latest survey showed that literacy is much higher among those who had completed high school or higher education.

Day 2 Videos From The Future Of The Book Conference 2010

Rocket Kapre (PGS contributor Paolo Chikiamco) has done all of us who couldn't go to The Future Of The Book 2010 Conference a favor by posting videos from day 2. Here's the link to his post, and an excerpt:

The first Future of the Book conference was held last week at the UP-Ayala Technohub in Quezon City (here’s a great overview of the conference at Coffeespoons), which brought together publishers, writers, teachers, readers – and yes, even lawyers – to discuss the changing aspects of publishing throughout the world, and in the Philippines in particular. I was there on the second day, to talk about how independent publishers can thrive in the digital age, and I managed to take videos of a few of the other speakers as well.

A few caveats though: First, the latter half of the footage of Charles Tan’s talk has atrocious video quality – my Vado is quirky that way apparently – but the audio is still good, so I uploaded it because it was a great talk, and you can at least still listen to it (or indulge in Max Headroom nostalgia by watching it).

The second caveat is that because of time constraints, a few of the speeches had to be rushed or cut short. After the videos, I’ll have the full text of my speech and links to a few others.

I’d like to congratulate the conference organizers for a successful conference, and I hope we can all work together to maximize the benefits of this new world of publishing for all interested parties. But I swear to God, the next time I hear someone say Filipinos don’t have a reading culture, I’m shoving a textbook up his ass…

You can also read Rocket Kapre's talk here at Digital Book World.

Using Myth In War

Here's a report on how the US military used a local myth to gain an advantage while fighting the Huks in the Philippines during the 1950's. An excerpt:

“To the superstitious, the Huk battleground was a haunted place filled with ghosts and eerie creatures. A combat psy-war squad was brought in. It planted stories among town residents of an Asuang living on the hill where the Huks were based. Two nights later, after giving the stories time to make their way up to the hill camp, the psywar squad set up an ambush along the trail used by the Huks.”

Lansdale continued: “When a Huk patrol came along the trail, the ambushers silently snatched the last man of the patrol, their move unseen in the dark night. They punctured his neck with two holes, vampire-fashion, held the body up by the heels, drained it of blood, and put the corpse back on the trail. When the Huks returned to look for the missing man and found their bloodless comrade, every member of the patrol believed that the Asuang had got him and that one of them would be next if they remained on that hill. When daylight came, the whole Huk squadron moved out of the vicinity.”

Writing Workshops At The Filipinas Heritage Library

Here are the coming writing workshop at the Filipinas Heritage Library:

ADVANCED CREATIVE WRITING
September 22, 29, October 6, 13, and 20, 2010
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Speaker: Ms. Conchitina R. Cruz

What inspires you to write? Explore the depths of your imagination through the Advanced Creative Writing workshop offered by the Filipinas Heritage Library. Understand the nuances of fiction and non-fiction, and create your own story!

The workshop facilitator Ms. Conchitina Cruz is currently a professor for creative writing at the Department of English and Comparative Literature of the University of the Philippines in Diliman. She is a Palanca Awardee and won the National Book Award for Poetry.

Participants will be required to submit a written piece upon registration to be used in the workshop.

Workshop fee: P 5,500
Deadline for reservations: September 15, 2010
A 5% discount will be given to those who pay in full on or before September 10, 2010.

---

BASIC MEMOIR WRITING
September 20, 27, and 28, 2010
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Rosario C. Lucero

Everyone has a story to tell. After all, life is filled with rich and vivid experiences. Find out how to record your memories with "Life Sketches", an introductory memoir-writing course that will help you transform your life's stories into effective and beautiful narratives.

The workshop speaker Dr. Rosario Cruz- Lucero teaches Philippine literature and creative writing at the Departmento ng Filipinio at Panitikang Pilipino and at the Department of English Studies and Comparative Literature of the University of the Philippines, Diliman, where she obtained her AB, MA, and Ph.D. degrees.

She took postgraduate studies at Oxford University, England on a British Council grant, and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, on a Ford Foundation grant. She has conducted an observation tour of ASEAN universities on an Asian Foundation grant; and received a writing fellowship for Lavigny, Switzerland.

Participants will be required to submit a written piece upon registration to be used in the workshop. Participants of previous Memoir Writing Workshops can participate during the workshop portion.

Workshop fee: P 3,500
Deadline for reservations: September 15, 2010
A 5% discount will be given to those who pay in full on or before September 10, 2010.

---

CREATIVE WRITING FOR BEGINNERS (4th batch)
September 30, October 5, 14, 21, and 28, 2010
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Learn the basic skills and techniques in writing creatively with this writing course for beginners. This workshop will guide participants in tapping their intuition as well as their senses for inspiration, and developing the skills and techniques in creative writing.

Workshop fee: P 5,500
Deadline for reservations: September 24, 2010
A 5% discount will be given to those who pay in full on or before September 20, 2010.

---

PR for Nonprofits
October 27, 2010 (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) tentative schedule

Resource Speaker: Ms. Cristina Amor Maclang

Learn how to send your message across to the right target market with an effective communications and PR strategy. This special workshop is an initiative of the Filipinas Heritage Library offered to all nonprofit organizations as part of its advocacy in strengthening other nonprofits' skills in the fields of communications and public relations, which are becoming essential tools in today's competitive industry.

Amor Maclang is partly responsible for pioneering Social Marketing in the Philippines through Word-Of-Mouth, Internet Buzz and Influencer Activations. She is a specialist in strategic marketing communications who service well-loved market leaders and young niche brands.
She is a co-founded of a market research and consultancy firm, which gradually evolved into Public Relations. She led GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications move into social marketing and is now one of the country's leading industry innovators.

The workshop fee is P900 inclusive of handouts, materials, snacks, and a certificate. A down payment of P500 is required to reserve a slot. The deadline for reservations is September 6, 2010.

Workshop fee: P 900
Down payment fee: P500

---

FEATURE WRITING (2nd batch)
October 27, November 4, and 10, 2010
6pm to 9pm

The Filipinas Heritage Library invites everyone with a knack for storytelling and an interest in discussing current issues and other topics of relevance to learn about the art and craft of Feature Writing. This introductory workshop will focus on the basics of writing a feature story. It will help participants find and develop stories behind various topics, and focus on writing at a more personal level and in a more narrative style. Learn what defines a feature story, and its different types and styles. Discover what it takes to get published!

Workshop fee: P 3,500
Deadline for reservations: October 20, 2010
A 5% discount will be given to those who pay in full on or before October 15, 2010.

---

FOOD WRITING
November 9, 16, and 23, 2010
6pm to 9pm

Combine your love for good food and your love for writing in this introductory workshop for Food Writing! Learn techniques in writing food features, restaurant reviews, travel writing, and food blogging for PR and marketing. Find out how to get your work published through the workshop's overview of the publishing industry.

Workshop fee: P 3,500
Deadline for reservations: November 2, 2010
A 5% discount will be given to those who pay in full on or before October 29, 2010.

---

BUSINESS WRITING (3rd batch)
November 11, 12, and 15, 2010
6pm to 9pm

Get your message across in a clear and professional fashion by learning the techniques in crafting effective business correspondences. This regular workshop offered by the Filipinas Heritage Library has helped employees and professionals from different industries and fields significantly improve their writing styles and formats.

Workshop fee: P 3,500
Deadline for reservations: November 5, 2010
A 5% discount will be given to those who pay in full on or before October 29, 2010.

---

Payments can be given in cash, check, or through credit card. A down payment of P 1000 is required to reserve a slot. Payments are non-refundable.

For inquiries, please call Joy de Asis at 892-1801 loc. 27, send an SMS to 0917-561-2413, or email deasis.ms(at)ayalafoundation(d0t)org, or visit www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph.

Joseph Nacino's "Logovore" On Fantasy Magazine

PGS contributor Joseph Nacino's story, "Logovore", is now up and available on Fantasy Magazine. This is the same story that won 1st place at the 2nd Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards. Click on the link above to read it!

Theodora Goss On Lovecraft

Theodora Goss, a writer whose stories I've enjoyed a lot, shares why she likes Lovecraft. An excerpt:

"The Shadow over Innsmouth" exemplifies why I adore Lovecraft so much. The scholarly consensus seems to be that Lovecraft was essentially a fearful man, which is sort of what "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" is about. Lovecraft was afraid of New York, of the immigrant population that surrounded him, and so he recast what he feared as monstrous. Aliens became Aliens. At least, that's what the scholarship, based largely on biographical material, implies. But what I see in Lovecraft is a staging of fear. I think he takes great delight in making us afraid, and so I see him as a particularly conscious artist rather than as an unconscious, fearful author.

For example, have you ever noticed that the Virginia estate of the Delapores, in "The Rats in the Walls," is named Carfax? Carfax is also the name of Dracula's London house. Lovecraft may not have intended the reference consciously, but because he's the author of Supernatural Horror in Literature and knew his precursors so well, it can't be ignore. At some level, he's identifying the slave-owning Delapores as vampires – even before we discover that they had a history of eating people. He's as much an unconscious author, who simply channeled his fears into his fiction, as Poe or Stoker – who were also conscious artists. (All right, Stoker wasn't necessarily an artist. But Dracula is one of the most carefully structured novels I've read.)

What Do the Most Highly Paid Authors Have In Common?

The top-ten earning authors of the past year have some things in common, according to The Creative Penn. They are:

Write a lot of books.
Write a series.
Know your brand and write in a genre.
Understand it takes time.
Write popular fiction.
Create multiple streams of fiction.

PGS Available At The Manila International Book Fair

My thanks to PGS contributor Paolo Chikiamco for informing me that copies of all the issues of PGS are available at the booth of Anvil Publishing at the Manila International Book Fair. What's more, he blogged about it in his Spec Fic Guide To MIBF 2010, with photos even! Thanks, Pao! Please head on over to the fair and buy PGS copies at the Anvil booth!

Oh, and do send Pao your greetings. He and his wife are expecting! :D

1st Philippine Digital Publishing Conference Revolutionalizes Reading

Here's an article about the 1st Philippine Digital Publishing Conference over at Philippine Online Chronicles. An excerpt:

“As we shift towards new ways of sharing ideas, many are asking this major major question - What will happen to the book as we know it?” asked master of ceremonies Toots Policarpio.

A rising demand for e-books and e-book readers (like the Amazon Kindle, smart phones, or the Apple iPad), as well as the availability of information online, have marked a shift in the market which some say herald the end of traditional books and publishing.

Electronic books can be downloaded quickly, an entire library can be stored in a single e-book reader, and these may feature search tools, or font change. In addition, e-books remove the need for warehousing and transport of books, potentially cutting down book prices.

Keynote speaker and BDAP president Lirio Sandoval said, “The public and private sector of the Philippine book industry are very much concerned about the future of the book industry in this digital generation, and it affects publishers, book sellers and readers alike,”

“Will it benefit our local publishers or will they be eaten up?” he asked. “Will readers benefit from lower prices and wider selections, or only those who can afford to take advantage of this technology?”

“Book sellers are even more concerned,” he added. “Do they still have a role to play in the book industry?”

“This conference is the latest in many such conferences around the world, asking what the future might hold for [books and traditional publishing],” he said. “Some say the digital age will be the end of the book, others say it will be another chapter in the long and illustrious history of the book.”

NBDB chairman Dennis Gonzales said that Filipinos should see the widespread changes caused by the digital age as a challenge and opportunity rather than a threat.

“[We] help market develop to ensure the Philippine public will be life-long learners and book lovers, not just readers,” he said.

“We publishers as authentic entrepreneurs should be risk-takers in the midst of new development,” Gonzales added. “It will sometimes hurt, but risk-takers who will take calculated risks are the ones who eventually succeed.”

Three-Minute Fiction Contest

Check out this Three-Minute Fiction Contest. An excerpt:

Our contest has a simple premise: Listeners send in original short stories that can be read in three minutes or less. We're looking for original work no longer than 600 words.

Each round, our judges throw out a challenge. This time, your story must begin with the line, "Some people swore that the house was haunted." It must end with, "Nothing was ever the same again after that."

The Comeback Of Typewriters!

I really like typewriters. I've made numerous posts about them. So I'm thankful to PGS contributor Elyss Punsalan (she of Pakinggan Pilipinas fame) for informing me of this article, The Latest In Typewriter Repair, which talks about the comeback of typewriters among those who are more familiar with high-tech gadgetry. It tells about how a typewriter repairman has noticed that the popularity of the machines seems to be on the rise. The article author also speculates whether writing on a computer versus a typewriter may (or may not) affect the outcome of a piece, given the two machines' different mechanics (just try copying/deleting/pasting on a typewriter!). An excerpt:

Being allowed to affect this style of polite impertinence is, in my estimation, one of the great privileges of advanced age, and Whitlock seems to relish his role as the tweedy emissary from a kinder, simpler time. He worries, predictably, that the Internet has ruined our young minds: “You don't have to have a brain anymore. You can just push a button.” But buried within Whitlock’s bewilderment over twenty-first-century life is the puzzling hypothesis that the popularity of typewriters is actually on the rise. “Youngsters,” the repairman says, have been buying junked typewriters and asking him to help fix them up.

Indeed, nostalgia for typewriters, even—or perhaps especially—among those of us who never used them in the first place, seems to become stronger with the release of each new fancy gadget. For around five hundred dollars, you can buy a typewriter that connects to your iPad via USB port. (The creator of the device wryly describes it as “groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence.”) At Etsy.com, there are thousands of listings for pieces of jewelry made out of antique typewriter keys. And isn’t our tortured fascination with the steamy, boozy, workplace drama of “Mad Men” fueled, at least partly, by the clackety-clack of secretaries typing away? Our more-or-less silent offices are eerily tomb-like, by comparison.

I’m certainly not the first to note that the ability to delete, copy, paste, and re-arrange has changed the writing process. If I’d drafted this post on a typewriter, the result would likely be different, but I’m not entirely sure how. Would I have made quicker progress, without trying out so many different variations of the first line? Would having to re-type from the beginning, rather than replacing a single word or phrase, change how I thought about revision? It would be an interesting experiment. At the very least, it would be a relief to use a machine dedicated to writing alone—one that cannot also receive e-mail, news alerts, and Facebook messages. But when I ask my parents about their experiences with typewriters, all I get are horror stories about Wite-Out.

I wonder if the typewriter will become the record player of the literary world: a dusty old contraption that becomes fashionable among a generation of people who have always had access to newer, sleeker versions of the same thing. The very coolest music lovers insist that we should all switch back to vinyl, even after almost everyone else has moved from CDs to MP3s. Listening to a record is thought to be better than listening any other way, even if no one can quite articulate the reason for why this is so. Have the very coolest young writers similarly decided that writing on a typewriter is better, in some deep, indescribable way, than using a computer?

It’s an unanswerable question, perhaps, but the quiet resurgence of interest in typewriters has ensured that, oddly enough, Manson Whitlock isn't the only typewriter repairman in the news lately.

Needed: Transcription Services

If you have good ears and can type fairly fast, please contact Neil Samosa (neil.samosa(at)theextraordinarygroup(dot)com). He's in need of transcriptionists who can convert hours of audio into text at the quickest possible time. Email him for details and to give your quote. Thanks.

Colored E-Readers Coming Soon?

Are the black and white e-readers going the way soon of the black and white TV?

Erm. Once more, I've dated myself.

For those of you too young to know, yes, there was a time when buying a TV was a choice between black and white and colored. Of course, the colored TV's were more expensive, but seeing as they provided a better viewing experience to the market, they won out, and companies eventually stopped manufacturing black and white TV's.

The same goes for computer monitors. For those of you who are even much younger, there was a time when computer monitors were also offered in monochrome (green, black and white, even blue) versus colored. Just like with TV's, the colored ones won out, and now, I don't think anyone makes monochrome monitors anymore.

And for those of you who are even much, much younger, there was a time when all cellphones had black and white LCD screens. Some companies still manufacture these for the lower-end market, but for the most part, almost all screens now are made in color.

And for those of you who are even much, much, much...well, you get the idea...even iPods and other mp3 players with screens started out as black and whites.

So, I suppose, it was inevitable that the same would happen to E-readers; and given the speed of change in technology nowadays, it hasn't taken long for this to happen.

Check out this article: Reading E-books In All The Colors Of The Rainbow. An excerpt:

Now that stronghold of austere black letters is crumbling. “We expect companies to market color e-book readers if not by the holidays, then soon after,” said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst specializing in consumer product strategies at Forrester, the market research company. “And some consumers will definitely opt for them.”

Of course, even with their current, monochromatic text, e-book readers have already been strong sellers, said Vinita Jakhanwal, director of small and medium displays at the market researcher iSuppli. Worldwide shipments have risen quickly — to 11 million in 2010, from 5 million in 2009, she said, with 15 million predicted for 2011.

But the popularity of the Apple iPad, on which people can read books, surf the Internet, watch videos and enjoy thousands of apps — all in full color — has shaken up the market. “It’s forced e-book reader manufacturers to innovate,” said Paul Semenza, a senior vice president for DisplaySearch, an industry researcher in Santa Clara, Calif.

Major e-reader companies like Amazon.com, which sells the Kindle, and Barnes & Noble, seller of the Nook, have not announced that they are offering color versions, or that they are committed to a specific technology for doing so. But some smaller entrants in the market have said they will be using liquid crystal displays, just as the iPad does.

There are some major differences right now between the monochrome and the colored E-readers if we are just taking plain text into account. The monochrome ones consume less power and have better battery-life, can be read in bright sunlight, and to a certain extent, mimic the look of paper. The colored ones consume more power and so have poorer battery life; and reading for extended periods of time does strain the eyes more than the monochromes. However, you get full color, so outside of plain text, other reading material that rely on colored images (comics, magazines) can be turned into the proper E-reader format.

But that's for right now. If the advantages of both colored and black and white E-readers can be meshed, we consumers can only benefit. Hopefully, that time is coming soon.

The World's Most Expensive Book

The world's most expensive book is up for auction. So, who's bidding? :D

A rare copy of John James Audubon's "Birds of America," billed as the world's most expensive book, is up for sale alongside a first edition of Shakespeare's plays at an auction to set book lovers' pulses racing, Sotheby's said Thursday.

One of only 100 or so remaining copies of "Birds of America" is valued at between 4 million pounds and 6 million pounds ($6.2 million and $9.2 million), while a Shakespeare First Folio from 1623 is expected to fetch at least 1 million pounds ($1.54 million).

Sotheby's books expert David Goldthorpe said the two tomes are "the twin peaks of book collecting." The books come from the estate of the 2nd Baron Hesketh, an aristocratic book collector who died in 1955. The auction house is selling them in London on Dec. 7.

Another complete copy of "Birds of America" was sold by Christie's for $8.8 million in 2000, a record for a printed book at auction.

It is one of the most significant — and beautiful — published works of natural history, and rarely comes up for sale. Only 119 copies remain, and all but a handful are in museums, libraries and universities.

Talecraft Fantasy World Building

Here's the schedule for the Talecraft Fantasy World Building workshops:

Talecraft Fantasy World Building

-It's a 4-part workshop to help you create the ultimate fantasy world that people can appreciate and would love to “live” in.

September 12, 2010, 3-6pm

Powerbooks Greenbelt

Session 1Heroes Vs. Villains

• Common Archetypes used in Fantasy Stories
• Create the characters that will live in the Fantasy World

Goal: Create a protagonist and an antagonist

September 26, 2010, 3-6pm

Powerbooks Alabang Town Center

Session 2 Fashion and Lifestyle

• How these characters loved. Their lifestyle
• Art of living: Food, leisure and sports, customs, manners, religion and rituals, clothing
• Events, occasions and calendars

Goal: Create the lifestyles of the characters, create the society they live in.

October 10, 2010, 3-6pm

Powerbooks Greenbelt

Session 3 Language Making and Communications

• It's not just language: Interaction
• Getting the bigger picture: Law and Order, History, Philosophy, Religion
• Culture and language

Goal: Create the character's world history

October 24, 2010, 3-6pm

Powerbooks Greenbelt

Session 4 Stepping into Your Fantasy World

• Compiling your fantasy world. If you walked in your world, can you guide us through it?
• Show-off session
• Adding special zest
• Talecraft in your world.

Notes On The Alleged Decline Of Reading by Ursula K. Le Guin

Here's an article, "Notes On The Alleged Decline Of Reading", by writer Ursula K. Le Guin. An excerpt:

The book itself is a curious artifact, not showy in its technology but complex and extremely efficient: a really neat little device, compact, often very pleasant to look at and handle, that can last decades, even centuries. It doesn’t have to be plugged in, activated, or performed by a machine; all it needs is light, a human eye, and a human mind. It is not one of a kind, and it is not ephemeral. It lasts. It is reliable. If a book told you something when you were fifteen, it will tell it to you again when you’re fifty, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you’re reading a whole new book.

This is crucial, the fact that a book is a thing, physically there, durable, indefinitely reusable, an object of value.

I am far from dismissing the vast usefulness of electronic publication, but my guess is that print-on-demand will become and remain essential. Electrons are as evanescent as thoughts. History begins with the written word. Much of civilization now relies on the durability of the bound book—its capacity for keeping memory in solid, physical form. The continuous existence of books is a great part of our continuity as an intelligent species. We know it: we see their willed destruction as an ultimate barbarism. The burning of the Library of Alexandria has been mourned for two thousand years, as people may well remember the desecration and destruction of the great Library in Baghdad.

To me, then, one of the most despicable things about corporate publishers and chain booksellers is their assumption that books are inherently worthless. If a title that was supposed to sell a lot doesn’t “perform” within a few weeks, it gets its covers torn off—it is trashed. The corporate mentality recognizes no success that is not immediate. This week’s blockbuster must eclipse last week’s, as if there weren’t room for more than one book at a time. Hence the crass stupidity of most publishers (and, again, chain booksellers) in handling backlists.

Over the years, books kept in print may earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for their publisher and author. A few steady earners, even though the annual earnings are in what is now dismissively called “the midlist,” can keep publishers in business for years, and even allow them to take a risk or two on new authors. If I were a publisher, I’d rather own J.R.R. Tolkien than J. K. Rowling.

But capitalists count weeks, not years. To get big quick money, the publisher must risk a multimillion-dollar advance on a hot author who’s supposed to provide this week’s bestseller. These millions—often a dead loss—come out of funds that used to go to pay normal advances to reliable midlist authors and the royalties on older books that kept selling. Many midlist authors have been dropped, many reliably selling books remaindered, in order to feed Moloch. Is that any way to run a business?

---

I keep hoping the corporations will wake up and realize that publishing is not, in fact, a normal business with a nice healthy relationship to capitalism. Elements of publishing are, or can be forced to be, successfully capitalistic: the textbook industry is all too clear a proof of that. How-to books and the like have some market predictability. But inevitably some of what publishers publish is, or is partly, literature—art. And the relationship of art to capitalism is, to put it mildly, vexed. It has not been a happy marriage. Amused contempt is about the pleasantest emotion either partner feels for the other. Their definitions of what profiteth a man are too different.

So why don’t the corporations drop the literary publishing houses, or at least the literary departments of the publishers they bought, with amused contempt, as unprofitable? Why don’t they let them go back to muddling along making just enough, in a good year, to pay binders and editors, modest advances and crummy royalties, while plowing most profits back into taking chances on new writers? Since kids coming up through the schools are seldom taught to read for pleasure and anyhow are distracted by electrons, the relative number of book-readers is unlikely to see any kind of useful increase and may well shrink further. What’s in this dismal scene for you, Mr. Corporate Executive? Why don’t you just get out of it, dump the ungrateful little pikers, and get on with the real business of business, ruling the world?

Is it because you think if you own publishing you can control what’s printed, what’s written, what’s read? Well, lotsa luck, sir. It’s a common delusion of tyrants. Writers and readers, even as they suffer from it, regard it with amused contempt.

Rocket Kapre's First Birthday

Today is Rocket Kapre's first birthday. Head on over to make your greeting! Rocket Kapre is also celebrating with a Rocket Round Table: Favorite First Lines In Speculative Fiction.

E-books Fail The Classroom Test

The Kindle DX is okay as a "casual e-reader" but not so for classroom use. So says this article, E-books Fail The Classroom Test. An excerpt:

Business schools pride themselves on being ahead of the curve when it comes to management theory and innovation. But their record is considerably less impressive when it comes to the implementation of cutting-edge technology such as e-book readers, Apple’s iPad and social networking, where students continue to outpace their tutors.

So expectations were high a year ago when seven US colleges, including two business schools, University of Washington Foster School of Business and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, signed up with Amazon to test the online retailer’s large-screen Kindle DX e-book reader.

Some even thought that with students able to load class materials and textbooks easily on to the 10-ounce device, the era of lugging textbooks around campus might finally be over.

Of the seven schools that participated in the Kindle pilot, Darden worked most closely with Amazon to convert many of the case studies it uses in first-year classes to the Kindle format, and selected 62 students and 10 faculty members for the pilot.

But while students liked some of the Kindle’s features, such as the big screen and the ability to store hundreds of case studies and books on the device, most were unhappy overall with the user experience, says Michael Koenig, Darden’s director of MBA operations.

Although the device allowed students to highlight text and make notes, many complained that it was difficult to use these features and said the Kindle was more suitable for casual reading than for the classroom.

In fact, by the second semester, most students had abandoned their Kindles, choosing instead to read case studies on their laptop or on paper. In a mid-term survey, the pilot scheme participants were asked: “Would you recommend the Kindle DX to an incoming Darden MBA student?

“A total of 75-80 per cent answered ‘no’,” says Mr Koenig. Kindle-using students were then asked: “Would you recommend the Kindle DX to an incoming MBA student as a personal reading device?” A total of 90-95 per cent said “yes”.

“What that says to me is that Amazon created a very well-designed consumer device for purchasing and reading digital books, magazines and newspapers,” says Mr Koenig. However, he believes it is not yet ready to take a lead role in the Darden business school classroom.