The Next Big Thing

I was tagged by Tansy Rayner Roberts to take part in the Next Big Thing meme, which occurs every Friday. One of my favorite books from Tansy is Love and Romanpunk, a short story collection that I got to read in May earlier this year, and I'm finding her to be one of the original and daring voices in the Australian speculative fiction scene, whether it's her fiction or nonfiction.

Without further ado, here's the meme:

 

What is the working title of your next book?

My latest book is the anthology Lauriat: A Filipino-Chinese Speculative Fiction anthology, released by Lethe Press. I also have a short story, "Scions of the Oneroi," appearing in Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 8 next year (contrary to what some might believe, I am neither the editor nor the publisher of the series).

Where did the idea come from for the book?

For Lauriat, I wanted to do an anthology focused on Filipino authors that wasn't occupying the same space as Dean Francis Alfar's Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology series. It then occurred to me that no one really writes about the Filipino-Chinese community--one that I'm part of--using a speculative fiction lens, especially since Realism is what's commonly published here.

As for my short story "Scions of the Oneroi," it was originally a stalker story (this blog is titled Bibliophile Stalker after all) and I wondered how an obsessive person could insinuate themselves into a stranger's life. And then there's the Oneroi from Greek mythology, and it just started to click.

What genre does your book fall under?

They're definitely both speculative fiction, leaning more towards the fantasy and horror aspect.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Well, Lauriat's an anthology, so the best person to ask would be the contributors. As for my story, it was written with the "you" in mind, so I don't think it would translate well to film.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

For Lauriat, fantastical stories dealing with the Filipino-Chinese experience. For "Scions of the Oneroi," how does one suddenly become an intimate partner of a stranger?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I don't think there are literary agents here in the Philippines. Lauriat was published by Lethe Press while my short story will be published by Kestrel DDM.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Editing Lauriat took around a year, from soliciting stories, reading them, editing them, coordinating the artwork and layout, proofing the book, etc.


My short story, on the other hand, took a few weeks to write.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

For Lauriat, it's definitely the first of its kind in the sense that it's tackling concerns from the Filipino-Chinese community using the tools of genre. But there's definitely a lot of anthologies out there that deal with the fantastical and other cultures. Just this year for example, we have Three Messages and a Warning, AfroSF, Breaking the Bow, The Future is Japanese, and Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 7.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

When it comes to anthologies, I've always been fascinated with the editing done by Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, Jonathan Strahan, Rich Horton, John Joseph Adams, Gavin Grant and Kelly Link, and Steve Berman. In fact, the book is dedicated to them.


As for my short story, there was a call for submission for Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 8 so I dusted off a short story idea I was working on and submitted it.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

For Lauriat, I'd like to think it tackles subject matter that's not often tackled in either Realism or in the genre, which tends to be Euro-centric. The anthology was also cited in the Omnivoracious column Writers Don't Cry as one of the five books for writers.

As tradition dictates, I'm tagging five people. Hope you check out their blogs next week:

• Karen Lord
• Sarah McCarry
• Laura Lam
• Christopher Barzak
• John Joseph Adams

Thor Memes

The Filipino online community is no stranger to memes. Earlier this year for example, the Department of Tourism launched the "It's more Fun in the Philippines" campaign and both supporters and detractors used the slogan to great use.

Recently though, the country seems to have been obsessed with Thor post-Avengers, and here's some of the interesting photos I've found on Facebook. Some of them will be cultural specific, but what the heck.

Let's start with an easy one...

Source

based off the anime Toradora!

Source

Painter = Pintor

Source

Sari-Sari Store

Source 

Filipino actor Joel Torre

Source

Philippine Tarsier

The SF&F Short Story Collection Meme

I love the short story format and the problem with a lot of the book memes circulating is that they exclusively focus on novels. I've done some crowd sourcing (and some personal recommendations of course--this list isn't meant to be objective) and I've come up with a list of 166 short story collections.

The usual rules apply: bold those that you've read and italicize those that you own but haven't read.

1. The Monkey’s Wedding and Other Stories by Joan Aiken
2. Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
3. The Kite of Stars and Other Stories by Dean Francis Alfar
4. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
5. Black Projects, White Knights by Kage Baker
6. The Best of J. G. Ballard by J.G. Ballard
7. Perpetuity Blues and Other Stories by Neal Barrett, Jr.
8. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron
9. Occultation by Laird Barron
10. Mirror Kingdoms: The Best of Peter S. Beagle
11. The Collected Stories of Greg Bear by Greg Bear
12. The Chains That You Refuse by Elizabeth Bear
13. The Girl With The Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender
14. Lord Stink & Other Stories by Judith Berman
15. Trysts: A Triskaidecollection of Queer and Weird Stories by Steve Berman
16. A Book of Endings by Deborah Biancotti
17. Blooded on Arachne by Michael Bishop
18. One Winter in Eden by Michael Bishop
19. The Poison Eaters & Other Stories by Holly Black
20. Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges
21. From the Files of the Time Rangers by Richard Bowes
22. Streetcar Dreams by Richard Bowes
23. The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury
24. Graveyard People: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories by Gary Braunbeck
25. Home before Dark: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories by Gary Braunbeck
26. Particle Theory by Edward Bryant
27. Tides from the New Worlds by Tobias S. Buckell
28. Bloodchild and Other Stories By Octavia E. Butler
29. Dirty Work: Stories by Pat Cadigan
30. The Night We Buried Road Dog by Jack Cady
31. The Panic Hand by Jonathan Carroll
32. Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories by Angela Carter
33. Fireworks: Nine Stories in Various Disguises by Angela Carter
34. The Bloody Chamber: And Other Stories by Angela Carter
35. The Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
36. The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke by Arthur C. Clarke
37. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke
38. Novelties & Souvenirs, Collected Short Fiction by John Crowley
39. The Avram Davidson Treasury by Avram Davidson
40. The Enquiries of Dr. Eszterhazy by Avram Davidson
41. Driftglass: Ten Tales of Speculative Fiction by Samuel R. Delany
42. We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick
43. Strange Days: Fabulous Journeys with Gardner Dozois by Gardner Dozois
44. Beluthahatchie by Andy Duncan
45. What Will Come After by Scott Edelman
46. Axiomatic by Greg Egan
47. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison
48. The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World by Harlan Ellison
49. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
50. The Collected Stories of Carol Emshwiller by Carol Emshwiller
51. Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge
52. Fugue State by Brian Evenson
53. Harsh Oases by Paul Di Filippo
54. The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories by Jeffrey Ford
55. The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford
56. The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford
57. Returning My Sister's Face and Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice by Eugie Foster
58. Artificial Things by Karen Joy Fowler
59. What I Didn't See and Other Stories by Karen Joy Fowler
60. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
61. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
62. Burning Chrome by William Gibson
63. In the Forest of Forgetting by Theodora Goss
64. Take No Prisoners by John Grant
65. A Separate War and Other Stories by Joe Haldeman
66. Last Summer at Mars Hill by Elizabeth Hand
67. Saffron & Brimstone: Strange Stories by Elizabeth Hand
68. Things That Never Happen by M. John Harrison
69. The Past Through Tomorrow by Robert Heinlein
70. 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
71. Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson
72. The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard
73. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
74. Unexpected Magics: Collected Stories by Diana Wynne Jones
75. Minor Arcana by Diana Wynne Jones
76. Grazing the Long Acre by Gwyneth Jones
77. The Wreck of the Godspeed and Other Stories by James Patrick Kelly
78. The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories by John Kessel
79. Night Shift by Stephen King
80. Different Seasons by Stephen King
81. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
82. Portable Childhoods by Ellen Klages
83. Scenting the Dark and Other Stories by Mary Robinette Kowal
84. Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories by Nancy Kress
85. Nine Hundred Grandmothers by R.A. Lafferty
86. Objects of Worship by Claude Lalumiere
87. Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
88. Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
89. Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan
90. Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters by John Langan
91. The Best of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale
92. The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin
93. The Compass Rose by Ursula K. Le Guin
94. The Birthday of the World and Other Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
95. Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer by Tanith Lee
96. The First Book of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber
97. The Second Book of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber
98. The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti
99. Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
100. Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
101. Engines of Desire: Tales of Love & Other Horrors by Livia Llewellyn
102. H. P. Lovecraft: Tales by H.P. Lovecraft
103. Breathmoss and other Exhalations by Ian R. MacLeod
104. You Might Sleep by Nick Mamatas
105. Dreamsongs: A RRetrospective by George R. R. Martin
106. The Invisible Country by Paul McAuley
107. Harrowing the Dragon by Patricia McKillip
108. The Bone Key by Sarah Monette
109. The Best of Michael Moorcock by Michael Moorcock
110. Black God's Kiss by C.L. Moore
111. The Cat's Pajamas and Other Stories by James Morrow
112. Dreams of the Compass Rose by Vera Nazarian
113. Unforgivable Stories by Kim Newman
114. The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman
115. The Original Dr. Shade and Other Stories by Kim Newman
116. Monstrous Affections by David Nickle
117. The Best of Larry Niven by Larry Niven
118. I Am No One You Know: Stories by Joyce Carol Oates
119. The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
120. Zoo by Otsuichi
121. Lesser Demons by Norman Partridge
122. Mr. Fox and Other Feral Tales by Norman Partridge
123. Night Moves and Other Stories by Tim Powers
124. Little Gods by Tim Pratt
125. Map of Dreams by M. Rickert
126. Holiday by M. Rickert
127. The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson by Kim Stanley Robinson
128. The Ant King and Other Stories by Benjamin Rosenbaum
129. Unacceptable Behaviour by Penelope Rowe
130. The Adventures of Alyx by Joanna Russ
131. Long Walks, Last Flights, and Other Journeys by Ken Scholes
132. Filter House by Nisi Shawl
133. Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical by Rob Shearman
134. The Jaguar Hunter by Lucius Shepard
135. Trujillo and Other Stories by Lucius Shepard
136. Phases of the Moon: Stories from Six Decades by Robert Silverberg
137. Are You There and Other Stories by Jack Skillingstead
138. The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales by Angela Slatter
139. Crystal Express by Bruce Sterling
140. Ascendancies: The Best of Bruce Sterling
141. Houses Without Doors by Peter Straub
142. Magic Terror: 7 Tales by Peter Straub
143. Absolute Uncertainty by Lucy Sussex
144. The Best of Michael Swanwick by Michael Swanwick
145. Gravity's Angels: 13 Stories by Michael Swanwick
146. Monterra's Deliciosa & Other Tales & by Anna Tambour
147. The Ice Downstream by Melanie Tem
148. The Far Side of the Lake by Steve Rasnic Tem
149. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree, Jr.
150. Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home by James Tiptree, Jr.
151. In the Mean Time by Paul Tremblay
152. My Pathology by Lisa Tuttle
153. Ventriloquism by Catherynne M. Valente
154. The Jack Vance Reader by Jack Vance
155. City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer
156. The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer
157. Strange Things in Close-up; the Nearly Complete Howard Waldrop
158. Dead Sea Fruit by Kaaron Warren
159. Everland and Other Stories by Paul Witcover
160. The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe
161. The Very Best of Gene Wolfe by Gene Wolfe
162. Impossible Things by Connie Willis
163. Fire Watch by Connie Willis
164. The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth and Other Stories by Roger Zelazny
165. Impossible Stories by Zoran Zivkovic
166. The Writer, The Book, The Reader by Zoran Zivkovic

Meme: My life according to the books I’ve read this year

From: Andrew Wheeler

Using only books you have read this year (2009), cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title.

Describe Yourself: The Writer, The Book, The Reader

How do you feel: The Strain

Describe where you currently live: Leviathan 4: Cities

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Everland and Other Stories

Your favorite form of transport: Extraordinary Engines

Your best friend is: Grendel

You and your friends are: Fathers, Daughters, Ghosts and Monsters

What’s the weather like: Sunstroke and Other Stories

Favourite time of day: Eclipse Two

If your life was a: Palimpsest

What is life to you: The Little Sleep

Your fear: The Witnesses Are Gone

What is the best advice you have to give: We Think, Therefore We Are

Thought for the Day: All You Need is Kill

How I would like to die: Firebirds Soaring

My soul’s present condition: Generation Loss

Shared Worlds Meme

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Meme: Happy Days 3

I got tagged by David:

For 8 days, post 1 thing every day that made you happy. Then tag 8 other people.

I dislike tagging so everything else is voluntary. =)

It's Christmas and since we're Chinese, relatives are able to give cash as presents (good thing too because every week this month has been modest living for me).

That and books arrived in the mail so yay!

Meme: Happy Days 2

I got tagged by David:

For 8 days, post 1 thing every day that made you happy. Then tag 8 other people.

I dislike tagging so everything else is voluntary. =)

Last night I attended a Christmas party so yay gifts! But more importantly, it's the camaraderie and seeing people I haven't seen in a long time. (That and I'd like to think I give some of the best Christmas gifts.)

Also, yesterday, on my way to work, I dropped one of the presents (it fell out of my bag) I was going to give for the aforementioned Christmas party. Today, the guard at the village (apparently I didn't drop the gift in the highway) returned it to me.

Meme: Happy Days 1

I got tagged by David:

For 8 days, post 1 thing every day that made you happy. Then tag 8 other people.

I dislike tagging so everything else is voluntary. =)

Several awesome things to post today:

1) I visited Gastroenteorologist yesterday with regards to my indigestion. It so happens that the said doctor is the Game Master of our weekly D&D game. Woke up today and so far so good.

2) The Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler got StumbleUpon'd yesterday garnering 1,432 hits (1,036 of which are unique).

3) New PS Publishing books just arrived for review!

4) My interview with the talented James A. Owen!

A Book Reviewers Linkup Meme

From Grasping for the Wind:

My list of fantasy and sf book reviewers is woefully out of date. I need your help to fix that. But rather than go through the hassle of having you send me recommendations or sticking them in comments, what you can do is take the following list and stick it on your website, then add yourself to the list, preferably in alphabetical order. That way, I will be able to track it across the web from back links, and can add each new blog to my roll as it comes along. So take this list, add it to your blog, and add a link to your blog on it. If you are already on the list, repost this meme at your blog so others can see it, and find new blogs from the links others put up on their blogs. Everybody wins! Be sure to send the list around to others as well. There is an easy to copy window of all the links and text at the bottom of this post to make it even simpler to do.

I would be ever so grateful if you would help me out.

A Dribble Of Ink
Adventures in Reading
The Agony Column
Bibliophile Stalker
BillWardWriter.com
Bookspotcentral
The Book Swede
Breeni Books
Dark Wolf Fantasy Reviews
Dragons, Heroes and Wizards
Dusk Before the Dawn
Enter the Octopus
The Galaxy Express
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Galleycat
Fantasy Book Critic
Fantasy Debut
Fantasy and Sci-fi Lovin' Blog
Jumpdrives and Cantrips
Literary Escapism
Neth Space
NextRead
OF Blog of the Fallen
The Old Bat's Belfry
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Realms of Speculative Fiction
Rob's Blog o' Stuff
ScifiChick
Severian's Fantastic Worlds
SF Signal
SFF World's Book Reviews
Sporadic Book Reviews
The Road Not Taken
Urban Fantasy Land
Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic
Walker of Worlds
Wands and Worlds
The Wertzone
WJ Fantasy Reviews
The World in a Satin Bag

Strahan's Book Meme: Books for Christmas

From A Quiet Corner of the Web:

1. Choose four books published during 2008 that you loved and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to others
2. Write a brief description (it doesn’t have to be much - a few words, a sentence)
3. Post the descriptions on your blog under the title Books for Christmas
4. Link to some suitable book retailer that you’d like to support

To keep it simple, make sure you have no direct connection to the books you’re going to blog about - no books you’ve written, edited, or published (you can blog about those another time), just books you’ve loved. And link to other posts if you see ‘em.

Here's my four books, which feature non-mainstream titles:

Nemonymous: Cone Zero edited by D.F. Lewis

Aside from the conceit that this magazine/anthology doesn't give away the names of the authors (well, they tell you which authors participated, just not who wrote this or that story), it features some really cool, off-the-top stories that tingle my sense of wonder and excitement as well as fulfilling my requirements of well-written fiction in the literary sense of the word.

Buy Here

A Field Guide to Surreal Botany edited by Janet Chui & Jason Erik Lundberg

Not quite a fiction anthology and easily disguised as a non-fiction title, this book features imaginary flora complete with vivid descriptions by talented authors and gorgeous illustrations by Janet Chui. Whether you're a fan of the prose or a fan of the artwork, this short book has its charm and appeal.

Buy Here

Clockwork Phoenix edited by Mike Allen

Another anthology that I'd like to feature, Clockwork Phoenix makes a pleasant gift because it features easy-to-read speculative fiction, especially those wary of the genre, at the same time delivering truly wondrous and stimulating stories.

Buy Here


The Ant King and Other Stories by Benjamin Rosenbaum

This was a pretty fun and very post-modern short story collection. Rosenbaum's fiction is weird but delightful and the author definitely has a unique voice.

Buy Here

Meme: Top 48 SF Movies Based on a Novel

I normally don't do memes but since it's Matt Staggs... (also, it should be obvious from the meme that I'm not a movie guy either as of late)

Copy the list below.

Mark in bold the movie titles for which you read the book.

Italicize the ones that you’ve watched.

Tag 5 people to perpetuate the meme.

1. Jurassic Park

2. War of the Worlds

3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park

4. I, Robot

5. Contact

6. Congo

7. Cocoon

8. The Stepford Wives

9. The Time Machine (1960 version)

10. Starship Troopers

11. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

12. K-PAX

13. 2010

14. The Running Man

15. Sphere

16. The Mothman Prophecies

17. Dreamcatcher

18. Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)

19. Dune

20. The Island of Dr. Moreau

21. Invasion of the Body Snatchers

22. The Iron Giant (The Iron Man)

23. Battlefield Earth

24. The Incredible Shrinking Woman

25. Fire in the Sky

26. Altered States

27. Timeline

28. The Postman

29. Freejack(Immortality, Inc.)

30. Solaris

31. Memoirs of an Invisible Man

32. The Thing(Who Goes There?)

33. The Thirteenth Floor

34. Lifeforce(Space Vampires)

35. Deadly Friend

36. The Puppet Masters

37. 1984

38. A Scanner Darkly

39. Creator

40. Monkey Shines

41. Solo(Weapon)

42. The Handmaid’s Tale

43. Communion

44. Carnosaur

45. From Beyond

47. Watchers

46. Nightflyers

48. Body Snatchers

Vote and Recommend New Short Stories Meme

From Ellen Datlow:

Ok. Here's my impassioned plea/push/nag for anyone who reads this blog and is eligible to recommend stories and or novels for the various peer group science fiction, fantasy, and horror awards. I know that some people feel that awards themselves are a bad thing and that they should all be abolished. I'm not talking to you. I don't believe that and I know I'm not going to change your minds.

Awards are NOT going to go away but they could become less visible (which I think is a bad thing). As an editor I really appreciate it when the stories/books I edit make final award ballots and win awards. And I think most writers are even more appreciative of this. It gives a sense of validation for what you're doing by your peers (for the Nebula and Stoker).

Right now is "award rec season" and there are discussions on both the SFWA Bulletin Board and the HWA Bulletin Board about how their respective awards are dying --not enough members are recommending works to even make a preliminary ballot.

Now some people think that this might be because no one likes the work being published.
Others that no one is reading enough short fiction to be interested in recommending works in those categories.
I have a really difficult time believing the first reason. I've been reading sf/f/h short fiction for twenty five years and have found no drop off in quality in any of those fields.

I can't answer for the second but I hope it's not true because if so my profession will die and I love editing short fiction.

If you care at ALL for the genre short story then I urge you to recommend the stories that you think are worth bringing to the attention of your peers.

Well, I wish I had the power to nominate or recommend fiction but alas, that's not within my sphere in influence. Still, this is the age of blogging however so here's my new meme: recommend a new (published this year) short story that you really enjoyed and why--sort of a mini-review (yes, so far, out of something like ten memes I tried to spread, only one caught on but failure isn't stopping me!). The Year's Best Science Fiction is still unopened and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror hasn't arrived yet (praying to the bookstore gods it'll arrive this weekend!) so I'll take my picks from Rich Horton's anthologies, Science Fiction: The Best of the Year 2007 and Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2007 (and I expect some stories will overlap).

Science Fiction:

I actually read several great science fiction stories this year but the one that stands out the most for me (i.e. I actually remember it after several months) is "Okanoggan Falls" by Carolyn Ives Gilman. It's set on contemporary Earth with a unique twist: aliens invade! Yet Gilman handles the story very differently from what most would expect and has that slow, steady pace as opposed to the adrenaline-pumping War of the Worlds-type of fiction. The aliens are also an interesting concept but the strength of the story I think are the characterizations. No evil overlords here! Never read sci-fi? Give this short story a shot. Love romance? You might want to have a taste of this. Hard science fiction fan? Maybe the aliens will do it for you. Looking for a female SF writer? Give Gilman a try.

Fantasy:

There are actually several great fantasy short stories too that it's difficult to choose. I'd like to recommend "The Osteomancer's Son" by Greg van Eekhout (while it has its weaknesses, I still found enjoyable) and "Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge" by Richard Parks but I'll go with my gut feeling and choose "A Siege of Cranes" by Benjamin Rosenbaum. Suffice to say, "A Siege of Cranes" is included in the anthology Twenty Epics whose goal was to tell an epic story in under ten thousand words. Rosenbaum's story was great read and incorporated non-standard fantasy fare yet retaining the tropes of such a genre. It satisfies my guilty pleasure senses and my literary fiction intellect at the same time.

Go read and better yet, recommend your own new short stories!

Read-A-Book Meme

I so suck at memes. The last time I think I had what, three respondents? (I'm not viral!)

Anyway, over the years, there's been a couple of literacy ads. My only qualm with most of those ads is that they're a bit stale. You know, always having a child in the background or mentioning about reading helping our kids. These days, I think we need something more upbeat. And please, no more children! Reading isn't just for kids and besides, even adults benefit from getting brainwashed motivated by ads.

So what's the Read-A-Book Meme about? Develop a catchphrase and a description of the accompanying image for the would-be ad.

Here are a couple of examples:

Early for a meeting? Read a book.

There's a huge conference room and all but the final seat is vacant. A man in a power suit is seated there with his hands on the table and his fingers touching each other (think of it as Mr. Burns' evil gesture).

Still waiting in line? Read a book.

People are waiting in line, most likely a campus registrar. The line is oriented vertically and at the bottom is the model facing the reader with a bored expression.

Waiting for a download to finish? Read a book.

Female in a swivel chair staring sleepily at the monitor. See "Your mighty band of heroes..." link below and substitute the text.

If I had a peg for these ads, it'd be more like the following ads for Dungeons & Dragons, including the expressive faces of the models:

At least you'll know when the hot elf chick is a dude.

Your mighty band of heroes will never be defeated by a server crash.

So come up with your own ad ideas and tagline! And spread the word and hopefully you can comment here so I'll compile the results by next week. I'm counting on all three of you. =)

Zombies Attack on June 13!

Steve at My Elves Are Different has an interesting meme: on June 13, 2007, people blog as if it's the end of the world (Night of the Living Dead in this particular case). Alas, I am not enthusiastic enough to write my post at the stroke of midnight but...

My Answers to the Filipino Bibliophile Meme

1) Do you remove the price tag from the books you buy? I used to, using my super-secret solvent formula but nowadays, no--I don't even remove the shrink wrap.
2) When buying books, do you prefer them shrink-wrapped or open for all to see? Shrink-wrapped because I don't want germs on my books. Just kidding. As long as the books are in good condition.
3) Brand new books or second hand books? Well the last time I read a second hand book, I was coughing because of all the dust and the insects coming out of it... so brand new books as much as possible.
4) American covers or European covers? European preferably but I'll take what I can get.
5) Do you consider comics/manga as books (or count it against your books read)? No, separate pile.
6) Your favorite book by a Filipino author. Having not read much, it's got to be Culture and History by Nick Joaquin.
7) A novel you've read that's written in the local language with English being the exception. Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa? By Luwalhati Bautista.
8) Your favorite local nonfiction book. See #6.
9) Do you have a discount/membership card to the bookstore you patronize? Yes, both formally and informally.
10) What's a book you're ashamed to tell others you bought/read? The closest would probably be the Christine Freehan romance novel which I accidentally ordered.
11) Name a book you bought because it was the current fad or because you watched a movie of the same name? Jurassic Park which was the first novel I actually read.
12) Name a book you read before it later became trendy or fashionable to do so. There's a couple: Lord of the Rings, His Dark Materials (it'll be popular soon!), and probably another series or two which I can't remember now (I, Robot?)
13) Name a book that you read before it was required reading for your class. None comes to mind. I was illiterate back then.
14) In what language did you read the Noli me Tangere (komiks counts)? Tagalog in high school, English in college.
15) Did you ever use Cliff Notes or Barron's Book Notes in school? Not really.
16) Do you know what month the annual Manila International Book Fair is held? It's either in the last week of August or the first week of September.
17) What's the most expensive book you bought? How much? Right now it has got to be the Nelson Japanese dictionary which cost me around P3,000.00+.
18) What's the least expensive book you bought? How much? An acquaintance was selling some of his old books and I bought them for around P20.00 each although I haven't gotten around to reading them.
19) Have you ever stolen a book from the library? No.
20) Have you ever stolen a book from a bookstore? No.
21) Do you have a book that you borrowed that you still haven't returned? From Elbert and Vin and Lea. But they're similarly holding hostage some of my books...
22) Is there a religious text that you've read from cover to cover? Well I have read the Bible...
23) Do you read book reviews? Some.
24) Do you believe that the New York Best-Seller List is actually a list of best-selling books? Only if there's a cookbook on that list...
25) What is your favorite University Press (your choice) book? None really although I did like Smaller and Smaller Circles from UP Press and Salamanca from Ateneo.

The Filipino Bibliophile Meme

^{1) Do you remove the price tag from the books you buy?
2) When buying books, do you prefer them shrink-wrapped or open for all to see?
3) Brand new books or second hand books?
4) American covers or European covers?
5) Do you consider comics/manga as books (or count it against your books read)?
6) Your favorite book by a Filipino author.
7) A novel you've read that's written in the local language with English being the exception.
8) Your favorite local nonfiction book.
9) Do you have a discount/membership card to the bookstore you patronize?
10) What's a book you're ashamed to tell others you bought/read?
11) Name a book you bought because it was the current fad or because you watched a movie of the same name?
12) Name a book you read before it later became trendy or fashionable to do so.
13) Name a book that you read before it was required reading for your class.
14) In what language did you read the Noli me Tangere (komiks counts)?
15) Did you ever use Cliff Notes or Barron's Book Notes in school?
16) Do you know what month the annual Manila International Book Fair is held?
17) What's the most expensive book you bought? How much?
18) What's the least expensive book you bought? How much?
19) Have you ever stolen a book from the library?
20) Have you ever stolen a book from a bookstore?
21) Do you have a book that you borrowed that you still haven't returned?
22) Is there a religious text that you've read from cover to cover?
23) Do you read book reviews?
24) Do you believe that the New York Best-Seller List is actually a list of best-selling books?
25) What is your favorite University Press (your choice) book?}