(orig. link—->http://www.facebook.com/dean.alfar/posts/3751138691997)

Call for Submissions: Philippine Speculative Fiction 8

Editors Dean and Nikki Alfar invite you to submit short fiction for consideration for Philippine Speculative Fiction volume 8.

Philippine Speculative Fiction is a yearly anthology series, which collects a wide range of stories that define, explore, and sometimes blur the boundaries of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all things in between. The anthology has been shortlisted for the Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Award, and multiple stories from each volume have been cited in roundups of the year’s best speculative fiction across the globe.

First-time authors are more than welcome to submit; good stories trump literary credentials any time.

Submissions must be:
1. speculative fiction—i.e., they must contain strong elements and/or sensibilities of science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism, alternate history, folklore, superheroes, and/or related ‘nonrealist’ genres and subgenres
2. written in English
3. authored by persons of Philippine ethnicity and/or nationality

Submissions are preferred to be:
1. original and unpublished
2. no shorter than 1,000 words and no longer than 7,500
3. written for an adult audience
In all cases, these preferences can be easily overturned by exceptionally well-written pieces. In the case of previously-published work—if accepted, the author will be expected to secure permission to reprint, if necessary, from the original publishing entity, and to provide relevant publication information.

Submission details:
1. No multiple or simultaneous submissions—i.e., submit only one story, and do not submit that story to any other publishing market until you have received a letter of regret from us. We don’t mind if you submit to contests.
2. All submissions should be in Rich Text Format (saved under the file extension ‘.rtf’), and emailed to nikkialfar@gmail.com, with the subject line ‘PSF8 submission’.
3. The deadline for submissions is 11 p.m., Manila time, September 15, 2012. Letters of acceptance or regret will be sent out no later than one month after the deadline.

Editors’ notes:
1. Please don’t forget to indicate your real name in the submission email! If you want to write under a pseudonym, that’s fine, but this can be discussed upon story acceptance. Initially, we just need to know who we’re talking to.
2. If you’d like to write a cover letter with your brief bio and publishing history (if applicable), do feel free to introduce yourself—but not your story, please. If it needs to be explained, it’s probably not ready to be published.
3. We advise authors to avoid fancy formatting—this will just be a waste of your time and ours, since we will, eventually, standardize fonts and everything else to fit our established house style.

Authors of selected stories will receive Php500 pesos in compensation, as well as digital copies of the book.

Please help spread the word! Feel free to copy this and paste it anywhere you see fit that happens to be legal.

Thanks,
Dean and Nikki Alfar, co-editors

Been reading Millar/McNiven‘s awesome Nemesis over the weekend and come up with a quick sketch coz it was that awesome a book. As always done digitally in SAI. Forgive me for the cop out shot, no arms and feet again and haven’t pulled off the Nemesis’s trademark smirk/smile as much as I would like  it to and basically its not that hard on the details with all the all white costume of his, its like drawing Batman in reverse heehehe. Did I already told you the book is awesome?Well, it is awesome. I like the cinematic feel of the comic book. Your like watching a movie reading this one. Now, if I could get my hands on them Supercrook books. Original sketch below.

N.Korea missile launch fail...coincidence?

Can the sketch above be considered a warm up one even if afterwards I didn’t do a proper sketch? hehehhe…I was doing this sketch as a warm up coz I was planning on doing some Hulk fan art or some Lobo, just doodling this and that and I even forgot to make a layer for the inks and just covered up the blue pencil lines directly via Paint Tool Sai when sleep gave way to reason and I just close the laptop lid and said goodnight to the world. I was tired and all and never got around to doing a proper sketch. Maybe tonight. I won’t promise though.

I was thinking of doodling up some fat dude jumping out and about like in a pool or lake or something like what we do in summer see but being lazy with perspectives and what not I decided to put a half assed rendering of a rocket (from the recent failed N.Korean launch) to the background and the fat dude like he’s stopping the friggin thing. I don’t know if you guys noticed it or not or you’re thinking what the fuck is that supposed to be. Well, that’s that and tomorrows another sketch away.

I'm gonna beat the bat crap outta you (insert name of villain here)

This was the first one done and the eye and hand coordination is still a pain when doing things digitally. I’m still getting the hang of things but I’m still determined mind you. Paint Tool Sai is awesome. I’ve heard of this nifty software for a while now but never actually tried it until recently and I’d wish that I did years back, its light and easy on the RAM and CPU side of things and well worth coz I have a very aging laptop to work things with (imagine working on things graphic at 768 RAM on a 1.50 ghz CPU). A lot of local artist I admire are using it for sketches and partnering it up with PS to touch things up like the great Kat and equally awesome Miko. Its an awesome tool. Now enough of the harping.

 This one I was just doing the lines short and more hatchings than I would want them to come out. Over done things most likely coz I am still in the process of adjusting and still am. Looked kinda like my old style of drawing things which I swore to veer away for the nth time already. Notice the my attempts above and below are somewhat crop upped coz of no feet or the Liefeld syndrome (yay! idol) but I’ll make it up next time.

Hey, this is me yawning...really.

 I’ve decided to redraw the first one and came out with this, more loose, more cartoony, more to my liking but still much harder to do digitally than the first one coz it requires less strokes and long stops in making the lineart or is it just me doing it wrong. Still gonna work out lotsa stuff like the anatomy part and shadows as usual and yeah, the dreaded woman anatomy and the dreaded (did I said it again?) essential backgrounds, all in all I’m back to square one and yet, loving it.

Well, hope you guys enjoyed it, critics are a darn a welcome. Nuff said. Till next update.

Last night I’ve finally made an attempt to fire up my aging graphics tablet (w/c I dared not use for relative reasons emanating from this post) and take a shot again with drawing/sketching things digitally because I was feeling the mojo and all that shit and mebe save some trees and shit along the way by not using paper and pencil and stuff. I was having illusions of grandeur by attempting this 2012 as doing my (terrible) sequential art the digital way a continuation of sorts to my new years resolution. Oh boy, was I reminiscing my failures and inabilities again. Like I said awhile back that I’m firing up the old pen tablet, I bought it years back when them Wacoms were still not available locally around 2008 and tried my darned best at working it out but failed at it miserably at that and decided to shelve the bastard up in the attic, if I ever had one. So, last night I decided upon a whim to get it off the dust bin and connect it to my equally older laptop and give it a good go. It was hard like the last time, them hand and eye coordinating thingee still plagued me. I know, I know that I have to keep at it and keep at it I will as far as I can muster, so help me and may the gods fare me well on this one. I was trying to doodle some batman here and there and finally ending the night with almost a dozen unsaved files and the one  above to cap things off (and mirroring/summarizing how I felt at swaying this beast called digital drawing) as a testament that I did try and will try again tonight and with it some improvements. Wish me luck guys

Well, first off, I won’t drown in self pity and wallow in my own misery because of not merely updating this blog with decent post. Frankly, there has been no decent thing happening in my life worth sharing to the interwebz aside from the usual got a haircut and a real job, wife and kids all ok, no impending doom, so on and so forth. So, all I’m gonna do is post itsy bitsy stuff here if you folks won’t mind.

Its that time of the year again, yes you heard that right. Hellfest is upon us! Well, in this part of the globe that is. Hellfest is on its eight year itiration and it gets heavier last time I checked. And my band will help usher in Hell this coming Mar. 31, 2012 at the usual happening place at the AMZ Sports Bar, NRA, Cebu City. The usual suspects of bands are gonna help out as well, just read the poster above for  more details and you can even click on it and you be transported to the FB event page, wow, nifty, uhm, yay… Well, I would highly appreciate all of you folks to support our little shindig. The Cebu metal scene is still alive thank you, haters can’t do anything about it. See you there \m/

Roughly, my 2011. In any order:

1.Joyfully welcoming my son to the this world.

2.Reaping the joys of fatherhood.

3.Bought a new phone.

4.Bought some cheap running shoes.

5.Discovered the joys of Android.

6.Participated in the 2^nd Cebu Comics Convention.

7.Got back into running (or jogging, or whatever) daily.

8.Participated in 2 fun runs.

9.Got promoted with my day job.

10.Started writing and drawing comics again.

11.Stopped writing and drawing comics again.

12.Participated the NanoWriMo but failed at the first 200 words or so.

13.Written my second Shortest (Vignette)Short Story.

14.Engrossed with Books 1 to 5 of the Song of Ice and Fire all year round.

15.Attended in a wedding and a funeral.

16. Attended my High School Batch/Xmas Party Reunion.

17.Met some good old friends, miss some and made some new ones too.

18.Neglected updating this blog mostly all year round.

19.Preoccupied by mostly holding back two of my very close friends Mr. Diabetes and Mr. Hypertension.

20.Did 3 Death Metal gigs with the band.

21.Miss the company of alcohol and drinking buddies.

22.Syncoped twice

Aside from my previous post, this one tops it off by a mile. I’ve been wanting to post updates of this and that on the whereabouts of Boy Sipok Comics come the 2nd C3 but I was to darn pressed in finishing the book out that I forgot to update this blog about until now and by golly much delay it is.

I started feverishly working on Boy Sipok: The 2nd C3 Companion only 2 weeks to the aforementioned 2nd Cebu Comics Convention as my usual. The first Boy Sipok comics was done in that fashion as well last C3 2010 so I can safely say that this is my usual routine with regards to making my sequentials, I like to cram, period, so sue me. I have a day job to get jiggy with and I can hardly squeeze a project or two but I try my darn best because for the love of the medium.

From the 12 page objective to the final 8 pages I was really racking my brains out in coming up with a Boy Sipok comics come 2nd C3. All I can say that I was proud to an extent and quite abashed actually that I have to go thru the same predicament I was in last year that I promised thereafter that I would not succumb myself to which I clearly failed. But at least I made it thru the rain, so to speak and I am sucking on it. I dare say, I shan’t do it again…nah….frig it.

A little background, Boy Sipok is my own creation, some would say its me personified but I have yet to see a resemblance. You guys can read this post, or this to help speed things up.

About the event itself (please read previous post for more details), Boy Sipok was one  of Super Debil Robot Comics catalogue to grace the SDR booth from my own line Imprenta de la Cucaracha Rebelarse, a rebellious imprint of SDR Comics. Honestly, I only sold a handful of it and I would personally thank you guys here in me humble blog…all 5 of you god fearing men and women who laboriously visited and checked us out on our little SDR booth and shelling out your hard earned P25.00 bucks. Hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed making it. Maybe come next C3 Boy Sipok would fare better but only if I make one better in the near future. I do hope I won’t disappoint. Well, just an update, if you have friends up north or the ones reading this blog happens to be in Manila this November 19 (?) for the Komikon 2011 I do hope could come by forcefully to our little SDR Comics booth. Tom and Suede will be there with open arms and legs to greet you (I can’t come again like the last time for financial reasons but the guys will be there in my stead) and maybe, just maybe, the Boy Sipok: The 2nd C3 Companion would tug at your geeky hearts and make you shell out some P25.00 love I would gladly appreciate the support you will give as you folks up there did at last years Komikon (see related post here). Other folks not from up north or otherwise you can always order directly from us at sdrcomics@gmail.com or post a message here so that we can come with an agreement.

Well, it was fun, I hope to do some more soon in the future. All hail, comics!

(Caveat Lector: This is a long boring post. All pics after my inane textual post or better scroll down and leave the yapping behind)

We started early getting busy on our little farthest end of a booth around 9:00 a.m. at the U.P. Cebu grounds. The heat was gradually festering the participants already but lucky for us all the available booths were provided with tents for shelter from the sun, wind (?) and rain. Morning came and not much going for the crowd just yet, things got steam around 3:00 p.m. or so when the Artist Alley was already filling up with, uhm, ah, artist, what else and the crowd went wild, so to speak. Our little SDR Booth (thanks to the Big Ape Studio guys for letting us crash our stuff) or actually, our SDR/IPI Pharmaceuticals/Mcfarlane Toys booth which we loving shared with them guys, was full to the brim with our own indie comics, Mcfarlane action figures and yeah, some medicinal flyers courtesy of IPI. Our SDR catalogue was mighty looking good as opposed to the last years C3 which was only my Boy Sipok and Sugbu Jam No. 4 was on sale. Now we had another Boy Sipok Comics of mine, Sugbu Jam No. 5, John Amor’s Urban Animal Nos. 1 and 2, JP dela Rama’s Gemini Complex No.1 and some Komikero comics from Manila. We didn’t sold that much except for Urban Animal 1 and 2 that sold well as far as I can recall. Not that it was bad all in all selling wise, but it was surely an experience mind you and I am not complaining. I am counting on next year’s C3 if the gods allow to sell more of our Super Debil Robot Comics catalogue and alot of fans would support it.

Other booths present were the Wacom guys showing and strutting there goods for all the salivating crowd to see. I was eyeing on that Cintiq lustily and not the pretty lady attendant, really…really! I was scheming a plan of theft and armed robbery by nightfall to the guy who won the Bamboo but to no avail and rightly so. Then there’s them ever present Komikon guys with their comics fresh from Manila, they were also present at last year’s C3 and for that, kudos to you guys for never failing to participate in our little event this way south. Then there was the ComicXhub booth fresh also from Manila bringing with them awesome comics from Marvel/DC and other international ones. By impulse I had to buy from them DC’s the New 52 of Batman No. 1 which was so awesome, Greg Capullo’s art is tha bomb. I was shaking in anticipation on this one and much to my wife’s weird disapproving looks (she is the ever cashier of the SDR comics since from last C3′s booth). Then there’s the National Bookstore booth full of comics in trade and other art supplies. They gave away some cool Hellblazer tradepaperbacks also and then some Zig art markers. There were other booths put up then but I can’t seem to recall that much so I better leave it to that so as not to further my embarrassment on the details. Thanks to them they made the C3 a success.

The highlight of the event was definitely the Artist Alley booth, which highlights (do I hear an echo?) the purpose of the event. To promote comic book art and artist from Cebu and then some. I wasn’t able to attend to the artist alley because we the SDR crew were busy with the SDR booth attending to it and hoping to sell some SDR comics all thru out the event. Artist present at the Artist Alley were the ever urban animal Mr. John Amor all the way from Davao to regain his rightful roots representing Cebu komikeros with the ever agile cat Kat Layno, Leandro Panganiban, JP dela Rama (notice I only mention SDR Comics artist contributors, so sue me?!) and a whole lotta bunch of great artist filling up the booth and giving away cool sketches and then some. I gotta mention Ike Racho who came all the way from Singapore(?) just to attend to this event and promote his awesome comics Tommie Zombie, he is after all a Cebuano and started his comics roots here with some indies and the ever popularly raunchy(?) From Junquera with Love comics. I regret not having to buy his Tommie Zombie No. 1 and have it signed and get my picture taken with they guy coz I was outta budget by then. Next time dude, if there is one.

All in all, I can safely say that the 2nd C3 was fun like the last one. A learning experience even. I enjoyed meeting you guys specially the ones who came to our own little SDR booth and said hi to us guys. It is a reward in itself. Kudos to the Big Ape Studio guys for pulling off the event yet again.

(Click on the link below for more slew of pics from the event in slideshow style)

https://skydrive.live.com/embedalbum.aspx/2nd%20C3%202011?cid=9dff18e6aece56cf&sc=photos

Hey, folks! Here’s to the next C3. Mabuhay ang Komikerong Pilipino. I’m proud to be a part of it and for that it is enough. Thanks.

P.S. hey Mr. Amor, where’s my Sponge Bob sketch from last year’s C3?…