Stupid!

Gah!! I'm so stupid. How could I forget that the deadline for the Neil Gaiman thing was crawling so close? Gah!!! I got so swamped with work that it just slipped my mind (I do hope the flow of projects doesn't let up though)!

So I had to email my mom and tell her to run to Rockwell to submit the damn thing. It's a bit half-assed and I never got to finish it, but what the hey. I'm so annoyed at myself because I actually did put a lot into it. I started writing in Decemeber and worked until the middle of January, for chrissakes! But then the projects started rolling in. The thing is, when it comes to ficton, I'm not a prolific writer at all - I write my stories very, very slowly. So while you'd think that 1.5 months (give or take) would be enough (it probably is for most people), it really wasn't (at least for me). I didn't have the time to edit and revise, and since it's in the editing and revising phase that my stories really come into their own, I SUCK.

Bah. I only had enough time to really polish the first 2 or 3 pages (it was a 19-page manuscript), so it's still all very rough and raw. I need a drink. (The thought that I've been writing crap these days, and probably didn't stand a chance anyway, is just not cutting it as far as comfort goes.) GAH!!!

Comic Con

The NY Comic Con was a fun experience. Lots of geeky fanboys in weird costumes. Lots of old beached blondes trawling around in skimpy costumes ten sizes too small. Lots of excited kids. They closed the exhibition area to the public at around 3 in the afternoon. I got there past five. It's a good thing I had my handy dandy exhibitor's pass or else they might not have let me through. Got loads of freebies. Had to lug a gargantuan TokyoPop bag around with me (loaded down with lots of free comics of course) around 15 blocks to and from the subway, though. Sweated like a pig. Had to take an emergency shower in a dark bathroom eerily lit by one tiny mango-scented votive candle, because the lightbulb finally flickered out. Obviously, I have no idea where John hides our extra bulbs.

Anyway, I'm feeling fresh after my shower, but also tired. Feet hurt. Shoulders hurt a little too - the gargantuan TokyoPop bag had to be slung over my shoulder because I'm so small that if I had held it the proper way, I would have been mopping the convention floor.

Anyway, that's all. I'm tired and I have loads more work to do.

NY Comic Con

So, as part of my... errr... job as a "Manhwa Editor", I've accepted an invitation from NetComics to go to the NY Comic Con this weekend. Should be fun. John, who's going to be in Vegas and therefore can't go, wants me to bring a crapload of his comics and get them signed, haha. I'm hoping to score some "contacts" and maybe do some more editorial work. I know it's a bit of a long shot, but no harm in trying, right?

Also, the titles I've edited have just been released. Please do check out "Land of Silver Rain" and "Madtown Hospital" at your nearest comics-selling bookstore if you have the time. (I haven't seen the final versions of both titles though, so I'm not sure if they put in all my edits.) They're also available online. You can get them from our website, Amazon, most Manga shops, and a bunch of other places. The MSRP is 9.99, but if you look around enough you'll probably find a better deal.

Links to Amazon here:
   

Silver Rain is a cute fantasy. Perfect for younger girls. It's prettily drawn and the mythology about the Dokebis (Korean spirits living on another plane) is interesting. Madtown Hospital is a comedy. I've heard it described as Dumb and Dumber, but with more brain. Not exactly my cup of tea, but hey, it could be yours.

None of the March releases are mine, but two of the April ones are, so watch out for those. My shonnen-ai (boy-love) comics are both coming out in April: Not So Bad Vol.1 and Let Dai Vol.2.

Some of the May releases might be mine as well (though I'm not sure because I don't know what the printing schedule is going to be like): Land of Silver Rain Vol.2 and Madtown Hospital Vol.2.

I'm also in the February issue of Filipinas Magazine. I have a not-so-great piece in the New Voices column. They edited it, and I'm not too happy. Most Filipino publications insist on "correcting" mistakes that aren't really mistakes at all! (Pet peeves: the comma before "and" rule and the semi-colon rule.) But that's all over and done with and I can't do anything about that anymore, so I'm not letting it bother me. Right now, I'm just happy they sent me a check.

BTW, if you're going to the Comic Con, drop me a line and maybe we can hook up. That's all, folks!

C'mon

FRiends, click please.

http://kevan.org/johari?name=warcarwanda

New Phones

Keeping this short because I'm drowning in work. I've been procrastinating again, of course. Anyway, just wanted to come up for air and share with all you folks that I have a new phone! John came home with new matching phones for both of us today. It's the Motorola RAZR V3. Yay!

Bye.

SNOW

We've been enjoying the MILDEST winter on record for a couple of months now, and I was even starting to think that maybe Mother Nature was really going to let us off easy this year. Maybe she decided to be nice and thought that the one blizzard we had back in November was enough. HAH. Think again, America. She just dumped over a foot of snow in the backyard. Winter has come back with a vengeance and has bitten us in the ass.

Pictures of me in the snow!


Damn, there's more snow than I thought...


Yup, it's up to my knees!


Take a picture already, it's cold!


And here's a snowball for you..


Now how the hell do I get out of here!

CALLING ALL COMICS/GRAPHIC FICTION ARTISTS

Hey you guys,

I'm looking for artists who have full-length comics ready for submission. Topics and themes are open. Comics in Filipino (or any other language for that matter) may also be accepted, as long as you are willing to have your work translated into English (we can provide the translators).

If accepted, your work will be published on a pay-per-chapter basis online. If it does well, it will eventually be published in traditional book format to be
released worldwide. We currently have manhwa (sort of like Korean anime) being sold on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and many specialty bookstores here in North America. Our American office is gearing up for a marketing blitz, so right now is the perfect time to jump in and join our stable of artists. Revenues from your work will be split between you and the company.

How to submit:
Email a sample/excerpt of your work (3-5 pages) to wanda1@gmail.com. Include a basic synopsis of the story. Then sit back, relax, and wait to hear back from me!

Of Cabbages and Kings

I write fluff for a living. I write the things that go into popup ads and email spam. I write the things that go into senseless advertisements promising readers wealth beyond belief, or an adsense empire, or a body to die for. Sometimes I feel I've betrayed my love of words. Sometimes I'm utterly convinced that it's just a job and it has no consequences. It lets me live the only way I seem to know how - at the periphery and mostly alone. How often do we deceive ourselves?

-----

I read today that over 78 people died at a stampede that had something to do with a noontime game show. At the bottom of the page it said a priest had dedicated a mass to them. "In a special way, we lift up these souls to the Lord."

"In a special way, we lift up these souls to the Lord." What does that mean, exactly? That they are special because they died in a rush for noontime variety show glory? Are we asking God to play favorites, to treat them differently, to have more mercy on their souls? Do these people's deaths mean more than a lone death in a hospital bed? More than a miserable death in war-torn Sudan? More than a painful death from gang war bullets? And why? What about the anonymous passing of so many others? Who will lift up their souls in this "special" way? A priest should know better.

-------

Most travellers to Las Islas often end up loathing Manila. If it weren't the gateway to the Philippines' other 7,106 islands, they wouldn't bother. And yet it seems somehow fitting that the path to paradise should include a jaunt through hell. It says something of us as a species that most people suffer the jaunt.

And why would people come to loathe Manila? The obvious answer is always the despair. The streets of Manila can reek of despair. And sweat, and toxic fumes, and cat piss. But usually it's the despair that crawls inside and sucks you dry. It's the empty lives filled with rugby and haunted smiles. It's the layers of poverty and misery and abuse that never seem to end. It's the corruption rooted in survival and a tragic kind of love.

And it's the happiness. Manila's happiness is strange. It's a little dark, a little frightening, and very primal. It's a kind of happiness only the destitute can share. It's the kind of happiness that lets you laugh at a funeral. It's the kind of happiness that urges you on. It's the kind of happiness that keeps you alive even when the world says you have no right to be. It's happiness that springs from the air you breathe, simply because there is nowhere else to spring from.

A heady mix best taken with beer. Perhaps if they knew that...

People end up loathing Manila for the very thing that makes it what it is. I'm a child of that landscape. I have reeked of despair, and even sweat and toxic fumes and dried up catpiss. I sometimes still smell its scent on me, even when I've washed with jasmine-scented soap in my sterile white bathroom. I can't help it. Its scent has sunk beneath my skin. It is deep inside my flesh. But so is the happiness. Always.

Palawan and other things

Rather than have a relaxing stay, John and I are gearing up for some fast-paced backpacking adventure. My first Philippine destination is Palawan - although I'm going with my family so I'm slightly worried that I might end up spending more than my budget, which would be bad because that means I might not be able to do the other things I'd like to do. Hopefully everything will turn out okay and we can find a middle ground - a place I can afford THAT won't elicit shrieks of disgust from my sisters. Haha. As much as I'd like to stay at fancy shmancy Miniloc or Lagen, the bottomline is there are other things I'd rather do with the money - like travel to other places and see more things. We're going to be at the beach most of the day anyway, and electricity in that area only lasts until 1 am, so where you park your body at night shouldn't really matter, should it? We'll just have to bring cans of Lysol (just in case). Hehe.

Yes, I'm determined to get as many memories from this trip as humanly possible. This is, after all, pretty much THE VACATION for us. John and I don't usually have enough time to go on prolonged bouts of fun. Add the fact that we don't have nice little beaches we can go to on the weekend here, and winter has been a bit timid this year so skiing's out of the question.. well, you get the picture. (Plus I'm not exactly swimming in gold, and New York is pretty damn expensive so our jaunts to the city have been scarce as of late.)

Anyway, if anyone reading this blog can help me out, I would be eternally grateful.

Palawan Itinerary:
Fly to Puerto Princesa

* stay for 2 nights, do island hopping and snorkelling at Honda Bay, trekking, go see the falls
* go to Vietville and sample authentic Pho and Vietnamese French bread
* Try Palawan cuisine, whatever that is
* Dive, if finances permit

Fly/hitch a ride to El Nido

* Stay for two nights. We found Lally and Abet in El Nido, which is air-conditioned, on the beach, and quite affordable. I'm still waiting on a couple of places in Puerto Princesa.
* Check out various islands, Secret Beach, snorkel, kayak around Big and Small Lagoons
* Explore local haunts, try Palawan cuisine, whatever that is
* Possible dive, finances permitting

Back to Puerto, back to Manila.

Any suggestions? Other must-sees? I'm slightly claustrophobic so I think I'm going to pass on the underground river, but all other suggestions are welcome. Tips on where to gt the best fares would be great as well.