Saturday, October 13, 2007

Cast of Characters

I might not have made it to the lineup for Dean Alfar's third Speculative Fiction Anthology, but apparently Dominique Cimafranca has. Seeing that this will be his first published short story in the local scene, you might want to congratulate him on his achievement. :)

Dominique joins what strikes me as a very distinguished list of authors for the book. It's got names that should now be established as mainstays in the field of local Speculative Fiction (like Ian Casocot and Andrew Drilon), wide-ranging awardwinners (like Yvette Tan and Alfred Yuson), and people who I could probably take on in a one-on-one cage match (like Joseph Nacino and Charles Tan). There are a number of notably missing names -- Vin Simbulan and Chiles Samaniego among others -- but I'm pretty sure that their works will be back in the spotlight soon.

Furthermore, one of Dean's subsequent comments tickled me quite a bit:

We specifically wanted the Yuson, and believe it belongs in the antho. We've loved it for some time. I think you'll like the stories of the authors you mentioned above - as well as a goodly number of the younger writers.

"The Yuson", he says. The last time I heard anything like that, it involved a priceless Amorsolo painting getting manhandled out of its display case. I don't doubt that we're referring to some works of art here, but I'd still laugh if I ever had to refer to a short story as "The Yuson", or "The Casocot", or "The Nacino". Or, heaven forbid, "The Sean".

What fools we writers be. :)

12 comments:

Dean said...

LOL That's actually how we editors speak when we talk about stories in an antho ;)

banzai cat said...

Hah! Game on! Name the cage and the time! Hah! ;-)

Sean said...

Dean: It feels strangely funny to me, that's all. I do wonder, though, as to how we're supposed to refer to any works where two different authors share the same last name. Has anyone ever referred to "The Dean" and the "The Nikki" in the same breath, for example? :)

Banzai Cat: Heh. Just a tubful of gelatin / mashed potatoes / baby oil / fettucine carbonara more, and we could probably charge admission. :)

Charles said...

You'll be "The Uy", not "The Sean". Come on, let's make it a three-way match, winner takes all. =)

Sean said...

Charles: Yeah, but "The Uy" just sounds like a crime against grammar. At least "The Sean" has this nice ring to it...

Heck, of course we could make it a three-way match. The pay-per-view receipts alone would probably set us up for life. :)

Charles said...

Now all I need is a pet mascot... Banzai Cat has the cat, you the penguin...

banzai cat said...

... well, you always have your funny hat... ;-)

Sean said...

Charles, Banzai Cat: So now we've got a cat, a penguin, and Jamiroquai? I'd pay to see that match. :)

banzai cat said...

Christ on a crutch, Sean, good thing I wasn't drinking anything or I'd be dealing with a wet computer... ;-)

Sean said...

Banzai Cat: I aim to please. :)

skinnyblackcladdink said...

now hold on there! what's this about a funny hat? if anybody's going to be wearing a funny hat 'round here, it'll be me, ya hear? i've got the funny hat trademark patent intellectual rights thingumie and i can prove it.

well. emphasism on the 'round here' bit. anywhere else, i'd have to bow to terry pratchett. and i must concede his hat *is* bigger than mine.

er. right. as you were.

Sean said...

Skinnyblackcladdink: I wonder if that'll fall under my disclaimers. :)

Okay then, Skinny... as far as I'm concerned, you own the market on wearing funny hats. And while Pratchett does have a hat bigger than any of us, we must remind ourselves that, sadly, he's looking at the long-term possibility of being unable to recall its existence. (*Sigh*)