Rin Chupeco's Blog, page 6

THE GIRL FROM THE WELL’s Book Cover + digital ARCs!

Guess whose book just got its own shiny new cover?

Goodreads page

Happily, it’s everything I wanted it to be – and after a very hectic start to 2014 with kid measles, frantic temporary relocation, pregnancy issues and a host of other mom-to-be problems, this comes as a very welcome respite!

Don’t forget to hop on over to Edelweiss if you’d like to request a digital RC!

The Pitchwars Aftermath (and My Reasons for Passing on your MS)

First of all: most of the submissions in my inbox are YA high / steampunk / contemporary fantasies, mysteries, retellings, and thrillers, all of which are exactly what I love.

Sadly, no psych horror this time around.

There are also very amazing submissions I’ve had to read through, but unfortunately only three of which I could pick. This is why although I read through my subs fairly quickly, it took me longer to agonize over my top three picks.

Take a look at Brenda Drake’s post to see my final choices, along with the other mentors’ picks. I’ve written personal critiques and replies to people who did not make the short list (I know the feeling – I’ve worked the trenches too, querying agents but often getting standardized rejections).  but I’ve also written this lengthy post regarding the reasons I might not have chosen your work, so I hope this helps! (Other mentors received subs from other genres, so their experiences may differ from mine.)

1. Dystopians masquerading as scifi and / or fantasy. If your MS falls under the “MC uncovers a conspiracy being kept hidden from people by the government / ruling class / whoever’s-in-charge and now must escape / rebel while being aided by love interest / friends”, then this is a dystopian book. No matter how many scifi or steampunk elements you add in there, the premise still makes it dystopian, and this genre has been on the wane for awhile in YA. I’ve seen a number of manuscripts that were well-written and well-developed, but unfortunately still fall right into this genre, which is also a major reason for me to pass on it.

I understand that at times there is a very thin line between both genres, but it is up to the authors at this point to widen the distance between them as much as possible. The less you are able to make it sound like a dystopian with a scifi setting, then the better the chances of agents taking an interest.

A good example of scifi.

Not a scifi.

A horrible example of scifi, because duck boobs.

Which also brings me to #2.

2. Originality issues. A lot of submissions sound like rehashes of books already in existence. This is something that I have mentioned in a few of my personal replies to some submissions. I call this the “first-to-market” problem. Books become popular in cycles, and a cycle could easily last for a generation. Within this timeframe, a book becomes popular if

1.) they have a unique concept or plot within that cycle, and

2.) they are the first or one of the first books of this kind to be published then.

As an example, let’s use Hunger Games again. The concept in itself is not necessarily unique – The Most Dangerous Game and Lord of the Flies follow the same idea, but these books have been published many, many years before – TMDG in the 1920s as a serial, and LotF in the 1950s. If you figure in that a literature cycle would take about 20 years, you can argue that the 90s – 2000s would be ripe for a book with this concept, since no similar book has been published within that timeframe – and especially because “YA” wasn’t a popular term when LotF was written.  (I can also argue that Battle Royale is also very similar to the Hunger Games, but Battle Royale, while popular, is also not as well known outside of Asia. Most of the time it’s books published in North America / the U.K. that often sets the trend, but there are always exceptions. The secret to better success though, is to assume you are NOT the exception.)

So what does this mean, exactly? It means that the author who publishes the first book of its kind within a certain timeframe will always have the advantage. Hunger Games is popular because of this. Divergent was the next book in  terms of popularity because it was also roughly the second dystopian series out (good writing helps tremendously).

BUT! The more dystopian books introduced into the market, the more original your own work will have to be. It doesn’t matter if your book is set in a castle in the sky or an underground cave instead of in Panem. It won’t matter if there are spaceships and different worlds. Setting helps define the genre, but plot sets it in stone. In the same way, you can point out that you’ve written a book about mermaids, angels, dragons, etc., but if it follows the “girl meets monster and falls in love” trope, then it’s still going to read as a Twilight rehash.

The same holds true for retellings. Greek mythology might be susceptible to this. Alice retellings, more so. Common fairytales and legends (Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Robin Hood, Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan) already have a lot of books out.

This is the disadvantage of authors who are late to market. The burden is on them to think up a much more different spin on their books to differentiate themselves from what’s already out there, and the more books of its kind available, the harder it’s going to be. Authors will need to do the research first. Check out upcoming books on Goodreads to see what future competition might look like. It’s easier to rewrite the plot BEFORE you actually write the book, rather than fix it afterward.

3. Too many literary elements with a commercial plot. This is the one that made me cry when I was looking through subs. I have seen gorgeous writing and beautiful prose that could easily set them apart as a roving literary masterpiece – and then I check the genre and find that it’s a YA Fantasy / Scifi / Thriller.

It is good to write a literary-style work regardless of your genre. In fact, I highly (being biased) encourage it, as this is what I also write. But – and you know there’s a big ‘but’ coming -

let me pause here to deliver a visual pun.

- literary works tend to read smoothly, but peddles slowly through plot. Genres like fantasy / scifi / thriller work best when the pace is quick and the stakes are high. You need to find a balance between going fast enough to keep readers hooked, but pausing at the right moments for readers to appreciate the beauty of your words. I have read lovely pieces in my inbox that writes beautiful exposition, but the action doesn’t seem like it’s taking place until halfway through the story.

Rule of thumb: introduce or cite the major obstacle within the first three chapters. Don’t litter your first sixty or so pages with nothing but character development and background.  It’s a beautiful read, but conflict is also what readers are here for. For this genre, you need some kind of affirmative action (even if it’s not about the major conflict) happening every three chapters to remind yourself to move the plot along.

These were easily the submissions that were the hardest for me to reject, but I knew the authors would have to cut a lot of things down first to make the MS work.

4.  Character disconnect. Now, I’m pretty okay with a lot of characters. In fact, characters are easily some of my favorite things about most novels, even if I’m not on board with the story itself. My favorite characters have ranged from pioneering criminal profilers with mustaches and round heads to pompous lawyers played by James Spader to fallen angels who sometimes sound like they’re either ridiculously naive, or on a twenty lifetimes-long acid trip.

What I dislike about a lot of characters, though, are when they are at their extremes – 1.) when their personalities or quirks are overexaggerated, or 2.) when they’re too distant. The first is called Flanderization.

Play upon your character’s idiosyncrasies, but within reason. If your character is afraid of mice, have them freak out when one is nearby. Don’t have them nervously checking the cupboards every waking moment for them.

On the other hand, if readers are interested in your characters BECAUSE of a specific quirk you mention they have, then take the time to let them see this in the first three chapters. There are certain kinds of characters where it’s okay to show off their personalities  more (Fred and George Weasley as pranksters, Glenn Quagmire and ‘giggity’, C3PO’s stress levels, hypochondriacs and special needs kids) though still within limits. My suggestion would be to run amuck with character personality on your first draft, then sensibly cut them down on your second and succeeding edits. The worst kind of characters for me are not the ones you don’t have anything in common with, but the ones you don’t understand because their thoughts don’t flow with the narrative.

The balance between showing too little and showing too much of a specific character trait is also something that can be subjective, but another rule of thumb (I am running out of thumbs) is to follow the majority opinion. If five people like your MC while two hate it, then five trumps two.

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Other reasons I might have turned you down may be: I could only pick three subs (in the end, I fretted over ten manuscripts), or because some other mentor has laid claim to your work, and I had decided to bow out (in which case I made a few critiques if I had any, but also sent you a congratulatory note).

In conclusion, the one thing most fellow writers won’t ever tell you is this truth:

The first is bad; the second is what you should be aiming for.

Most importantly: Pitchwars is a contest, not a dealbreaker for your manuscript. Not getting picked doesn’t mean agents won’t like your work. I got an offer of representation literally five days after being rejected in another Brenda Drake ™ contest only last year. Understand that opinions vary, and that it’s up to you to choose – not the critique that praises your work, but the critique that will help improve it. Work hard, learn that patience is a writer’s most valued virtue, and you’re going to be fine.

 

Join the Pitch Wars Contest – Information, and Why You Should Pick Me!

If the lovely Brenda Drake hasn’t given you the heads-up already, I’ll be one of many mentors taking part in the upcoming Pitch Wars contest, so excitement! Meander over to the link for all the pertinent information you need! As one of the coaches I am currently looking for YA authors with finished manuscripts to mentor – almost all sub-categories within YA are welcomed, as I’ve liked novels from genres I never thought I’d read.

What I am Looking For in a Manuscript:

I love fantasy and sci-fi (light sci-fi – hard sci-fi might be something of a hard sell in the YA field, though I do love it). World-building is important, as I want to know why things are happening! (Confession: I grew up with David Eddings books, and I’m a big fan of Brandon Sanderson and Ann Aguirre.)
I love horror. Not the gory, chainsaw-wielding, William-Shatner-face-mask-wearing kind of demented,  but the ones with the scary, relentless atmosphere. I want ghost stories that creep into your soul while you’re huddled in bed, the ones that whisper “boo” in your ear at the right moments.
I also adore mysteries. I love Three Investigators, have all of Agatha Christie’s books, and my prize collection is a Nancy Drew hardbound series I’ve had since I was eight. I don’t want to know who the villain is until the very last chapter, but I want to keep guessing till then! I want something absolutely unexpected:

Steampunk. I love a little bit of science thrown in to explain the technology. Don’t just add in something made of clockwork without a user’s manual, however short it is. Give me reason to believe in your universe’s logic.
Romantic subplots are welcomed, but I’m not a fan of stories where said girl / boy is torn between his / her loves throughout most of the book while nothing much else happens. Love triangles are okay, but I’m afraid I have nearly zero tolerance for insta-loves.
Whimsical. I love whimsical with beautiful prose. John Green novels and  Graffiti Moon comes to mind, as does Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets . (A note: beautiful prose doesn’t have to mean literary. Rick Yancey and Maggie Stiefvater do amazing things with beautiful prose.) I want something curious and strange and lovely.
All kinds of retellings. Fairy tales, nursery rhymes, classics, mythology – gimme, gimme.
I may not be the right choice for contemporary YA, unless they’re whimsical with beautiful prose (see above), or with a hilariously unique spin (like Liz Czukas’ Ask Again Later). I do like magical realism.
I want a different kind of dystopian / urban fantasy / paranormal story. A dystopian where the government might actually be the good guys? A paranormal novel where the is  truly a vicious, hideous sonofagun and absolutely not a love interest? A zombie verse novel? I’m your girl.

Or something like that.

Feel free to submit even if your novel doesn’t fit any of those mentioned above – if you’ve written something I’ve never even thought of, then I’d want it even more!

Shameless reasons why you should pick me:

1. I am represented by two wonderful agents – Rebecca Podos and Nicole LaBombard of the Rees Literary Agency. I’ve been a freelance writer for numerous magazines, and have had short stories published in a few more. I live in the Philippines, home of a flourishing indie writer community, so opting for a U.S. agent makes me something of an oddity. It’s been trickier to look for an agent when you’re not living in the same continent, but it turned out to be a quicker process than I expected (don’t hurt me).

I finished my YA Psych Horror novel, The Unnatural States of Dead Girls in Wells (title now trimmed to a more straightforward The Girl from the Well) in February 2012, queried, had three offers of representation, and landed my agents by July. Several publishers (including a Big 5 house) offered for my book later that year, but in the end I decided Sourcebooks was the best fit for me.

The Girl from the Well is due out in August 2014. Curious about my writing style? An excerpt has been made available in a few places, but here it is again:

I am where dead children go.

With other kinds of dead it is different. Often their souls drift quietly away, like a leaf caught in the throes of a hidden whirlpool; slipping down without sound, away from sight. They roll and ebb gently with the tides until they sink beneath the waves and I no longer see where they go – like sputtering candlelight, like little embers that burn briefly and brightly for several drawn moments before all their light goes out.

But they are not my territory. They are not my hunt.

And then there are the murdered-dead. And they are peculiar, stranger things.

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gently, as your poet encourages, into the good night.

2. I was weaned on pretty prose. I can tell the difference between poetic and purple, and nothing attracts me more than a well-turned phrase. I also have experience editing most genres of fiction, so you’ll be getting those services for free! I critique queries all the time, and often beta-read for fellow writers.

3. I’m not a big fan of telling you how the manuscript should be written, how characters should interact, how the plot should move, how much cream you should be putting in your coffee, and why Misha Collins is better than Jensen Ackles (it’s a close race, I grant you that).  But I do love to question.  In fact, I might have several questions for a particular plot point or character, and I want to help you find the answers because I want you to know your characters as thoroughly as humanly possible. I want to know what would happen if your protagonist did Action X instead of Action Y, and why they would choose one over the other, cause I want your story told in the most awesome way possible, and that means looking through all options. I also like to think that I’m very good at finding inconsistencies in a story and fleshing out the story’s overall theme / mood / arc – or help you spin it in a different, unique way.

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The List of Agents!

Louise Fury – Bent Agency
Suzie Townsend – New Leaf Literary
Nicole Resciniti – The Seymour Agency
John M. Cusick – The Greenhouse Agency
Sarah LaPolla – Bradford Literary Agency
Victoria Marini – Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency
Jessica Sinsheimer – Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency
Pam van Hylckama Vlieg – Foreword Literary
Quinlan Lee – Adams Literary
Jen Udden – Donald Maass Literary Agency
Emily Keyes – Foreword Literary
Brianne Johnson – Writers House
Carly Watters – P.S. Literary
Lana Popovic and Natasha Alexis – Zachary Shuster Harmsworth
Molly Jaffa – Folio Literary Management
Evan Gregory – Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency
Stefanie Lieberman – Janklow & Nesbit Associates
Rena Rossner – The Deborah Harris Agency

For additional information about this contest along with how to submit your manuscripts, go HERE.

Check all the coaches’ posts in your category before deciding your top 4 picks. Just click on our pictures below!

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Info for Donations to Victims of the Typhoon Haiyan (and Why We Can’t Rely on the Philippine Government)

The husband and I were in the direct path when Typhoon Haiyan (known locally in the Philippines as Yolanda) hit, which was why we’d only made it back home late Monday night. However, there are a lot of other people in dire need of food, water and medicine, and are desperately trying to find other loved ones who are still missing. To date, there are about 1700 people confirmed dead by the floods, and the number is expected to rise as high as 10,000.

Before Haiyan

After Haiyan

Post by Nakaka WOW Videos.

If you would like to donate, please go to this link for a list of most of the current NGOs already on the ground and working on relief goods. There are local chapters of these organizations in many countries, so please do call them up and ask how you can donate.

Please note: do NOT donate rice, instant noodles or other foodstuffs that require cooking for now, as many cities have no electricity or running water. Countries like Russia have flown in generators, but I do not know how far electricity would extend, or when it will start working.

DO donate medicine, water, biscuits, tinned goods, anti-bacterial soap, sanitary napkins, etc. ESPECIALLY donate money when you can instead of goods – buying in bulk would make it cheaper.

Dick Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, has announced that a ship will be in Cebu ready to evacuate anyone who wants to leave. Follow his updates for more details. And as of now, thanks to the US military who’ve flown in, Tacloban airport is open and active for at least the next 24 hours today, November 13, 2013. Please spread the word!

If you are looking for loved ones in the Philippines, or have information on missing persons, Google has launched a Typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda Google Finder.

Otherwise, go here for updated lists of survivors in Tacloban. If you know of other databases from other cities, please let me know!

For animal disaster relief drives, you can donate here. (Please don’t donate to the Philippine chapter of PETA. CARA Welfare is a good local animal care organization, and I guarantee they won’t euthanize the animals.)

Also: do NOT donate to any Philippine local government units, and ask your local NGOs not to. Many Philippine officials have had a track record of keeping relief goods for their own use, or delaying delivery to add their own names on the boxes to make it appear like these were their private donations, in order to look good for the next elections. Many NGOs, including Red Cross, have been given orders not to hand over relief goods to officials for fear they would be used for politicking, as was what happened between the Philippine Red Cross and Mayor Evasco during relief operations in Bohol after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck last month.

Post by Erin Denise Chupeco.

The main problem with the Philippines is that there is a lack of hindsight and care when it comes to preparing for disasters. The irony was that in this case, the cities on the path of the typhoon were prepared, but there was no way the Philippines would have been able to weather through a Category 5 typhoon, which I’ve never seen here before (and I’ve lived here all my life), without suffering casualties. Many people were sent to evacuation centers before the typhoon hit, for instance. Unfortunately, the evacuation centers were also ravaged by the storm because winds were at 315 kph and worse than hurricane Katrina.

And what does the President do? He blames the cities for being unprepared. The same guy who admits to not embarking on studies that would “identify areas in islands throughout the archipelago that were most vulnerable to storm surges”, and then walked out of a disaster fund meeting (“A friend of the businessman also supposedly asked Aquino [the president] what the government is doing since there are already reports of killing there. The person supposedly said he was held at gunpoint by some looters. “But you did not die, right?” Aquino answered back.”)

Or when his cronies from the Department of Health prevents mass burials of the dead because “a cadaver does not carry any health risk. The dead are not infectious. When you die, the bacteria also dies with you.”

We have a little over P7 million in our disaster relief fund, which is barely $200,000 for the whole country. The last hard-hitting typhoon alone cost over P20B in damages. Every new typhoon brings no improvement, no new method to help combat the next disaster. The people just sit there and wait for foreign aid to come each and every time. And it is infuriating to me.

Why? Too many corrupt officials had siphoned money out of that fund, as they have done with many others, to maintain their extravagant lifestyles. Even now, an investigation is still ongoing for one Janet Lim-Napoles, a businesswoman who conspired with senators and congressmen to scam funds from the government budget into their own pockets.

[rant]

(And yes, meager readers, this is the PERFECT time to criticize AND help out. I am sick and fucking tired of the same goddamn story every time a typhoon comes our way five or six times a year: ‘no funds in the budget because government officials wanted a Porsche’, or ‘I’m the president but it’s not my fault I’ll just pass the blame onto the cities for not being prepared because passing blame is the ONLY thing I’ve passed in my fucking term so far.’

Constantly not speaking out about this in the past is the reason we’re all in this shithole. When you know something’s not right, the worst thing you can do is to shut up.

If you’d rather not say anything because the current status quo is more important to you than accepting the need for things to change, then YOU’RE part of the problem.)

[/rant]

(Also: I love you, Anderson Cooper. I really do.)

Why am I taking the time to do this? Because as much as I appreciate all the help the countries have been giving so far, it isn’t good for us to have to keep relying on foreign aid, because that gives local officials this sense of entitlement that they are free to loot from the government budget because foreigners are going to help anyway. And I want to get it out there just how corrupt AND inept these people are, so that after all the helping and healing is done, other countries are aware of these sons of bitches and the problems the common people have to face everyday. And maybe, just MAYBE, help us do something about that, too.

Because it is frustrating to have to admit that the best way to help the victims of typhoons like these in the Philippines is by NOT giving goods to the local government units. Because it is infuriating to watch Americans and NGOs hand out the goods to the victims and know the reason is that the local officials cannot be trusted with them.

The quicker the world sees our incompetence, the greater the chances that we actually do something. Because if there is one thing most Filipinos can’t stand, it’s damage to Pinoy pride.

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I’ve tried to collect every bit of updated information I have regarding these relief drives and other points for donation, but feel free to comment if you have any more!

 

 

Brace yourself – Pitch Wars is coming!

Guess who’s going to be a mentor for the upcoming Pitch Wars? If you’ve got a complete manuscript and would like to participate, click on the image for more details!

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop Tour!

The awesomeness that is publishing sibling Skylar Dorset, whose book NEVER TRUST A FAERIE is due out June 2014, has just tagged me in the Next Big Thing blog hop tour, created to find upcoming authors and new releases!

 

1. What is the working title of your next book?

It used to be called The Unnatural States of Dead Girls in Wells, which was the title I came up with exactly .0238429347 seconds before sending it out to agents. While agents and publishers said they loved it, it was probably just a little too long for a standard book cover – hence the new name: The Girl from the Well. Very The Ring-esque, which the book is something of an hommage to.

 

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

From two odd things:

1. I used to work in an old building, and did tons of overtime. Sometimes I don’t get to leave until 9 or 10 pm, and by then the whole floor’s dark and the elevator’s clankering and it feels like there’s something eyeballing you from that one corner – you know, fairly normal things.

I am Asian. I am pale, had really long messy hair back then. My eyes are bigger than your standard Chinese’s. I wear dark clothes a lot.

So when other fellow inmates workers at other floors below mine are also waiting for the elevator to arrive – and it slides open to reveal a girl with that description, head bowed so all you see at first glance is hair because she’s fiddling with her mobile phone – you can’t help but scream. Which makes me scream, and then we go on screaming at each other for a few seconds until we realize we’re both human. This has happened more times than you might think. There was this one poor Japanese gentleman who nearly had a heart attack.

The only good thing that came out of this is that I am now friends with a lot of people on different floors of that building.

They still call me Sadako.

 

2. My friend and I had gone on an Asian horror weekend binge – The Ring, The Grudge, Missed Call, Shutter, Oldboy, The Eye, Audition – no American remakes, so you know we’re serious. “How would you fight a ghost that can’t ever be destroyed by anything?” she asked me, in the midst of all the horrawesome.

“With another ghost,” I responded – and then just sat there struck by the very idea of it, while my friend shrieked her way through one of the final, disturbing scenes of A Tale of Two Sisters.

I wrote chapter one the following day.

 

3. What is the genre of your book?

YA Psychological Horror. I add “psychological”, because gore is not an integral part of the story. I have been told that the things that scared readers weren’t the dismembered body parts, but that the dismembered body parts were watching you.

Especially the feet. Feet are evil.

 

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

I have no idea. I tend to cast actors older than my protags’ ages, because they have that je ne se quois thing going on that I didn’t find in more age-appropriate people. This is French for “I can’t explain it, so I’m gonna use a classy French word to pretend I can”.

That said, I think Keiko Kitagawa would be amazing as my undead protagonist. She can act (you might remember her small part in Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift) and the fact that she is so pretty would make her looking quite undead for the role be all the more glaring in contrast.

For fellow MC Tarquin Halloway, who is half-Asian and half-American (but looks Asian, save for his eyes) – Ikuta Toma plays the angry snarky rebel well, and he’s an excellent actor who’s not afraid to take risks. For Callie, Tark’s cousin – Miley Cyrus.

.

.

.

.

.

and by that I totally meant AnnaSophia Robb.

 

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A dead girl who wreaks vengeance on child murderers realizes that a strange boy with stranger tattoos who moves into the neighborhood has a secret – one that would just kill to get out.

 

6. Who is publishing your book?

The lovely people over at Sourcebooks.

 

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

It took me only two and a half months for the first draft in total. It was written in between the chapters of another book that was a lot more complicated to write.  I tend to write the first half of first drafts quickly, sometimes as fast as a chapter every couple of days. Then I take a break two-thirds of the way in to do something else for a couple of weeks (or three or four), and then return to finish the rest. It’s to make sure I don’t go through novel fatigue.

 

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

Most people would think The Ring, right?. Most don’t realize that The Ring started life as a book before it was ever a movie. But the novel was very different from the movie in a lot of ways, more medical thriller (yes. Medical thriller.) than horror. Anna Dressed in Blood is the closest that comes to mind, just because of the psychologically devastating female ghosts. And then of course, there’s the Bancho Sarayashiki, which is probably the oldest book any YA author’s ever compared their work to.

 

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I already blabbered on for too long with question #2, so the bulk of my inspiration has been detailed there.

 

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

Imagine Sadako.

With a conscience.

Because she kills murderers.

And maybe eats their faces. It’s not explicitly mentioned, mind.

But she’s not saying, either.

So you never know.

I like one sentence paragraphs.

 

 

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Next up for taggage – the wonderful Mary Crockett, whose book Dream Boy will also be published by Sourcebooks in 2014! If you’d like to be tagged as well, let me know and I’ll add you here!

 

1 Million March Against Corruption (or How Awesome Filipinos Stage Awesome Protests)

In the Philippines, there’s something we call the Priority Development Assistance Fund. It’s got good intentions – it’s to help establish local projects with LGUs (Local Government Units) to help improve the current way of living.

We call it the “pork barrel”.

The thing is – this PDAF isn’t given directly to the LGUs – they’re given to senators to dole out. And that’s where the whole corruption thing comes in.

Senators aren’t wiling to give this money – often in the billions of pesos – to the LGUs. Instead, they set up projects where 20% of the budget goes to its completion, while the other 80% goes to their own personal bank accounts. You can imagine how heavily inflated the costs of these projects could get – in the picture below, one flagpole project costs P8M – that’s roughly $200,000.

To replace one flagpole.

And this is just one of the ‘cheaper’ projects.

The current president won the elections based on his promise of a “daang matuwid” – the ‘straight road’. Except it’s come to light that his slice of the pork barrel is even bigger than any of his predecessors. – his allotment amounts to  1 trillion pesos.

Public outrage rose this month when a whistleblower revealed the fact that a businesswoman named Janet Napoles was one of those responsible for diverting pork barrel funds. Records now show that she, together with many other senators, helped set up NGOs that didn’t actually exist, in order to receive the funds supposedly for these organizations – and scamming the people out of over P10 billion.

The 1 Million March was a protest rally staged not just in Manila, but all over the country, because people are sick and tired of being repeatedly swindled out of their own tax money in order to line government officials’ pockets. It’s one of the biggest rallies I’ve attended, and I’m glad I did.

The protest was held at Rizal Park, one of Manila’s most popular tourist attractions. The defining feature of Rizal Park is this monument to the Filipino national hero, Jose Rizal, who was accused of starting a revolution against Spain and the Catholic church, and was executed here. Here is also a rare attempt at a selfie.

People yelled “Wag mag-baboy! Makibaka!” (‘Don’t be greedy! Join our fight!’) “Baboy” means pig, alluding to the pork barrel scam, and “baka” means cow. The phrase could be then construed as a pun, to go for beef instead of pork.

A picture of businesswoman Janet Napoles, who has now gone into hiding.

Free anti-pork barrel face painting and watercolor tattoos

A figure of Jose Rizal, the Philippines’ national hero, sits beside a sign condemning political dynasties. Most current senators are either celebrities or people whose family have been sitting in Congress for years. Because the majority of those who vote are poor people, they vote for these same corrupt politicians over and over again. In exchange, they receive doleouts. Some poor people have been known to sell their votes for beer.

A depiction of current president Noynoy Aquino. Another one below.

Six senators found to be abusing their pork barrel funds, setting up fake NGOs with businesswoman Janet Napoles’ help. The sign reads: “Dear Bishops, are you still going to ask us to vote for these Team [pro]Life (anti-RH senators)? We’ll be doomed.” RH refers to the Reproductive Health bill, which aims to provide sex education and assistance to poor people. These senators are against the bill, arguing that condoms and birth control pills are abortificents, and were supported by the local Catholic church. If  the person on the far right (Sotto) might sound or look familiar, I’ve railed against him before, too. He’s one of the asses that tried to sign in SOPA in the Philippines.

Another Noynoy Aquino effigy

A trivia corner: “Could anyone tell me how many billions of pesos were taken out of the PDAF?”

Sign reads: “We don’t want pigs, pigs, pigs”

“Abolish me – country first”

the view from above

Where I talk about my new title change, The Girl from the Well, and post ghost-related things

Very quick update: The Unnatural States of Dead Girls in Wells has now been renamed to The Girl from the Well. Simpler, and a lot more succinct.

I have also seen the working book cover, and I am really digging it! I didn’t have any concrete ideas for a cover going in, but this one is  simple but subtly creepy, which was what I’d been hoping for!

A few more tidbits about The Girl from the Well, in case anyone would like to know more:

1. The title, “The Girl from the Well” will probably have you thinking of Sadako Yamamura (Samara Morgan in the American version) from the Ringu series. The concept of a ghost in the well is actually based on a very old Japanese ghost story called the Bancho Sarayashiki, about a girl who was killed and thrown down a well, only to return to haunt the place. There is actually a place in Japan called Himeji Castle where this particular story has been linked to – and there’s a well there with a bloody history, said to be haunted by this same ghost.

Here’s a photo of the well:

Notice that there’s some sort of mesh frame inside? People there believe enough in the legend that they wanted to make sure there was nothing in the well that could climb out.

Some other favorite ghosts of mine:

The immortal Sadako Yamamura

The mindscrew ghosts from a delightful little horror game series called Fatal Frame:

Golden rule of horror #1: twins make everything creepier.

And a lot of Japanese urban legends that sound pretty ridiculous when you think about it, but will creep you out nonetheless. Like Toire no Hanako-san, the little girl who haunts toilets:

I would add Kayako from the Grudge to this list, but a lot of her screencaps look disturbing and have freaked people out (going by personal experience), so here’s just a link instead.

2. An absence of romance in the book. There are some very profound differences between what constitutes a romance and what constitutes a love story, I feel, and I think my book has the latter in spades without needing the former.

3. This is a creepy book. At least, I hope it is. An editor or two had passed on the book for being too scary for their lists, so there’s that.  I’ve been reading ghost stories and watching the most insane Asian horror movies that’s more psychological than out-and-out gory, since I was six, so they’ve been very heavy influences. I also had this deep-seated hatred for Casper, and preferred his trio of uncles instead. (I liked Wendy the witch, though. And, because I was once a pre-teen, most definitely liked Devon Sawa.)

One of my favorite ghost pictures as a kid – the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

4. This is intended to be a stand-alone book, but I’m not turning my back on a possible sequel. I need to work out a few things with my editor and agents first before announcing anything specific, but there’s no cliffhanger involved.

 

Posting more once I get more news on my end!

 

The List Writers Deserve, and Probably What They Need. Because They Can Take It.

Don’t worry, that entry title only feels overtly long.

The following is a small list of resources I’ve compiled (and have, occasionally, used) as part of my daily writing habits, and thought people may benefit from these. They deal with anything from plot ideas to publishing tips to social media tools I’ve found handy. Some aren’t the kind of resources most writers tend to look for (and a few of these I’d written myself), so hopefully they’re eclectic enough to stand out from other lists.

I’ll be updating this list whenever I find more to add!

 

Story and Structure

Mind mapping applications (via Lifehacker)

Pick Your Genre Quiz

Character Sheet

Periodic List of Storytelling Elements

The Brainstormer (random plot / setting generator – on iTunes)

A Novel Idea app (iTunes)

 

Useful Writing Tools

Scrivener writing software

IAWriter (iTunes)

Dramatica Pro – Story Development Software

Free writing software (via techradar)

Shareist – for collating and organizing ideas and research

Index Card corkboard app (iTunes)

 

Relevant Blogs on Getting Published

Rachelle Gardner

Query Shark (Janet Reid)

Nathan Bransford

Chuck Wendig

 

Social Media Tools

Pinterest Resources (via Peg Fitzpatrick)

Twitter Resources (via inkygirl)

A Writer’s Guide to Instagram (via fromsarahwithjoy)

Hi – touted as Instagram for writers

Facebook template to maximize traffic / visitors

from ustandout.com

 

Writing Prompts

Tumblr #1 | Tumblr #2

Writing Prompts iTunes app

 

Book Cover Ideas

100 Books that should be made, with awesome covers by Tyler Adam Smith

Some Book Cover Cliches to Watch Out For (via buzzfeed)

 

Miscellany

Book Quotes Inspiration #1 | Book Quotes Inspiration #2 | Book Quotes Inspiration #3 | Book Quotes Inspiration #4

The Foreign Writer’s Guide to Publishing House Requirements

 

To end, here’s a picture of Patrick Stewart with a cotton candy mustache. Why? Because Patrick Stewart.

Yeah. DOMA, you dead!

We interrupt this broadcast for some breaking news HALLELUJAH DOMA IS FINALLY DEAD GUYS! The LGBT community can finally marry in 30% of the U.S. States – hopefully we can finally get this to 100%!

Also a very special thank you to Wendy Davis, who just spent at least 9 hours without food, water or rest defending her female constituents’ right to choose!

To commemorate, here are some of the most fabulous gifs I could find online.

 

  

Now we return to our regular broadcast…. knowing that we’re one step closer to marriage equality for all!