The Cadaverine, Niteblade, great way to start the week!

I miss writing fiction. I have several stories still half-finished. I'm not happy about them yet and I know they need revising.

In the meantime, while I'm rekindling my fiction fire, I continue to write poems. Three of them have found homes! "Worry Not for Luxuries" and "Before the Bread is Gone" are set to appear on May 12, on the pages of The Cadaverine. The UK-based magazine is committed to publishing "the best new poetry, prose and non-fiction from under 30's." Here's the acceptance letter I received from the team:

Hi Anne,

Just to let you know that two of your pieces; Worry Not for Luxuries, and Before the Bread is Gone, are scheduled to be published on The Cadaverine website on the 12th May.

Thank you very much for sending these over. They were selected by our Poetry Editor Intern Sohinee Sen.

I hope this is okay! Any problems please let me know.

All the Best,

Nici

Another publication that I've long been eyeing, Niteblade, has also accepted a long poem of mine (2 pages, pretty rare of me to make one). It's entitled "The Bitter Gourd's Fate". I'll be sure to post more about it soon, as it is set to be published this coming June 2014. Thanks to the editor, Alexa Seidel for making the selection.

Dear Anne,

I would like to accept your poem for our upcoming June Issue of Niteblade, if it is still available.

The author agreement is attached. Please return it to me if everything is in order. Also, please confirm your Paypal address for me or indicate that you prefer we donate your payment to Save the Chimps, the charity we support.

Thanks again.

Best,
Alexa 

Death Hole: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

I just discovered that much of our trash ends up in a location called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Looks like our garbage has been accumulating there for years, yet not much has come up in the media about it. Either that, or I haven't been watching enough TV. It's wiki definition:

The Great Pacific garbage patch, also described as the Pacific trash vortex, is a gyre of marine debris particles in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135°W to 155°W and 35°N and 42°N.^[1] The patch extends over an indeterminate area, with estimates ranging very widely depending on the degree of plastic concentration used to define the affected area.

Animals eat the trash and they die with the trash still intact in their bellies. Here's a photo by Chris Jordan, to put into perspective the effects of this awful mire.

by Chris Jordan

Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/chris-jordan-takes-shots-at-the-trash-patch.html

Back from Bali! And Coming Soon: Apex and Silver Blade

While I was in Bali, I received some good news!!! I received acceptance letters from Apex Magazine and Silver Blade. I have been writing fewer poems lately, but I do believe they are of higher quality. My poem "The First Stone" will appear in Apex sometime this year, the editors haven't decided yet when. But "Vessels" will be up in Silver Blade sooner; the editor, Mr. John Mannone said he expects it to be out this May 2014.

Still giddy!

!!!

As for Bali, I really had the time of my life! I think Victor and I really didn't expect it to be that great. We've been to several beaches in the Philippines and thought it might just like be the ones we have here locally. I have this notion that no beach can be better than beaches in the Philippines, where the sand is fine, the waters calm and the reefs, teeming.

There was a ninja on the plane, named Victor

But Bali is different. It's a cultural mecca. The woodcarving industry is alive and radiant. I've never seen such varied designs and painstaking detail. The batik/textile industry is just as lively. I got myself some cute Aladdin pants and a long dress. Silver works are bustling as well and they've got designs of varying intricacies.

Some of the local wares

Woodcarving

Batik-making

Tried a simple silver stud with floret detail, it was $30 a pair

Care for a silver chariot?

Oh, and I should also mention their spa industry. Left and right, you can get your feet cleaned by "Dr. Fish" for as little as $3. My Muay Thai-thickened feet are suddenly smooth again.

We visited the Monkey Forest at Ubud. The macaques were pretty aggressive. If they want your banana, they're gonna go ahead and snatch it from you.

I think he knows I have a banana in my pocket

They want bananas, too

Banana hand shake

Cool off at the Lotus Cafe, with a view of the temple

Feed coffee berries to the civet cats (luwak)

Kopi Luwak in different stages of processing

Got to try out different tea and coffee products, all organic

I tried the Kopi Luwak, which is just cat poop coffee in the plainest sense. And it tastes pretty good, like chocolate without the bitterness. I wouldn't buy a bag of beans for myself, however. Aside from being expensive, the thought of drinking poo is difficult to come to terms with.

I think I'm coming back to Bali, oh yes, I am. I need to explore the other areas and temples, which I'll probably need a week to do. I'm also gonna surf some more, because I discovered just how fun it is. I got to stand up on my first try, how cool is that?

Like a lady, yeah?! Victor's back there, watchoo lookin at? haha

Oh yeah, I'm coming back!

Busy Bee at The Fort

We just moved to a new office!

I didn't really like the idea of moving to Bonifacio Global City due to the difficulty of transportation; however I've started to like it here. There are still sights to see, unlike the sardine-like architecture of Makati. The air still smells like the air and not like something burnt.

I haven't been writing a lot these days. I feel like I need to gather some new experiences to get back into the fray. I did write over a hundred poems in 2013, so I can't blame myself for running out of steam.

I have some work that have been published and, as I wrote in a past post, I've also bagged a laureate for a poem I wrote for Mt. Fuji. They have mailed me my certificate, and it looks absolutely lovely. ^^

2013 Fujisan Haiku Competition

Some of my work have appeared already over yonder UK bridge. I'm so happy to receive my lovely copies of Magma Poetry and Abridged. My photography skills aren't the best, but here they are:

Lovely cover!

and here's my poem, "Pub(l)ic Lies"

This one is for Abridged. My poem "To Pay Homage" is printed in their 13th issue themed Mara:

Yup that's the cover. It looks like a nice photo. It's nice.

I have a couple of haiku coming up in The Heron's Nest and A Hundred Gourds ezines. I'll just make a separate post for those. :)