Sunday, March 29, 2015

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Masquerade

I don't have a scanner, so I just took a picture of this. :)

"Masquerade"
Mixed Media on watercolor paper

Friday, March 20, 2015

"Geographies" by Sayantani Dasgupta

"Geographies" is smooth and touching. It felt too real to be something I just read. The local details added the grit and flavor that made such a short piece into a real piece of treasure.

Recommended read over at Contrary Magazine.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Acceptance Letters First Quarter 2015

I have not been as prolific as I'd like. But I do believe I've been producing higher quality work lately. More inspired. More meaty.

70% of the time, I submit work to paying publications. The other 30% are for the non-paying zines that I either read already or read ABOUT in reviews. I choose paying pubs for several reasons:

1. The curation of the work is USUALLY of higher quality.
2. They place a budget on cover art.
3. They place a premium value on art, contributing to a culture that supports artists.

This is not to say that non-paying joints produce low-quality work. But I have seen it happen. Perhaps because the publisher has a free reign to include as many literary pieces as it likes. Like padding. I have also, however, seen non-paying reviews that publish high quality work. I enjoyed reading these journals so much that I wonder why they aren't getting the readership they deserve?!

Anyway, here are the places where I will appear in this year.

Thank you to the editors for the opportunity!

:)

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Hiring Process

This story was featured in OMNI Reboot on December 2013, initially posted here. The story is no longer archived there so I'm posting it here :)


Hiring Process
by Anne Carly Abad


You human?
3:46 p.m.

I am an artificial intelligence.
3:46 p.m.

Okay, let’s do this.
3:47 p.m.

I read in your online profile that you work well with my kind. Please specify instance.
3:50 p.m.

In my previous job, an android co-worker was speech-recog-impaired. I often helped her by inputting stuff she couldn’t get.
3:51 p.m.

An earlier model, then? What is your opinion of older versions?
3:51 p.m.

The older ones are actually easier to work with. Newer androids are fast, but they seem to glitch-out when fed a lot of info.
3:53 p.m.

Kindly elaborate on this “glitching.”
3:53 p.m.

Let’s put it this way: when you eat too fast, you might choke. But when you chew slowly, you appreciate the tastes more.
3:54 p.m.

Cannot interpret statement. Please try again.
3:55 p.m.

Right. The new ones freeze, bootloop… not sure what the technical term is. L
3:56 p.m.

I see. Are you a good conversationalist?
3:56 p.m.

As long as I don’t have to type in everything, I have no problems.
3:57 p.m.

What do you think about handling an all-android marketing team?
3:57 p.m.

What’s the product?
3:58 p.m.

At this point, it is confidential.
3:58 p.m.

Do I get to work with Model 2050s or 2060s?
3:59 p.m.

We are employing the more stable 2050s, as we are well aware of the new model’s bootloop issues.
3:59 p.m.

Nice. If that’s the case, I’ll set up the personality ratio to 50% confronting and 50% passive order-taking. Gotta keep things moving.
4:00 p.m.

You would have half your team questioning your every decision?
4:00 p.m.

I’d have them THINKING. Two heads are better than one, you know what they say.
4:01 p.m.

When can you start?
4:01 p.m.

How much will you pay?
4:02 p.m.

Excuse me?
4:02 p.m.

You’re pirating me, aren’t you? You should be offering me a sizeable amount. Don’t tell me you didn’t do your research, madam/mister AI?
4:03 p.m.

You may address me as Recruiter X. Protocol calls for me to discuss matters of compensation on our second interview, Sir.
4:03 p.m.

Oh, come on! D’you beat around the bush when you hire an android?
4:05 p.m.

You are human. You must understand that different rules of etiquette apply.
4:05 p.m.

What? That’s discrimination. I can’t even… I’m out.
4:06 p.m.

Sir, it was not my intent to offend you.
4:07 p.m.

Sir?
4:10 p.m.

Is this a government update? When did it become okay to give bots preferential treatment?
4:24 p.m.

No such update exists, Sir.
4:24 p.m.

Well then, why are you processing bots faster than humans?
4:25 p.m.

Damage control protocol missing.
4:25 p.m.

You do know I have a record of this text conversation, don’t you?
4:26 p.m.

Give me 30 minutes. We will discuss your compensation package then.
4:26 p.m.

That’s more like it.

4:30 p.m.