Rocket Kapre – Fantastic Filipino Speculative Fiction

I’ve already mentioned the devastation wrought by Typhoon Sendong over the weekend. As of this writing, at least 652 people have been confirmed dead as a result of flash floods that affected 135,000 people, nearly 47,000 of whom have been forced to evacuate to shelters. When Typhoon Ondoy slammed into Manila in 2009, Filipino writers and poets collaborated on a charity ebook I called “Ruin and Resolve” , for the benefit of typhoon victims. Since then, I’ve distributed the ebook for free as an incentive and a means to promote awareness during times of need. In the wake of the latest natural disaster to ravage my country, I am once more making Ruin and Resolve available for free–this time permanently–on Smashwords.com, and now on Flipreads.com (both are PDFs). I’m offering the book for free because I realize it would be easier/quicker for people to donate directly to entities such as the Red Cross, rather than course the donation through an ebook retailer as “payment” for the book. Here are a few links with information on how to help:

• http://cdocity.com/
  
• http://www.redcross.org.ph/donatenow

I hope that this ebook leads more people to those links, and if you do decide to donate and would like a small reward as a sign of our gratitude, please do feel free to download Ruin and Resolve. Thank you!

Here’s what people have said about Ruin and Resolve:

“Borne out of tragedy but driven by a spirit of triumph, Ruin and Resolve takes us to different worlds, fantastic and magical, futuristic and the mundane every day. The collection, meant to help Ondoy victims with is proceeds, provides us all with reasons to keep striving, to never surrender, never quit. It may sound corny to say that one finds inspiration, and yes, the resolve needed, in these texts. But that’s the fact of the matter. More than a few times the reader will find not just beauty of image and power of prose, but genuine uplift and the feeling of elevation.” – Carljoe Javier, author of “And the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth“ and the “Kobayashi Maru of Love“.

“But outside its being a charitable donation, this newest [Spec Fic] anthology isn’t a throwaway piece of literature; it’s worth buying for its own sake — lending credence to the publisher’s self-effacing introduction of “we hope our stories and poems make you feel all the happier to have helped those in need.” - Johanna Poblete, Business World.

Image by Carlo Vergara, featuring Zsazsa Zaturnnah

Typhoon Sendong ravaged the southern Philippines last weekend, particularly Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, and aid organizations need all the help they can get. You can text or sms your donations to the Philippine Red Cross as follows:

SMS
Text RED<space>AMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4143 (Smart)

G-Cash
Text DONATE<space>AMOUNT<space>4-digit M-PIN<space>REDCROSS to 2882

You can donate the following denominations:
Globe: 5, 25, 100, 300, 500 or 1000
Smart: 10, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500 or 1000

For in-kind donations, please check http://cdocity.com/ or http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate

Received this via email and I thought I’d pass it on. Participating in book donation drives is always a great way to share the things we love.

The Philippine National Red Cross has a page up with information for those who want to help the people of Haiti in the wake of their worst earthquake in centuries. You can find that information here, but I also found a few other ways to help that might be of special interest to genre fans and creators.

First up, DriveThruRPG is selling a Gamers Helping Haiti bundle, where for a US$20 donation, you get to download a cornucopia of RPG ebooks with a total worth in excess of US$1000 (yes that’s one THOUSAND dollars). Even if you’re not a gamer, if you’re a writer you might find RPG source books can be a great way to jumpstart your imagination–I certainly read through dozens when I was young, even if I never used them in an actual game. The promotion lasts until the end of January, so please head on over and take a look.

Next, we have Crossed Genres’ Post a Story for Haiti initiative. Authors can post stories at their own sites and make them available for free online, then once they notify Crossed Genres the stories will be added to the list of stories already contributed (which includes stories from the likes of Jeff Vandermeer and Jay Lake) as an incentive for donors. If you’re a writer, feel free to contribute (and hey, let us know when you do), and if you’re a reader, why not use the stories as a way to reward yourself after sending in a donation?

If you guys know of any other ways to help, feel free to post in the comments. I’ll update this post if I stumble across any more that might involve the genre in an interesting or unique way.

(Image source: PNRC)

Business World writer Johanna Poblete, who previously featured and reviewed Usok, gives Ruin and Resolve the same treatment in the pages of this week’s Business World Weekender (it’s a Friday-Saturday edition, so it should still be available today. Minor spoiler warnings apply.). While she has details her favorite stories in the review, as well as those that didn’t quite work for her, she seemed pleased overall with the charity anthology:

But outside its being a charitable donation, this newest [Spec Fic] anthology isn’t a throwaway piece of literature; it’s worth buying for its own sake — lending credence to the publisher’s self-effacing introduction of “we hope our stories and poems make you feel all the happier to have helped those in need.”

Credit once again goes to all our generous authors, as well as the Artspice! crew, who provided me with the art which I incorporated in the cover. Please continue to spread the word everyone–I’ve received news that some of our less Internet-savvy readers are a bit intimidated by the Smashwords registration process (a few have just given me cash in person @_@) but the process is actually very simple, and I’ve made a small walkthrough of the process here.

Ruin and Resolve is now up for sale on Smashwords.

Up and at ‘em everyone! For charity!

If you’ve never purchased a book on Smashwords before, or even made an internet purchase, don’t worry it’s easy. We’ll walk you through the steps after the cut.

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Given all that the country has been through in the last two months, September 2009 might seem a lifetime away to some of us.  Yet the damage from Ondoy and Pepeng still remains, and in the coming year the typhoons will return, as they always do.  As Filipinos, as writers, as Spec Fic lovers, we want to do our part to help those who are still recovering from the storms, and to support those who will be at the vanguard of future relief efforts.

Last October, I sent out a limited call for submissions for Ruin and Resolve, an ebook anthology which Rocket Kapre would put up for sale, donating any profits received to the Philippine National Red Cross.  Seventeen heeded that call, and in the span of less than three months, we’ve managed to compile nineteen stories and five poems, to offer as an incentive for those who want to share their blessings, especially during the Christmas season. On December 28 (fingers crossed) the anthology will go on sale at Smashwords.com, and I’ll need everyone’s help to get the word out. But for now, I’ve set up a book page for Ruin and Resolve (ignore the sample and mediakit portions for now) with the table of contents and the cover image (artwork provided free of charge by the awesome Artspice! Studios) of which I’ve provided a larger version below.

The list of stories/poems and authors is on the book page, but I’m also putting it in this post, after the cut.

Once again guys – December 28, don’t forget!

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On December 16-17, typhoon devastated the South, particularly Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. As a response, we are once again releasing our “Ruin and Resolve” anthology for free, to promote awareness of the urgent needs of our brethren, and to provide some small reward for those who do choose to donate. You can view information on how to help at these links: http://cdocity.com/ or http://www.redcross.org.ph/donatenow

When calamities befall us, we react not only as individuals, but as distinct communities.When calamities devastate the country, as decent men and women, we give money, goods, and time to the relief effort–but we also engage our passions. Collectors hold auctions, artists offer commissions, and musicians stage concerts, all for the benefit of the typhoon victims. Our callings and vocations are part of who we are, and enable us to give in additional ways, unique ways. Artists draw, musicians perform…

Writers write.

“Ruin and Resolve” is a digital speculative fiction/poetry anthology that we first released in response to the devastation wrought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepng in 2009. It contains speculative fiction (original tales, as well as reprints and excerpts from longer work) and poetry that deal with the two faces of every disaster, and the paradox inherent in the fact that, sometimes, it is in only the midst of the most crushing adversity that our brightest human qualities arise.

The nineteen stories, five poems and cover artwork included in the anthology were provided by their creators free of charge, in order to help raise funds for their fellow Filipinos in need. During times of crisis, we make the anthology freely available to remind people of the need to donate, and to provide some small reward for those who choose to do so.

The sting of neglecting to cover an awesome event such as “Tabi Tabi Po” (a “group exhibition that explores the rich and colorful creatures of Filipino Folklore through Urban Contemporary art”) is only somewhat mitigated by the fact that I don’t think I could have managed the commute to, er, San Francisco (at the 1:AM Gallery) in time (the exhibit took place from November 13 to December 12). Still, if I were anywhere near California, it seems like it would almost certainly have been worth the trip–the one advantage to stumbling upon the exhibit at this late stage is that there’s plenty of content online at the official blog, including the companion documentary below:

Tabi Tabi Po Companion Documentary: An Exploration of Filipino Folklore Creatures from James Garcia on Vimeo.

You can find more clips at the site, including a trailer, a shadow play, and a MyxTV feature. There is also a link on site to the artwork they have on sale, for which a portion of the proceeds will be used for typhoon relief.

Many thanks to the Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc. blog for allowing me to discover such an awesome event.

We’ve already mentioned START HERE–a project collecting artworks inspired by Typhoon Ondoy relief efforts that aims, in turn, to inspire others to help in rebuilding the Philippines–on the site before, and they’ve recently announced (via their newly refurbished site) that they will be having a one day free Sketch-a-Thon on on November 15, 2009, from 10am-7pm at The Forum, 4th Floor, Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street.

From the site:

The START HERE Sketch-a-thon is open to anyone who wants to share their visions of hope, creation and rebuilding through drawing and doodles. All drawings generated that day will be scanned and included in the START HERE online exhibit.

Professional artists will also be on location to accept commissions and money raised from that will also be donated to the survivors of the typhoons. Other donations and pledges will also be accepted throughout the day.