Short Stories Part Deux

After my graduation from MA LIT 2025, my next goal was to finish a collection of short stories. I hope to publish this book by June of 2026. Inspired by my last project in Creative Writing class about culling three work-shopped short stories into a chapbook, I realized that I’ve written short stories as far as I could remember. So when I opened my G-drive and a host of zip drives, the cache of half-baked ideas on dialogue, setting, drama and even short snippets of conversations written down was enough to get this collection started.

The dark picture above was an inspiration. It sparked an emotion about religion and the people around it. The title may be end up being the title of the book but then who knows. But before I decided to sit down and whittle which ideas to work on, the book has to be LGBTQ+ centered. I also wanted to focus on fringe characters who are flawed, trying to find themselves, and living their lives to their own extent when there is a world of possibilities out there. Add to the mix are the critical theories (feminism, racism, homophobia, ageism, etc,.) that these characters have to face. It is almost cliche’d to think that these characters were inspired by real people I’ve come in contact with all my life but then, there’s is that disclaimer that ends with ‘purely coincidental.’ So bato-bato sa langit, ang matamaan di magalit….

As of this writing, I have at least 11-14 half-baked stories, 8 are now on revision mode, and 5 have gone through the initial stages of beta-reading. I’ve enlisted people I know who will be brutally honest or honestly brutal (hahaha) on their assessments. Of course, I paid them. Why would I not? These stories average at least 15 pages each or more. When I am stumped at a certain story, I move onto the other. I’d come back to it when I have an epiphany about the plot or character that needed to be weirder, more dramatic and flawed to say the least. I find it interesting that the weirder or odder my flawed characters are, the better I am in hashing out their eventual outcomes. My characters (so far) range from priests, lesbians, gays, sigbin, manananggal, HIV-positive men and women, bisexuals, old, young, drag queens (quelle surprise!), to horny asian men. The settings are varied in location (Chicago, San Francisco, Philippines), an unnamed town here and there, and even heaven. There were times where an idea manifests itself when I was driving that I had to stop at a curve just to jot it down. I always jot down events, new characters, and scenes, in my iPhone, in paper, or even if I am taking a shit.

As much as I wanted to go through the traditional publishing route, it is possible that I may end up self-publishing this collection. I will be sending query letters to the LGBTQ+-friendly publishing units here in Asia first then try and peddle them in the US. If it doesn’t bode well, I’ll self-publish it and find stores around who are willing to sell them. Oh, I will not be giving them away for free. Anybody want a copy of my latest book? I have at least 100 of them still in a box.

Lastly, I’ve been mulling on obtaining my PhD in Literature or Creative Writing. I’ve been looking at some local schools but the thought of England had me inspired. To think that I will immerse myself with Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Virginia Woolf, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, Poe, Victorian poetry, Wimbledon and the French Open Tennis Tourneys aren’t so bad at all. The wanderlust is alive and kicking. But then, there’s the money, international tuition, food and shelter. These are considerations to think through. I still have to think on how that will bode out considering I’ve to uproot myself and leave my life here temporarily then we shall see. A majority of people I’ve talked about it bade me reconsider retirement and just write and write and travel everywhere instead but knowing me, I’ve already started the application process to some schools. Wish me luck.

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