Rochita here, doing a bit of self-promotion. My short story, 59 Beads is now up at Apex Books. I loved writing 59 Beads, and I am glad it’s found a good home. To me, 59 Beads has a particular resonance as the story finds its inspiration from what takes place in the lives of some of our migrant workers. I hope you’ll enjoy the read.

My youngest son is turning three in January and demands a lot of attention during his awake time. Recently, he’s decided that the computer is the enemy and Mama should be playing with him instead of typing away while he entertains himself with playmobil. Days like these when he wakes up late instead of early are pretty rare, so I’ve decided to take advantage of it and write this quick entry for Ecstatic Days.

I recently contributed two stories to an upcoming charity anthology to benefit a fund for victims of calamities in The Philippines. The anthology is titled Ruin and Resolve and is edited by Paolo Chikiamco. Paolo recently resigned from a top law firm to pursue writing and editing, and recently he launced Rocket Kapre which aims to e-publish Filipino speculative fiction.

The decision to contribute to a charity anthology is one that comes from the heart place instead of the mind place.  The anthology is a drop in the bucket. We hope that people will buy it and read it and that we will be able to raise enough to be of some significant help where it matters most.

Rochita Loenen-Ruiz is a Filipina writer living in The Netherlands. A graduate of the Clarion West Writing Workshop and recipient of the Octavia Butler Scholarship for 2009, her work has appeared in a variety of online and print publications including Weird Tales Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, Apex, The Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology, and the Ruins and Resolve Anthology. Visit her online at: http://rcloenen-ruiz.livejournal.com