Anne Carly Abad received the Poet of the Year Award in the 2017 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards. Her work has appeared in Apex, Mythic Delirium, and Strange Horizons, to name a few. Her first poetry collection, We’ve Been Here Before, is published by Aqueduct Press. Anne is also the sole proprietor of Art In Jewels and enjoys the aerial arts through Elite Aerial Arts.

Hi, Anne! How does it feel to be published in Philippine Genre Stories?

I’m really excited to be published in PGS! I’m coming from a publishing hiatus, since I got a bit drained writing my poetry book. I didn’t stop writing but I couldn’t find the time to submit any new work I wrote. I’m glad to be part of PGS’ roster.

Gosh, we are doubly happy then that you ended that hiatus through PGS! How did the idea for  A TRICK OF LIGHT come about?

I wrote A TRICK OF LIGHT to explore what may happen if men and women could directly communicate their thoughts with each other. I guess I wanted to see if there would be a deeper (mis)understanding between them. I specifically wanted to see this story happen in a near future scenario, and so here we have it.

You write both poetry and fiction: what are the differences and similarities in the writing processes between the two for you?

I find that fiction involves a lot of planning on my part. Aside from researching the settings and observing how people are in order to build my characters, I tend to need to see the ending before I embark on a fiction project. Meanwhile, poetry requires a lot of silent moments where I’m not doing anything except thinking, thinking, and thinking of images, feelings, interconnections. I don’t need to see an ending but I need to find the “connections” between thoughts and things in poetry.

And what’s the next writing project that you’re working on?

I am continually writing haiku and ekphrasis related to designs I make for my jewelry brand, ArtinJewels. I am also currently working on two horror short stories but they’re at that stage where I’m trying to understand what’s happening and where it’s going.

Hope we get to read those stories, too! And what are you currently reading? It’s for what kind of readers? Please tell us more about it. 

I’m currently reading The Queen of Nothing, by Holly Black. I think I’ve finished it already actually, but I’m not so convinced yet how the character is a “queen” in this installment of the series. This series explores the lives of two girls who had to grow up and survive in the world of fae. The world building is superb in these books, and the characters appear to be both gorgeous and grotesque at the same time. I like how love is explored as something mischievous and unpredictable when it’s with fae people. And so in short I’m hooked. The other books in the series are already waiting to be read at home.

Another author and series for us to explore, thank you! And in Philippine Genre Stories, which among the published stories do you like the most so far? Why?

I had a lot of fun reading The History of the End of the World by the League of Researchers, by Marco Manalac. I liked how his story went straight into a parallel universe of Earth where different races live together in precarious harmony. I would have liked to know much more about wyrms as I’m a sucker for dragons. Instead of being receptacles of wisdom, his wyrms are more akin to forces of nature, and I liked that the end could have been brought about by something that didn’t really give a damn.

And what tips can you share for the aspiring storytellers out there?

I think that aspiring storytellers need to avoid “having to see the end”, which is my biggest blocker. The best way to write might be to just fill up the page and then figure it out later.

Thank you again so much, Anne, and we are happy to have your story in 2024!