From Stage Door Shadows

Twenty-six authors trade Tiny Dancer's California-based lyrics for the shadowed recesses of stages large and small in From Stage Door Shadows, a speculative fiction homage to the darkness just beyond the limelight of the entertainment industry.

From vaudeville to opera, piano bar and street corner, hotel suite and beauty pageant, From Stage Door Shadows is a backstage pass to where dreams of fame, fortune and fulfilment live and die in a heartbeat. (From the backcover of From Stage Door Shadows.)

I am very happy to announce that today is the release of From Stage Door Shadows.  My short story, Discovering the Gift, is included. 

The stories are free for a limited time! Here's the link:

http://literarymixtapes.com/


From Saturday morning at 9 a.m., the 25 stories will be available for free, for 48 hours.

From Stage Door Shadows is now on 

goodreads - Would you like to add it to your reading list?

eMergent Publishing

Amazon

Amazon.UK

Barnes & Noble

The Book Depository

On 24 October, I will be over at Theresa's Blog for an interview and she will be on mine discussing about speculative fiction. This will part of Theresa's mini-blog tour for From Stage Door Shadows. 

I hope you enjoy reading the stories and if you love them, why not purchase the book?

Enjoy the weekend!

The Kindness Project: Being surrounded with Kindness

I've recently signed up for The Kindness Project after reading Carolina Valdez Miller's beautiful post (another one of the so many awe-inspiring posts she's written on her blog) but never got around to posting anything. So, today, I thought it's about time I do that.

I hope you forgive me if I'm presently still lost in my own little world. I've recently told you about losing my father. We probably always say this about our parents but this is the truth: my father was one of the kindest people I know. He always had a nice thing to say about and to almost anyone. Even when someone was inconsiderate or rude to him, he was still nice. This was probably why people loved him.

I had not seen my father since 2009.  I wasn't there when he fell ill after his operation in January this year. I wasn't there when he got hospitalised for two months. It was torture not being there for him and for my family. But I couldn't do anything because I couldn't afford to go home and see them. In June, doctors told my family Dad may not have too long to live. We were all devastated. We knew it was going to happen. But when he passed away on the 24th of July, it was still a shock. I was just on the phone talking to him the night before. The truth is nobody ever prepares anyone of us for something like this. No amount of courage or positive-thinking could ever make it less painful.

In the midst of all this though, beautiful things happened. My father was surrounded with kindness.

Help came in all forms.

Visits to the hospital
A cooling fan for my father
Bags of different kinds of fruits
An electric thermal pot

Phone calls. E-mails.
Messages via texting, chat, Facebook, etc.

A warm embrace.
A kiss.
The warmth of a hand over my father's and mother's.

Prayers.
Positive thoughts.

Most of all, your presence which provided comfort.

There was - and still is - so much love, kindness, generosity and compassion pouring out within and around us.  I was so deeply touched. In the midst of this all, I saw the face of God. That's just how I would describe it.

Let me say thank you. I cannot put all of your names here but, you know who you all are. I wish I could but I know I will not be able to be there for every one of you. But if there is anything I can do within my capacity to help, I'd do it. And I mean it.

I wish for all of you to see the same "beautiful face" I saw at a time when you most need to see it. I wish that you all be surrounded with kindness and love. Outpouring. The same way you surrounded me and my family with them.


**********

Please be sure to check out all the inspirational posts for THE KINDNESS PROJECT.

Losing my father

I've missed you. All of you. It's been such a long absence. And I am returning with the saddest news.

I've just lost my father. My favourite person on the planet. It's been more than a month now and I still can't believe he is gone.

He became very unwell after his operation in January. I wasn't able to see him due to financial constraints and family situation. It was disheartening not seeing him and not being able to look after him. I had only words to tell him in the days that he was in pain that I love him.

I have moments of deep longing to hear his voice and to see him. The grief was and still is indescribable, incomprehensible. My world will never be the same again without him.  Anguish hits me without warning - I can be anywhere - in the car, in the kitchen, in the supermarket, in front of the television...my eyes will well up and it takes a long time for the tears to stop.

In this post, I'd like to pay tribute to my dad.  Did I tell you I called him "Tatay"? In English, it means "Father".  Here's something I wrote for him for the memorial service we had in my home in England, away from my family in the Philippines.

My dearest Tatay,

You were my anchor.  You always believed in me and supported me in everything I did or wanted to achieve.  Even when I stopped believing in love, you kept telling me "love will come".  When it did, you came up to me and said, "Didn't I tell you love will come?"  You were happy to see me happy.

I made mistakes in my life and disappointed you in many ways but you never said anything.  If you were hurting, you kept it all to yourself and carried on showing me your love.  You once said to me, "No harm will ever come to you for as long as I live."

My world will never be the same again now that you are gone.  But I know you are in a better place.  The thought comforts me somehow.

I miss you, Tatay.  I love you very much.  I don't want to say goodbye so please let me say "Until we meet again."

I'm very sorry this post is full of sorrow. I am trying to get some normality back. Some days are good, other days are not. I have been blessed with a husband who runs to me to give me comfort when immense sadness hits. Somehow, it makes me feel alright. Or that everything will be alright.

This may not be the last time I will be mentioning Tatay.  I have another post coming about the good things that happened in the midst of all this crisis. That post will be a reassurance that indeed, everything will be alright.

See you all again soon.