#wit2012na,or visprint’s 2nd annual readers’ day

The short version: I was floored by the love and support shown by Visprint, and the fans and readers of Visprint’s books. Who says the Philippines does not have a reading public? This event just proved that notion wrong. Maraming salamat po!

The long, chronological version (with pictures):

J and I didn’t wake up early enough to catch the opening of WIT (Writers in Talks) 2, but we hurried to catch the Comics panel. Donned this flowery dress as a departure from my usual blues and blacks.

We just took a cab because we had no idea about the parking situation in Alphaland, and woe is you who gets stuck with Makati’s notorious traffic police. We got to the venue, said hi to Ms Nida, and I wrote in J as my plus-one.

I heard that attendees lined up as early as 6! (!!!) Kaloka!

Said hi to Andrea, who said the staff had gotten new stock of my book because it was selling well. Yehey!

This was the Comics Panel with Manix Abrera, Budjette Tan, and Paolo Fabregas. Look at the size of that crowd.

We checked the other room and saw Karen Francisco (author of Naermyth and the artist who designed my gorgeous book cover) giving a talk in the Fiction panel.

The Fiction panel was composed of Karen, Eros Atalia, and Siege Malvar.

Here was Ms Nida talking about story rejection, from the point of view of the publisher. She said: “Parang-awa niyo na, huwag niyo kaming aawayin.”

The morning sessions went on overtime, so Visprint decided on an early lunch, and moved the Creative Non-Fiction Panel to 12:30.

Forgot to take a picture! CNF panelists were Karl de Mesa, Bebang Siy, and Alan Navarra.

Enjoyed the performances of Eros Atalia, Siege Malvar, and special guest G.P. Abrajano. Seige Malvar, during the Fiction panel, asked attendees to drop their deepest, darkest secrets in a box, which he used in his Sotto performance. Hilarious.

Siege and G.P. performing a balagtasan on books and reading, men and women, and love.

G.M. Coronel also came onstage to deliver a talk about suspense and his new book, Tomb Keeper.

Then it’s my turn! Karl de Mesa introduced me and gave me a cookie.

I hope the attendees learned something from my blather! I got pretty nervous and forgot to look at my notes to guide me hahaha!

Photo-op for the Visprint writers who stayed behind.

After the event, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who approached me to have Storm Clouds signed, have my picture taken, chat, ask questions, etc. I was like, Really? You want a photo with me? Haha. You are all dears.

We had dinner with Charles, who actually ate something. (No photographic evidence.)

Thank you Ms Nida and Visprint and Visprint fans and friends! Thank you for buying our books! Hope you had a great time! Exclamation points!