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The first Manila International Book Fair I was able to attend was in 2009, where I mistook Budjette Tan of Trese fame for a Visprint booth cashier. True story.
Then life happened, and I missed the Fair three years in a row.
I am happy to be back this year. In 2009, I have some published stories and poems under my belt, and bad eyesight. (Sorry, Budjette.) This year, I have a sci-fi novel and a short story collection published by Visprint. I visited their table and saw my book there. How’s that for cyclical? How’s that for a happy ending?
Hoo yeah ang daming taoooo.
I got Allan Popa’s incredible collection of poems in English, Drone, from the Ateneo de Manila University Press booth, and Paolo Fabregas’ The Filipino Heroes League from the Visprint table at the Precious Pages booth.
Later that afternoon we headed to Meeting Room No. 6 for the Readercon kick-off.
Honey de Peralta talked a bit about the Filipino Readercon’s history.
This year’s theme:
The new logo:
The Viewless Dark and A Bottle of Storm Clouds didn’t have enough votes to make the shortlist, but thanks to those who voted for my titles! Here’s the shortlist.
I will be participating in the 2013 Readercon as a speaker in Authors as Readers. I will…talk about something. I need to get my Powerpoint presentation ready. See you in November! (Hopefully with my Powerpoint!)
Happy Saturday, with an equally happy Sunday, as I went on a road trip with J, his mom, his nephew, and their family friend. From Parañaque to Alabang to Makati and back to Parañaque. Awesome lunch at Uncle Cheffy.
Thank you to books and to rain and to love.
Slowly but surely working my way through my All-Filipino to-be-read list.
Fairy Tale Fail by Mina V. Esguerra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Have you heard about the Hummingbird? Emily Nussbaum wrote about this new television archetype in the New Yorker. The Hummingbird is described as possessing “a primal optimism that amounts to a superpower; she’s generous and idealistic despite plentiful evidence that the world is cruel”. They are “idealistic feminine dreamers whose personalities are irritants. They are not merely spunky, but downright obsessive.” They are an “alienating-yet-sympathetic” bunch. (Seriously, read the article.)
While listening to Ellie in Fairy Tale Fail (the book is narrated in a conversational manner; think you and Ellie during a coffee break/tsismisan marathon) I kept wondering who she reminded me of. Because she is very familiar. I’m sure you’ve met your share of Ellies. The so-called hopeless romantics who don’t see logic or reason. They are Annoying (with a capital A), and yet you are drawn to their belief that the universe will eventually find its balance. I am reminded of Nussbaum’s Hummingbird theory when Ellie mentions the monomyth several times, as if it were the only guide a person can have. Who clings to the monomyth? Who does that? Ellie is insane, but I enjoyed her story.
A good, light read. Bring it with you during a weekend.
Filipino Readercon – which is happening in November – will have a kick-off event at the 34th Manila International Book Fair – which is happening right now at the SMX Convention Center.
The kick-off event itself, including the announcement of the Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards shortlist, will happen tomorrow, Sept. 14.
FILIPINO READERCON KICK-OFF EVENT
September 14, 2013, 5:30-6:30PM
Meeting Room 6, SMX Convention Center
34th Manila International Book FairWe will be announcing the program line-up for this year’s ReaderCon at the event, as well as other online activities that book bloggers and readers can participate in. We will also be unveiling the short listed titles for this year’s Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards, based on the voting that happened in the past two weeks. These shortlisted titles (3 per category) will be the contenders for the next stage (panel judging) and the winners will be announced on the 3rd Filipino ReaderCon on November 9 at the Rizal Library at the Ateneo de Manila University.
You’re all invited to attend the Filipino ReaderCon Kick-off! If If you’ve never been to any of the previous Filipino ReaderCons, then this is your chance to have a feel of the event. (Spoiler: It’ll be fun :D) Attendees may also join The Great Book Swap during the event, a face-to-face book swapping activity. :) (Yay free books!)
My books, The Viewless Dark and A Bottle of Storm Clouds, were both longlisted in the FRCA. Thank you to the readers who have nominated and voted for these titles. Let’s see if they’re lucky enough to end up on the shortlist. ;) Here once again is the list of nominees.
See you at the Book Fair tomorrow!
Yep – winners.
Thank you to those who joined my giveaway! I decided to choose two winners instead of one, because I gave away two copies of my collection last year, and it’d be nice to do it again for this book.
I exported the file as CSV from WordPress’s Feedback form, and used an online random number generator to get the winning numbers:
I’m sure there’s a more elegant way to do this, but this is what I know.
And the winners are:
Congratulations Lea Diño and Kat Sales! I will be sending each of you a signed copy via courier using the delivery address you left in the form.
Thanks everyone for playing!
It’s been a while since I last made a list of books to read and stuck to it. I do have a list somewhere, but I keep straying from it, abandoning books and picking up random titles and buying more ebooks on the Amazon Kindle store when I already have a ton of paperbacks nearby. Amazon, man. Amazon is bad.
The last book I finished is Stephen King’s 11/22/63.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a fine novel about time travel and its joys and troubles. I was hesitant to pick up this book when it first came out, because 1) it was crazy hefty, and 2) it deals with changing real-life events, like the “Kill Hitler” trope, and I’ve read those before and those kinds of stories never end well, do they?
But then we’re given Jake Epping, a high school teacher who wants to stop the Kennedy assassination, but it’s not the only reason he agrees to go back in time. He also wants to help a janitor at his school who has suffered an unimaginable tragedy as a child. The assassination is a national tragedy, for sure, but I am more interested in the tragedies that never appear in the news, the “little” ones, the ones that stay hidden behind curtains and doors. I have never met Kennedy, but I feel like I have met that janitor, once in my life.
So I am hooked, and I read this book on my phone even inside a moving vehicle. And I never read inside moving vehicles unless there’s an urgent reason. I read it so quickly I did not even notice its length.
It is an excellent, moving novel. Do read this one.
* * *
I already have Under the Dome, so of course I dove into that, but I looked at my stack of books and realized that I have a lot of local titles I haven’t even started yet. Yeech.
So here’s my new All-Filipino Writers Reading List (in no particular order):
Waking the Dead by Yvette Tan
Twisted 9 by Jessica Zafra
Mythspace by Paolo Chikiamco and Koi Carreon
fled their faces turned by Christian Tablazon
Now, Then, and Elsewhen by Nikki Alfar
Fairy Tale Fail by Mina V. Esguerra
Interim Goddess of Love by Mina V. Esguerra
Naermyth by Karen Francisco
Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 8 by various authors
The Best of PSF (2005-2010) by various authors
Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 1 by various authors
Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 3 by various authors
How to Traverse Terra Incognita by Dean Francis Alfar
Si Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata by Ricky Lee
JUST ADDED: #romanceclass bundle from Mina V. Esguerra
All’s Fair in Blog and War by Chrissie Peria
Cover (Story) Girl by Chris Mariano
Save the Cake by Stella Torres
The Real Score by Kesh Tanglao
Vintage Love by Agay Lllanera
Basically I just listed the local titles I have on my phone (ebooks) and at home (paperbacks). I have dipped into most of these, particularly the PSF titles, but I take a long time finishing short story anthologies because you can easily start and stop reading (both a pro and a con for anthos). I’ll add more titles if I missed anything (like, if a paperback slid off my stack and got stuck in a corner and I forgot about it and it’s all moldy now get a grip), or if I acquire new ones.
This should keep me occupied until the end of the year. Wish me luck.
When Ms. Nida told her cadre (posse? army?) of writers that in lieu of WIT (Writers in Talks, Visprint’s annual event), Visprint would help put up a function (nameless at the time) that would bring together some local publishers, I had no idea how massive the event was going to be.
When Aklatan (aklat = book, it’s the Filipino word for ‘library’) was formally announced via press releases and a Facebook event page, I still had no idea what to expect. I have not been inside The Tents in Alphaland Southgate Mall; I did not know that it could house 600 people. By the afternoon of Sept. 7, Ms. Nida told me that the register had recorded 800 attendees, and people are still lining up to sign up.
It was beautiful insanity. Everyone involved in the event looked like zombies.
Here were the publishers at this year’s Aklatan:
And here was the Aklatan host! We just had to take a picture with the beautiful Bebang Siy (It’s a Mens World):
(My shirt says ‘Different is Nice’ – very non-confrontational.)
I got a bit lost (it was a huge venue, and there was another function room) and nearly arrived late at my own book launch.
The Visprint table inside The Tents was busy, as always.
Launch inside the Balesin function room.
So here’s where I fail with my photos. I forgot to turn off the Macro function! Argh. Forgive the blurriness. Kunwari na lang Instagram filter. Hehe.
Books launched that day:
Ma’am, hindi nakikinig o. Haha!
Manix Abrera (Kikomachine Komix) attended my book launch, you guys. It’s my claim to fame.
Siege Malvar (Wakasang Wasak) brought a photobooth. We had our photos snapped before they folded up at lunch.
After signing some books (thank you thank you thank you devoted readers!), we headed back to The Tents. It’s the Contemporary Writers’ Panel with Carlo Vergara (ZsaZsa Zaturnnah), Eros Atalia (Ligo Na U, Lapit Na Me), Ricky Lee (Si Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata), and Lourd De Veyra (Insectissimo!)
Fangirl moment with Carlo V.
Comic Book panel with Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldissimo (Trese), Paolo Fabregas (The Filipino Heroes League), and Manix.
Signed more books! Here’s Manix sitting down and thinking, Hay hindi na naman ako makakapag-lunch.
Went onstage myself for the Women Writers panel, with Prof. Jing Pantoja-Hidalgo (Catch A Falling Star), Nikki Alfar (Now, Then, and Elsewhen), Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta (Burning Houses), and Mayette Bayuga (Halinghing sa Hatinggabi).
Went back to Balesin to listen to Flipside Publishing’s eKlatan, which featured talks about the local ebook industry.
Anthony de Luna, Flipside CEO.
Adam David.
Forgot to take a picture of A.S. Santos (she’s seated in the previous photos) but I really enjoyed her talk (which started with a ghost story – I love ghost stories). Go grab a copy of her book, Voices in the Theater.
Here’s my humble Aklatan loot. Buy my books so I can buy more books, please. Hee.
Do join my Project 17 giveaway! Till next year. :)
Where to get my books:
Lower Myths (ebook): Amazon.com (MOBI) | Flipreads.com (Adobe DRM/EPUB) | iTunes (iOs) | Barnes & Noble (Nook Book) | Kobo (Adobe DRM/EPUB) | ilovebooks.com (iOs/Adobe DRM/EPUB)
The Viewless Dark (ebook): Amazon.com (MOBI) | Flipreads.com (Adobe DRM/EPUB) | Barnes & Noble (Nook Book) | Kobo (Adobe DRM/EPUB) | iTunes (iOs) | ilovebooks.com (iOs/Adobe DRM/EPUB)
A Bottle of Storm Clouds (ebook & print paperback): Amazon.com (MOBI) | Flipreads.com (DRM-free EPUB) | Kobo (DRM-free EPUB) |Weightless Books (DRM-free EPUB and MOBI) | iTunes (iOS) | Fully Booked | Bibliarch | Pandayan Bookshop | National Book Store | Powerbooks |and provincial outlets
Unseen Moon (ebook & print paperback): Smashwords ($0.99) | Amazon.com (MOBI) | Kobo (Adobe DRM/EPUB) and Sony Reader Store | POD, email victoriaeliza @ gmail dot com
Apocalypses (chapbook): POD, email victoriaeliza @ gmail dot com
Project 17: in bookstores soon
Eliza Victoria 