For those who were not able to attend Visprint Inc.’s WIT 2 event (I will get your excuse letters later – loljk), Flipside Publishing has generously uploaded a recording of my talk (a mix of English and Filipino). Follow @Flipsidepub on Twitter for updates.
Click here for the recording! Might contain nuts and awkwardness.
If you enjoyed the podcast (or have suggestions who you’d like to hear from in the future), feel free to send us comments below, or via our other social networks like Facebook or Twitter (@flipsidepub).
We’ll have more recordings from Visprint’s WIT 2012 event in the next few days. Stay tuned!
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!
Mortal Kombat!
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.
A Bottle of Storm Clouds onstage.
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.
Cookie from Karl, with the symbol for calling the voodoo goddess of love. J and I ate it. :3
I hope the attendees learned something from my blather! I got pretty nervous and forgot to look at my notes to guide me hahaha!
Grabbed from Visprint’s album on Facebook.Thank you to Elyss Punsalan for her amazing reading of an excerpt of “The Storyteller’s Curse”. Visit Pakinggan Pilipinas!
Photo-op for the Visprint writers who stayed behind.
Photo by Fernando Hernandez, posted on Facebook.
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.
Happy to finally meet Karen Francisco!
Bb. Bebang Siy!
We had dinner with Charles, who actually ate something. (No photographic evidence.)
My Visprint loot!
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!
We took a cab again but we would’ve carried this into the MRT. LIKE A BOSS.Till next WIT!
Tomorrow, I will be giving a short talk about A Bottle of Storm Clouds and storytelling (that all sounds really scholarly-fancy but I’m sure I’m going to be a blathering mess onstage), and Elyss Punsalan of Pakinggan Pilipinas will be reading one of my stories. Should be a treat! Just listen to her beautiful narration of Kate Osias‘s “Ghost Between Moments“.
Karl R. De Mesa will be introducing me (he asked a bunch of crazy questions – I have no idea what he’s going to do with my answers haha), and a brief Q & A will follow the talk.
Visprint books will also be available for sale at the venue, at discounted prices (10 to 20 percent off).
See you all!
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If you are still on the fence about buying the collection, I hope these sample stories will help you decide.
Protip: The book may not be on display in some branches. Ask Customer Service or whoever’s at the counter if they are carrying copies. Thank you! And thanks to all who have already bought copies. My endless gratitude. Hope you enjoy the stories.
Eliza Victoria 