#FilipinoFridays Weeks 3 & 4: Fan Fiction & Diverse Books
Last stretch of filipinoreadercon's #FilipinoFridays series since the event will take place this week. And eek! I've been invited to be one of the speakers in the "From Reader to Writer: Crossing Over from Consumer to Content Creator" panel facilitated by the awesome Mina V. Esguerra. So if you want to see if I completely embarrass myself (which is altogether possible), come and attend! It's on Friday, November 14, from 9:35 to 10:35AM at the Bayanihan Center along Pioneer Street in Pasig City.
Anyway, let's do this!
WEEK 3: What Do You Think of Fan Fiction?
Fanfiction is pretty popular, no doubt about it, but it has been received with mixed feelings by many authors and writers. Some don’t mind it, and even welcome readers who give their own spin on their work. Some writers don’t like it at all, to the point that they contact fanfiction authors to take their work down. Others use it as a jump-off point for their own writing.
How about you? What is your take on fanfiction? Do you read fanfiction, and if you do, what kind of fanfiction do you read? Do you write fanfiction, and why? Or are you against fanfiction? Enlighten us.
I'm not really a reader of fan fiction, but that's maybe because most of the fan fiction I was exposed to originally were on PHPBB forums and a bit hard to read. If someone were to let me download fan fiction onto my iPad's Kindle reader, and it was a fandom I bought into, I probably would be more into it. I do read anthologies of short stories set in a particular writer's universe but written by other writers—I'm hoping that counts. I don't write fan fiction, but I do indulge a hefty amount of time concocting fan fiction in my head. I haven't yet made the commitment to putting these on paper.
I do know that published authors' reactions to fan fiction is varied. I can see how they would want to protect their copyright and creations as a writer, but I think it's pretty harmless so long as it remains in the realm of not-for-profit writing. As a tool for writing newbies, I think fan fiction is awesome. I just hope that, once you've built up your confidence as a writer by writing stories in someone else's world, you take that leap of faith and imagination and start creating your own world.
WEEK 4: Let's Talk About Diverse Books
Do you think we have enough diversity in the books that we read? Are our choices enough to satisfy our different tastes? Are our writers able to present the variety of people, culture, lifestyle, interests and so on? How diverse are your reading interests, and are you able to find enough books to satisfy your reading needs? Do you think we need more diverse books?
Honestly, I think that while people are always going to have their favorite authors and genres, stepping out of that comfort zone and exploring different kinds of reads can only lead to better and better things. With the advent of electronic publishing, reading different kinds of books is much easier these days (because ordering hard copies from the US pre-Amazon was a huge headache, right?).
My concern would be more for the local writing scene, as I don't feel like there's enough diversity in the market place. I'm happy to see that there's more variety now in the locally published options found on bookstore shelves, because for a long time you pretty much had literary (or pseudo-literary) fiction, jokey books, Tagalog romance, or text books and that was it, or so it seemed. Now we have more popular fiction, although I would personally like to see a bit more popular nonfiction. I think we will get there, eventually, especially with the option for e-publishing. On one hand, local writers will have stiff competition as they'll be going up against international authors, but this will also help challenge them to improve the quality of their content and copy.
As far as my own habits as a reader, I tend to read a lot of two genres: romance and fantasy. However, I also do enjoy thrillers and sci-fi as well as nonfiction narratives and investigations, biographies and memoirs, history, and more (Beryl Markham's West with the Night and Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of Love remain two of my all-time favorite books). While my tastes might not be quite as eclectic as those of others I know, I certainly would hope that my reading life can be described as diverse.
When it comes to local book diversity, yes, we definitely need that. On an international scale, though, I think the issue is more about exposing people to the many different kinds of books that are out there.
Sorry if this post is a little bit disjointed. It's late! And I need to write still! Or sleep, at least. Anyway, just to conclude: you can join Filipino ReaderCon's #FilipinoFridays meme, which you can do by answering the weekly questions on any of day of the week via a public post on Tumblr (there's filipinoreadercon, after all), Facebook, Twitter, or any other medium that lets you post so anyone can see it. Learn more about #FilipinoFridays here.
#FilipinoFridays Week 2: I Read, Therefore I Write
I'm once again very late with this post (Week 3 is out), but I'm determined to join! And also, in time-honored NaNoWriMo tradition, I'm procrastinating, so....
WEEK 2: I Read, Therefore I Write?
As a reader, have you ever thought about writing a book? What kind of books/stories do you want to write? Or are you now a published author, and what compelled you to go fulfill this dream? How was your journey from reader to writer? How did you go about getting your book out there?
As I mentioned, it's NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month, if you prefer the longer version), and as part of the requirements of joining the challenge and being one of the municipal liaisons for the Philippines, I have to write a novel.
I mostly write fantasy and nonfiction, but I recently started writing romance (more on that later), and that's the first genre I've actually been published in, outside of my work as a writer of articles for online publications and magazines.
When it comes to my journey going from reader to writer, for me that was a question of necessity rather than something I purposefully decided I wanted to pursue. I read very quickly, and it meant that by the time I was in my final years of grade school, I'd read most of the non-nosebleed books in my family's home. In fact, on the NaNoWriMo Asia :: Philippines forum, someone recently asked how we got started writing, and as I write this, I realize that it's pretty much a recounting of my reader-to-writer journey.
Which is why I'm going to quote my reply to that person here:
Apparently I started reading very young, partially because I was impatient with the speed at which my parents would read me bedtime stories. So by the time my dad got cancer when I was four and we had to spend a lot of time in hospitals, I was a ferocious reader who would think of waiting room time as reading time. I don't remember when I first started writing, but I wrote a short, barely legible, atrociously spelled essay recounting my dad's life and death and possible afterlife in crayon when I was five, and my mom framed it, so I guess that might as well be my official first story.
With the exception of my parents' economic and livelihood journals and thesis books, I read most of the books in my house by the time I hit the fourth or fifth grade, so writing my own fiction became something I did during the time I would spend saving up for a new book. I would also spend a lot of time coming up with long, drawn-out sagas in my head that I didn't put on paper if I didn't feel like it. I discovered Anne Rice's books and other novels romanticizing things that go bump in the night in maybe the fifth grade (?), and this started me on a period of writing purple prose and poetry. Then I started reading stuff by Toni Morrison and Alice Walker and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Laura Esquivel, and I wanted to write like that. In high school, I started reading Neil Gaiman and Mercedes Lackey, and I read The Once and Future King by TH White for the very first time. At the same time, I started reading Nora Roberts and Harlequin / Silhouette / Mills & Boon novels. This was when I first started loving the genres of fantasy and romance. I went through a brief period of aspirations toward High Literature we shall call "university," but then I came to my senses. I joined a collaborative writing group that focused mainly on writing speculative fiction, and one of the writers I collaborated with convinced me to give NaNoWriMo a try.
One was, my cousin Jenny—that's Jennifer Hillier—whom I knew about but didn't really know growing up because she's pretty much lived in Canada and the US her whole life published a couple of thrillers with Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books. I congratulated her on her success, and we got to chatting and e-mailing, reconnecting as cousins with a shared interest in the craft. And then she was flown over to the Philippines to do a book tour, but extended her stay here. So we got to hang out, and she kept asking me, "When will I see your book?" and "When will you be signing a book for me instead of the other way around?"
Now, by that point, I'd already done NaNoWriMo for several years running, but mostly, once December came around, I would shove my book in a mental drawer (or a folder on my hard drive) and leave it there to rot. Novel-writing was something I did for fun, and while it would be cool to be published someday, I wasn't really keen on pursuing it because I was working as a writer and editor and was getting my byline fix from that. But Jenny told me I needed to start thinking about getting published, and my brain just went, "Huh. I guess I could try it." She'd done it, after all.
The second thing that happened was that I signed up for minavesguerra's #RomanceClass, which was a free online class where she taught dozens of people how to write a romance novel in English in the Philippines. I failed that class, allowing life to get in the way of actually writing my novel. I also got intimidated by the fact that all my classmates seemed to be writing romances that didn't have a lot of sex in it, and I couldn't see my way through without a couple of sex scenes. I found out later that writing in sex scenes was encouraged, but at the time, I felt a bit like the odd one out and had started questioning why I'd joined this in the first place.
So when Mina teamed up with Buqo.ph and started the #BuqoSteamyReads class, in which we were challenged to write a short steamy story that would be put up on the online bookstore by the end of the class, I joined it. And I ended up with a novella that was almost 22,000 words long, some awesome writing friends, and the idea that, hey, this is doable.
I wrote the story under a pen name, which I'll go ahead and officially reveal for the first time: It's Kate Sebastian. The first name is a shortened form of my actual second name, Kathleen. The surname was inspired by two things: (1) Anne Rice's novel Violin, because even though I don't read Anne Rice anymore, it was after reading her work that I started really making a concentrated effort to write; and (2) The Little Mermaid, my favorite Disney princess movie growing up. I was in a kind of perverse frame of mind when I was trying to come up with my pseudonym, and for some reason, when I hit upon the name "Sebastian," I kept thinking, "Darling, it's better down where it's wetter..." And that tells you way too much about how my mind works.
That novella, Old Enemies Make the Best Lovers, is still available on Buqo for P45 from the website and the Android app and $0.99 via the iOS app. Here's a pic of the cover:
This year, I'm writing a prequel to that novella for NaNoWriMo. My working title is Boyfriends Make the Best Booty Calls. And when I decided to write this story, I also decided to finally reveal my pen name because it looks like this isn't going to be a one-off kind of thing like I'd initially thought it to be. So, yeah, do please like my Facebook fan page and follow my pen name on Twitter @ImKateSebastian.
I have some fantasy and non-fiction novels in the works under my own name, but I am thinking of working on those beginning next year.
And with the reminder of the work I have in store for me, I'm going to close this blog post with a reminder that you can join Filipino ReaderCon's #FilipinoFridays meme, which you can do by answering the weekly questions on any of day of the week via a public post on Tumblr (there's filipinoreadercon, after all), Facebook, Twitter, or any other medium that lets you post so anyone can see it. Learn more about #FilipinoFridays here.
Filipino ReaderCon's #FilipinoFridays: New Book Discoveries
Those of you who know me probably know that November's a crazy busy month for me because it's National Novel Writing Month, or, as lettersandlight has shortened it, NaNoWriMo. But it's also Filipino ReaderCon (filipinoreadercon on Tumblr) month! And while in past years I'll admit that I haven't really been all that faithful when it comes to following their events and posts in previous years, I've recently started tracking their updates again, thanks to their awesome "Readers Who Write" talk at the Manila International Book Fair. Just this week, I saw that they were doing a meme called Filipino Fridays, and I decided I wanted in!
Filipino Fridays is a meme where a topic is posted every Friday leading up to Filipino ReaderCon, and Filipino readers (bloggers or just anyone who has a social networking account that can be viewed publicly) are encouraged to participate. If you don't have a blog, you can post on Facebook, Tweet, or even film a video (if you're casually awesome—or diehard—like that). I missed the first week, and since it's Friday today, the second topic has already come out, but I'm determined to catch up! Scroll down for my first #FilipinoFridays post!
WEEK 1: Surprise, Reader!
Surprise, Reader! Hello, it’s the first week of Filipino Fridays 2014! Whether it’s your first time to participate or not, tell us a bit about yourself. More specifically, tell us about your favorite book discoveries for this year. Any author you started reading this year that you can’t get enough of? A book you didn’t think you’d like, but you ended up liking/loving? Any book series that you just have to get your hands on? Have you discovered anything new from Filipino authors this year?
Since this is actually a whole bunch of questions rolled into one "topic," I'm going to post my responses as bullet points.
A Quick Intro
I'm Liana, although I do have friends who call me Lia and others who call me Li. There are people who call me Kat, but I never respond to them. I'm a freelance writer and editor, and I just recently decided to jump into blogging. Being an overachiever and stress addict, I've started updating this blog on my professional site as well as a new lifestyle recommendations blog (reads, eats, and more) called likeloveblog.com. I read and edit a whole bunch of genres, and I write a lot of articles, but for fun I mostly stick to romance and fantasy, although I do, during moments of inadequacy, sometimes venture into literary fiction.
Favorite Book Discoveries This Year / New Authors I Can't Get Enough Of
Locally, I've started reading the Greek billionaire books by Marian Tee, and as someone who grew up sneaking reads of Mills & Boon and Harlequin books, I just had a lot of fun with the characters. I'm not all the way caught up yet (I think I'm on book 3 or 4), but I'll get there!
I've recently been toying with the idea of revising a sexy paranormal novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo a couple years back; and I wanted to do some reading and check what was on the market today (I'm still a fan of Laurell K. Hamilton and Sunny, but my work isn't as intense as theirs is, and at the moment, I don't aspire to New York Times best selling heights). So I read a lot of stuff that didn't really light a fire under my butt, and then I read Fashionably Dead by Robyn Peterman. It's Book 1 of the Hot Damned series, and you can get the Kindle version for free right now on Amazon. It's hilarious and sweet and gives me MaryJanice Davidson and Elizabeth Peters vibes, because I had so many laugh-out-lout moments. I enjoyed this book so much that, once I finished it, I bought Book 2, Fashionably Dead Down Under. And as I am writing this I have just discovered that Book 3, Hell on Heels, has been out for a month, and I'm on a book-buying embargo for NaNoWriMo. Darn!
While doing research for the Buqo.ph-sponsored #BuqoSteamyReads class I joined early this year (more on that later), I also got to reading books by Tessa Bailey. I started with Asking for Trouble, which was Book 4 of the Line of Duty series, followed it up with Staking His Claim (Book 5), and have several more on my to-be-read list.
I'll just mention those two for now, as I have several more authors I've read and enjoyed this year, and if I listed them all, this would be two posts long. Or three. Or four. Anyway, you get my point.
A Book I Didn't Think I'd Like, But Ended Up Loving
I honestly don't really read books I don't think I'll like. My mantra for my recommendations blog is "Life's too short to dwell on the negative stuff," and I try to apply that to the books. So if I read the description and think "meh," unless someone says or writes something to make me give it another chance, I'm probably going to skip the book.
That being said, I have been spending more time on Wattpad lately, as well as reading Wattpad books published by local writers, and while sometimes the editor in me has to take a moment to breathe from the grammatical and orthographical issues I encounter, I've found myself surprised several times by books that I'd designated as throwaway reads (stuff I'll enjoy enough to read once, but then never again).
A Book Series I Just Have to Get My Hands On
I'm a bit of a series junkie. I have series I've been reading since high school (like Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series and anything of Tamora Pierce's that's set in Tortall or the surrounding kingdoms). My all-time favorite fantasy author, Mercedes Lackey, has a new book out just today. It's called Closer to Home, and it's the first book in her new Herald Spy series, which is a follow up to the Collegium Chronicles series, which I've read at least three times now. So that's number 1 on my to-buy list once my embargo on book-buying ends (which is when I get my purple bar in my NaNoWriMo). Number 2 is Nalini Singh's new Guild Hunter book called Archangel's Shadows, and it features a couple of characters I've been really wanting to see more of, Guild Hunter Ashwini and Cajun vamp Janvier. And while I'll be Team Raphael and Elena forever, I'm really having fun getting to know the other hunters, angels, and vampires in this series.
Something New from Filipino Authors This Year
Okay, I'll admit this is something of a shameless plug because I'm one of the authors whose projects during the #BuqoSteamyReads class was released on the site, but I just couldn't get enough of the works by my classmates! And, yes, one day I'll have a big reveal to share which pseudonym is mine, but that's probably going to be when my next steamy read comes out. For those angling for a hint, I'll give you one word: arrow. Anyway, what I loved about this was that, apart from the stuff by the aforementioned Marian Tee, these stories and novellas were the first Filipino-written steamy romantic fiction in English that I've read—or even found. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the chick lit I've read from local publishers, but sometimes the two- or three-base limit some of the books have can get kind of frustrating, especially if you read raunchier fiction from international authors.
My favorites included The Best Friend Hookup by Suzette de Borja (buy it bundled with four other stories here for P180 or solo for P45), Finding Mr. Write by Adelaide Penne (get it bundled with Suzette de Borja's book and three others here for P180 or solo for P45), Passion within the Stone Walls by Kali Ragilles (buy the bundle for P180 or just this story for P45), and of course guru Mina V. Esguerra's Wedding Night Stand. These delivered on kilig moments (I've decided to translate this as "heart thrills" for my non-Filipino friends) and, as promised, steamy scenes—way steamy, in some cases!
Anyway, those are my recent book discoveries. Share yours by joining the meme; you can post on your blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, and more! And don't forget to tag #FilReaderCon!
5 books have been left today in various places around Metro Manila, pictures will be up soon. If you find one, do share that with us too! We like seeing books with their happy owners! Your turn, twitterverse/Facebookland!
let your city surprise you, even in all this weather.
But if you want to join, even if you're across the globe—go for it. let's spread the happy reading vibes!
Only six more days until the ReaderCon! Have you all marked your calendars already? If you need more details on this event, please check out the pages linked in the sidebar.
Yesterday, Chris shared her experiences and some book buying tips for those who are outside the National Capital Region. She briefly mentioned secondhand bookstores, which is what we will be talking about today.
The Thrill of Secondhand Bookhunting by Celina Bacani
"My husband claims I have an unhealthy obsession with secondhand bookshops. That I spend too much time daydreaming altogether. But either you intrinsically understand the attraction of searching for hidden treasure amongst rows of dusty shelves or you don't; it's a passion, bordering on a spiritual illness, which cannot be explained to the unaffected.”
— Kathleen Tessaro (Elegance)
One of the things I love doing the most is going secondhand bookhunting. There’s a certain thrill to finding a bargain priced book that beats getting a brand new book any day.
Going bookhunting is always an adventure because you never know what gem you will find among the shelves of used bookstores. It’s not an easy task though, and requires some effort, patience and a little bit of luck.:)
Now, I’m no expert at finding great secondhand or bargain books, but here are some things I’ve learned:
Have a system. Going through shelves of books that aren’t organized can be a daunting task, so try to come up with a system that works for you. When you have extra time on your hands, try going through the shelves more than once – chances are, you might spot a great book that you didn’t notice on your first scan.
Know when to buy. Most Book Sale branches have a set schedule for their deliveries, so ask the salespeople for their schedule of new arrivals. Branches that are located at malls usually stock more books during mall sales, so if you’re willing to brave the crowds, watch out for those sale schedules too.
Familiarize yourself with book prices. Book Sale prices usually start at P115 for Trade Paperbacks and P125 for Hardcovers (though prices go down after a few weeks). There are also some books that cost a little more – this includes the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, Dan Brown, Stephen King, and Chicken Soup for the Soul, to name a few. So try to do a little bit of price research for those books to get the best deal.
Make a list. List down some titles or authors you are looking for. If you are a regular at a particular store, talk to the salespeople there and ask them if they would be willing to set aside books from your list if they ever get them in stock.
Take advantage of discounts. At Book Sale, purchases of at least P1000 will give you a 5% discount, while buying at least P2000 worth of books will give you a 10% discount. If you are with a friend, you might want to consolidate your purchases to take advantage of those discounts.
Know where to buy. Book Sale, Chapters and Pages, Pick-a-Book and Books for Less are probably the most popular secondhand bookstores, but you might also want to check out some indie bookstores such as Bookay-Ukay (Diliman), Libreria (Cubao X) and La Belle Aurore (Cebu). Watch out also for book fairs and the annual book sales of major bookstores for great deals on brand new books and library withdrawn books (from the US).
For those of you who don’t have the time to rummage through bookshelves or do not have access to used bookstores, online bookhunting can be just as enjoyable. Check out eBay, Multiply, Sulit and Facebook for some great finds. Prices may be slightly higher than local used bookstores, but it's easier to search for particular books and there are more recent titles being offered.
If you have more tips or want to share your favorite bookhunting places and your best bargain finds, please feel free to share.:D
The ReaderCon is just a week away! Are you excited? We hope you are! If you want to know more about the event, feel free to browse through the website's pages, linked in the sidebar.
Let's now welcome Filipino book blogger Chris of Ficsation with a post about her experiences as a book lover outside of the National Capital Region.
Notes from a Non-NCR Book Lover by Chris Mariano
It isn't difficult to be a Filipino reader these days especially with the proliferation of stores (both mortar-and-stone and online), but there are still times when it can be challenging. It's doubly challenging for someone like me who isn't based in Manila. Though I was born and raised there, I currently live in Aklan, my parents' province, which technically doesn't have a single city in all its seventeen municipalities. But since I've been coming here for a good portion of my thirtysomething years, I think I can adequately share with you what it's like to search for and purchase books far from the metro.
I've spent all my summers here and though I enjoyed playing and running around, I also devoted my time to reading. When I was younger, I had to content myself with my paternal grandfather's extensive Reader's Digest collection (most were from the sixties) and my maternal grandfather's Holy Bible. I discovered my cousin's Enid Blyton books. I wasn't aware that I could buy anything from the local stores. If I had wanted to something else to read, like the latest Sweet Valley Twins or Nancy Drew title, I had learned to buy it in Manila.
I think I was in seventh grade or freshman year when I discovered that the local bookstores (there were two here that were owned by the same family) had begun to stock secondhand books. At first there were just a few shelves that later stretched to half a floor when one of the stores expanded. The selections were pretty run-of-the-mill, but I did buy my first books by Catherine Coulter, Belva Plain, Maeve Binchy, and Iris Dart there.
Another book source was a small stall in Boracay. It used to be located at the D'Mall area in the mid-nineties, which was when I first started dreaming of having my own bookstore by the beach. But at that time the road to Boracay wasn't the smoother highway it is now, so it was far from being a convenient place to get a book. My favorite find there was a pre-loved copy of Douglas Adams' The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul. Unfortunately, it wasn't long after that the store closed (or maybe the owners just decided that sticking to souvenirs and knickknacks was a more profitable enterprise).
Until now, buying new books has been hard to do in Aklan. It was only last year when Book Sale opened its first branch at the Gaisano Mall, and while most of the books are in relatively good condition, it still isn't the best place to pick up a copy of George R.R. Martin or even the more common Harry Potter titles. It’s a great place for bargains though!
So what are my best bets?
- Online shopping. I've bought books from Book Depository and Conlan Press that have all safely made their way to our home. Delivery fees are manageable to nonexistent so these are still viable options for someone like me. The books often arrive within a month.
- Buying in bulk in Manila. I try to visit Manila for a couple of days every two months, so I usually spend a huge chunk of my money on the latest titles. The staff of Bibliarch Glorietta is used to my reading/spending habits!
- Iloilo. Iloilo's a four-hour bus ride away, should I get really desperate (fortunately, I haven't). But when we do make the trip, I often get a bunch of books, like what I would do in Manila.
- E-books. I've bought a number of indie titles from Smashwords and I'm waiting to get my Kindle so I can purchase more via Amazon. There are a number of free e-books and extra chapters online: I got a few PG Wodehouse titles from Book Depository, while I found Patrick Ness’ short prequel to Chaos Walking via a friend’s blog.
- Celina's Books and Magazines. Not only is Cel one of my oldest friends, but she also offers great book deals. I pick up some titles from her online shelves.
So if you’re a book lover outside NCR, arm yourself with a little patience. Keep your eyes open for great deals, whether they come as secondhand books in a bargain store or in an online shop. Borrow (responsibly!) from friends and relatives. Try every available option. Be open to exploring new ways of getting your books, especially if buying online is a bit foreign to you. They always say love should know no boundaries — I suppose that’s true for loving books as well.
