Happy 2012!

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book by Sara Gruen I had the pleasure to read. I have to commend her on a very telling piece. Plus I like the circus. Who doesn’t like the circus? Okay, you may say something about animal cruelty, but if anyone allows themselves to forget about it and just watch the illusion of any circus, most humans would find it amazing right?

Anyway, I’m going off topic. The book, the book. Yes, Water for Elephants. It was a good book in my opinion. Sara Gruen does a good job vacillating between the present and past. The love story is beautiful and the genuine love Jacob has for Marlena is unrefuted. The setting of a Depression era America is so beautifully described I could feel the desperation of the times with each flip of the page.

I just didn’t like the ending. Who would believe a random circus guy would take in a handicapped senior citizen? I thought my book had missing pages at the end.

Otherwise, I recommend this book. Now I have to read her other books. And I have to check out the movie. I am such a consumer…

View all my reviews

“Our selections this year to a large extent reflect the ongoing political and economic uncertainty that seems to be affecting much of the developed world — with notable exceptions such as the Royal wedding and the continuing rise of China,” said Paul J.J. Payack, president of the Global Language Monitor.

Here are the Global Language Monitor’s top 10 words of 2011:

01. Occupy — The preferred verb of protesters occupies the top spot this year. Not only has “occupy” risen to fame because of the Occupy Movement (Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Oakland, etc.), it is also used in the context of the occupation of Iraq and the so-called “Occupied Territories.”

02. Deficit — Fiscal deficits are a growing and possibly intractable problem for many economies in the developed world, and have become a frequent topic of discussion.

03. Fracking — Hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method of extracting fossil fuels from otherwise unreachable places , has turned into a hot-button issue dividing ultra-capitalists and environmentalists.

04. Drone — An ever-increasing number of remotely piloted aircraft are being used for reconnaissance and attack purposes, especially to target wanted terrorists.

05. Non-veg — A meal served with meat. The term originated in India (where “veg” is the norm), and is now catching on worldwide.

06. Kummerspeck — This German word, which literally translates as “grief bacon,” refers to excess weight gained from emotional overeating. This year, it worked its way into the English-speaking world.

07. Haboob — A name imported from Arabic that has been used to describe the massive sandstorms in the American Southwest this year.

08. 3Q — This texting shorthand for “thank you” may have arisen as a combination of the Mandarin and Japanese word for the number three, which is “san,” and Q; put together, they sound like “thank you.” The slang has been banned from official Chinese dictionaries, but is commonly found elsewhere.

09. Trustafarians — These are well-to-do youths (also sometimes called “trust-funders” or “trust fund babies”) who adopt faux-Bohemian lifestyles. A play on Rastafarians, the term first became popular as a reference to wealthy kids who took part in the London Riots .

10. (The Other) 99 — A reference to the majority of those living in Western democracies who have been left out of the dramatic rise in earnings associated with “the top 1 percent” — itself, another frequently uttered phrase.

Have a safe New Year’s Eve!

I come up with various answers, always leaning towards the positive. It is my opinion that life can only be lived by looking at the bright side of things without being naive to what I need to improve on.

There’s always room for improvement. I have a lot I want to do with my writing, but I have faith that an author’s work will be recognized at the time it was destined to. My writing goal in 2012 is to continually work on my writing and let the chips fall where they may. In truth, how other people will respond to my writing is out of my control. In 2012, I write to satisfy an inside desire to tell stories that make sense to me.

And one day, hopefully it makes sense to a few other people.

Thank you 2011 for teaching me many lessons. I hope to learn from these lessons to become a better person, primarily to focus on the moment without letting it pass me by so quickly. My kids are growing so fast that I will work on pressing the pause button. 

To all my writer friends, may your writings be heard by the world and may satisfaction come to you through your prose. To my music industry friends, take care of yourself and keep pounding out hits. To family and friends, thank you for being in my life.

I wish you all a prosperous 2012!

At the back of my mind is always my writing, something I probably take too seriously. I should release some of my work on this blog or just go ahead and release one story soon.

In today’s publishing world, stories centered around Filipino folklore is niche. Is there a major publisher who would take a chance on it? Never say never, but so far my efforts have proven no.

Everything in due time, I know. I am just like any other writer. Meanwhile, I try to laugh off my quandary that many writers go through, but I do it Pinoy style by asking Ate Vange for writing advice! This video on YouTube hopefully makes you all laugh! Happy holidays!

I also had my work anonymously critiqued by high school students through an alumni connection who teaches at a high school in California. If you haven’t had your work critiqued by high school kids, I highly recommend it. I believe the manuscript I had them read has improved in leaps and bounds solely from their feedback. I also received experience in processing positive and negative feedback, giving me a thicker skin I’ll need if my manuscripts are ever released to the public.

As I head off to the Thanksgiving family gathering, I am thankful for just having the opportunity, having the drive, to want to get my manuscripts out there. Thank you God for not allowing me to let this dream go.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

I’ve always wanted to have my work published through a New York publishing house. This has been my big dream as a writer. But as I continue to work at my manuscript and send out queries, I find it difficult to find a home for my stories. I had one publisher pick up one of my manuscripts, only to drop it once they went out of business. I consider that a blessing in disguise. Another agent told me that she enjoyed my writing style, but would find it difficult to sell a story with Filipino protaganists to a publisher in today’s day and age.

All of my stories have Filipino characters, but I strive to write universal-themed stories about love and hope. But finding an agent or publisher willing to take a chance on my perspective is quite a challenge.

So the question remains: Do I still pursue my dream of New York publishing acceptance? Or take the plunge and self-publish before my manuscripts sue me for keeping them captive in my laptop?

Frankly, I’m still thinking about it. I’m not quite sure which road to take. The one on the left or right.

I’m not suprised as I’ve always thought the brick and mortar box bookstore is a dinosaur business plan. People like to drink coffee and read books, but when they can do it all for free at a Borders or Barnes & Nobles, how do these companies survive? The thought was they would sell enough books, but Borders proves that bookselling is following the path of the music industry. Instead of mp3′s, we have ebooks and ereaders without a central hub like iTunes (as of yet).

Speaking of Barnes & Nobles, what does Border’s story mean for them? I anticipate they are racking up ideas on how to keep their business alive, and I hope they focus on growing their Nook business, because ebooks is the future of bookselling, even if I still enjoy having a physical page to turn.

Here’s a good article on what B&N needs to do to survive.

Now I go back to the task of writing, knowing that the book publishing business continues to change with or without me.

But I’m skeptical. I believe local bookstores with minimal stock will survive, and the best way for debut authors to get their work noticed is to sell significant ebooks of their work.

In my eyes, this is the first film since The Debut that will affect the Filipino American community on a grand scale, so here’s to hoping it does well! In the meantime, everyone is celebrating the film’s premiere and I’m having a good time meeting Hollywood folks!

And hopefully this post comes out okay since I’m typing this on my iPhone.

Technology = sweeeeeet!