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NaNoWriMo 2012

December 2, 2012December 2, 2012 Tina 3 Comments

Also known as: My NaNoWriMo 2012 experience

True story: I almost gave up on NaNoWriMo this year.

2012 is my 9th NaNoWriMo year, but I was not in the mood. At all. I don’t know why, really, except that I have been fighting NaNoWriMo burn out since 2009. I’ve been trying and trying again in hopes of finding that spark again, but every time the month of November ends since then, I just wanted to get it all over with and forget everything that I have written.

So this year, I only joined for the sake of joining, and because I am one of the Municipal Liaisons for the region and we already had plans for the year. It was too late for me to not do it, and I also wanted to guide our new ML since it’s his first time. But if you ask me to be honest, I admit that my heart was not in it. Not this year.

In the past years, NaNoWriMo took first priority when November rolled around. This year, I had to pay attention to other things, especially since a big work project came and it required most of my attention during the day. Then there were other new responsibilities, like community and the book club and well…everything else in life just took place first. Like I said, my heart wasn’t in writing my novel anymore, so I kind of slacked off. And I felt bad.

I started writing a novel in blog format entitled Decaf Nation, which was supposed to be my 2011 project but I scrapped. I thought this year should be easier since it’s a blog and it should be easier to update…but again, when your heart is not in it, it’s really just hard to get writing. I lost steam by the first week, and stopped writing. That was embarrassing, because the novel is posted in public, and I knew people were reading it. (I’m sorry, guys) I hate leaving things, but I could not make myself write another word because I was partly annoyed at my main character. :/

Somewhere around mid November, I read some of my old NaNoWriMo posts and I marveled at how I was so excited for things. I can’t pull them from anywhere within me anymore and I realized my burn out might be worse than I thought. I felt bad especially since I am one of the Municipal Liaisons, and I should set an example, and I have two co-MLs, too. I told myself that I would try harder again, but I have a feeling I would lose anyway, so I won’t try that hard. I will just probably let things be, and see what happens.

And then. I opened my 2011 novel.

Words, words, words

July 17, 2012July 17, 2012 Tina 6 Comments

Also known as: Some musings on my passion for words

Last Saturday, I was invited to join Bronze Age Media‘s Author At Once Part 2 workshop to be a part of the panel. The workshop was about how budding authors can market their novels, and I was there to speak for the book bloggers and book club members. I came there without preparation, as usual (by preparation, I meant a presentation, outline, etc), save for the things I know, which is kind of how I have been doing things lately. ((I realize that’s not really a good way to go all the time…but that’s for another post)) It was a very productive afternoon, and I stayed longer than I intended, partly because I was sitting at the other end of the room and leaving would be quite disturbing for everyone especially while someone was talking and because it was a very interesting workshop, even if I have no novel to start marketing (not anytime soon, anyway).

Anyway, the afternoon reminded me of some things that I really kind of know about myself, mainly this: I love words. It’s no secret, with how much I talk and how much I read and write. I mean, I even like lyrics more than the music whenever I listen to songs! There is nothing like words strung together in the right way to give me a little thrill. It’s like…when I see a beautiful sunrise/sunset (depends on my shift :D), or when I hear from a friend that I haven’t heard from a long time — there’s a flutter in my heart that tells me: I am made for this.

Kwentillion

May 28, 2012May 28, 2012 Tina 1 Comment

Also knoan as: A little plug for our latest project

~~Okay, time to end the mushiness!~~ A little plug!

Last weekend was the Summer Komikon and I don’t really go there except if I’m looking for autographs for some of the local series I follow, or if there’s an interesting launch. This time around, it was the latter, and I am very proud to say that it’s the first launch I attended where I actually went onstage because I was a part of the project! :)

From the Summit Media page:

Kwentillion Magazine is the country’s first publication dedicated to young adult literature and media, featuring YA-themed comics and fiction by Filipino creators. The bi-monthly, black and white magazine (with an eight-page colored spread in every issue) features reviews and previews of young adult books, interviews with creators, and articles which tackle a wide variety of topics of interest to the YA community.

I co-wrote an article here with my friend Chachic about YA books in 2012:

Apocalypse Can Wait!

It’s not the first time I saw my name in print (I was in another independent magazine a few years ago :P), and I have been writing for Summit and other places online for a while now, but it’s quite nice to see my name in a project like this, something that I am passionate about. The other comics and articles are all awesome too — it’s always nice to read more local fiction. :)

The first issue is really a test run, and the next issue would depend on how well this first one sells, or how much buzz it generates. So! If you like young adult literature, or you want to read more about Filipino comics and fiction, Kwentillion is the magazine you are looking for! It’s available in National Bookstore and Powerbooks branches (last thing I heard, NBS Bestsellers in Galleria has copies) for Php 150. It has pretty good print quality too — I was surprised at the size of the magazine when I finally got my copy.

This post really fits my book blog more (hence the cross-post), but I’ll probably post a more comprehensive review of the issue in the book blog when I get the time. :D But hey, a project is a project, and I am more than thrilled to see this project come to life. I’m so honored to be a part of it.

Here’s a post from one of our editors about Kwentillion, and why he thinks this project is important. And then, you can also follow Kwentillion on Twitter or like the page on Facebook for more updates (or questions). :)