Our Four Books in the FRCA 2022

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What Goes Behind Zoom and an Online Author Visit

Family will always matters so I picked Max for the read aloud.

This month is Buwan ng Wika. The theme this year is indigenous languages and "bayanihan". I posted on the blog early this month that I am preparing for storytelling sessions which will be delivered online. Given the circumstances, it is the only way to go.

COVID-19 has turned our world upside down. We are not prepared for this contagion but our DNA is built in with the natural instinct to survive. Thus, we use all the necessary tools and means to create and communicate to each other and with each other.

Other than a recorded storytelling video, I have been interviewed for an Author Visit by the De La Salle DLS Zobel Librarians. A week ago, I was hooked in Zoom with my dear friend Ann Grace Bansig. She interviewed me for a recorded online Author Visit for DLS Zobel's Buwan ng Wika celebration. We talked about my books and the experiences I have writing them. I enjoyed the session and I am pretty excited to see how it will turn out.

This new experience provided us with many advantages. One, we had the time to schedule the interview at our most convenient day and hour. Two, as guest author, I was able to prepare for the interview since I had the outline of the script before hand. Three, there are enough days or lead time for the librarians to edit the video. Just imagine the preparations the DLS Zobel librarians went through. Also, this new media of communication required them to learn the technology of rendering videos online. Overnight, these school librarians became media practitioners.

This is a snippet the recorded read aloud of The Day Max Flew Away in Zoom.

What comes to mind is the preparations I do for when I am a guest in Ang Pinaka in GMA TV. We undergo the same process, except that, the production team of Ang Pinaka are media people and professionals in the field.

I think it would benefit librarians and most specially, the teachers who will use television and media in the delivery of lessons this coming school year to get a crash course on media production.

Let us see where this will lead us!

Reading Aloud: The Day Max Flew Away

Book Preview: The Day Max Flew Away

Max is a CMMA Finalist!

Early today, I received happy news from my publisher, Lampara Books. Our book The Day Max Flew Away is a finalist in the Best Children’s Short Story category of the 40th Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA). I am still wearing a smile in my face and there is joy in my heart as I write this. But I am nervous too.

I know that the story is up against tough competition. Eugene Evasco’s story book, Ang Tatlong Prinsipe ng Kalinaw (Lampara Books) is a finalist too. I do not know whose works are lined up as well but joining the list along side a Palanca Hall of Famer’s work shakes my confidence.

I take comfort in the idea that the panel of judges took time to read and to consider my story and our book. They sure got the message!

Max is a very personal story. It is Nico and Zoe’s experience growing up and Papadoms’ relevant role in the lives of our children. It is my story too, one about detachment and letting go. At the time of writing, I was grappling with the teachings of Ignatius, most especially about the truths we hold dear. I have gained perspective since then. Ignatius can do that too. Now I know that to be able to love freely, we need to hold the truth lightly in our hands.

I look back at Max’s journey and here are links to blog posts at how the story and the book came to be.

Jomike’s studies on Max

Max and Nico were revealed

Max’s translator is the Palanca Hall of Famer, Eugene Evasco

Interview with Eugene Evasco as translator

Max’s bookmark by Mennie Ruth Viray

Max at the 2017 Manila International Book Fair

I will definitely attend the awards ceremonies. Win or lose, I will be there to celebrate. I feel I have gone full circle. I am ready to begin anew.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us!

New Lampara Books in the 2017 Manila International Book Fair

I will be present during the book signing from September 13-14, 2017 and the formal launching of our book, The Day Max Flew Away (Gagatiga and Tejido) on September 17, 2017. See you! Say hi and don't be a stranger

Max Flew and Got a Review!

Thank you for the review, Dr. Eugene Evasco!

Max Flew Away Bookmark

Bookmark of our new book, The Day Max Flew Away (Lampara House, 2017) made especially by Mennie Ruth Viray
Thanks to Jomike Tejido for the amazing paintings on banig (native mat) as canvas.
So excited for this book!

Because Love Can Save the World

The dedication was included pre-Wonder Woman viewing. Kudos to Eugene Evasco for the Filipino translation!

Book News: 2nd Printing and New Bookmarks

My Daddy, My One and Only has been reprinted! I learned about this good news from my publisher via Facebook (where else do you get "breaking news" these days but in social media, right?). I have one copy of the first print and, yes, I am getting myself a copy of the second reprint!

And since Jomike Tejido and I finished another book, here's a look at our promotional bookmark. Super thanks to Mennie Ruth Viray for the design and layout.

New Book: The Day Max Flew Away

Finally, I got the dummy of The Day Max Flew Away. The illustrations are by Jomike Tejido and the Filipino translation is by Palanca Hall of Famer, Eugene Evasco. 

Here's the front and back covers.

Update on Book Project: The Day Max Flew Away

Back in May 2016, I blogged about a new book project I have with Jomike Tejido. I posted photos of his studies in the blog.

And now for the big reveal! Our book The Day Max Flew Away will soon be published by Lampara Books. We hope to launch it by September 2017 in time for the Manila International Book Fair.

Here is a photo I grabbed from Jomike's FB page. See the bird flying over "Nico's" head? Yes, this story is so close to home as it is taken from my children's real life story of owning a pet bird. I named the characters after my kids, so, this is a really special project.

Nico is now 19 years old and Zoe turned 16 last month. They still hold a fascination for animals and a love for birds, cats and dogs.

Here is the cover design of our book. Do visit the blog and my FB page for more updates and book giveaways!

Visit Tejido for more information on Jomike's art and his paintings on banig, a woven mat made of pandan leaves.

A New Book Project With Jomike Tejido

I am thankful to Jomike Tejido for accepting, once more, a collaborative project with me. We are going to free a bird this time.

See Jomike's studies on our new children's book project. Again, Lampara Books agreed to support our creative pursuits.

Study 1: This is the cover page of our new book, The Day Max Flew Away.

I am excited to see how Jomike is going to interpret my story. From the studies he has shown me so far, it looked neat and well designed. He is going to paint this time. I am not sure if he is going to use a banig as his canvas.

Study 2: Here is one of the book's inner pages. 

There is a father, a mother, a boy and a little girl. Notice the birds and the cat at the bottom right panel. Who is that character with a hat? Make a guess! Do you have an idea what the story is all about?