Mina V. Esguerra's Blog, page 65

Post-ReaderCon 1: Where I talk about being a reader and a Slayer

In 2001, I co-founded the online email group for Philippine fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (PinoySlayer). It was an active fan group for years, and even though the show has ended, the core group still gets together for other things. Prior to that I had been watching the show for years, participating in international forums and fannish stuff like that.One of my longest posts ever in a Goodreads

Paperback shipping delays - and my apologies

If you ever emailed, tweeted, messaged, and asked me in person about the paperback editions of Fairy Tale Fail and Love Your Frenemies lately:1. HUG. Thank you.2. This is the story: I ordered a big batch, I did. In June. But this time, I sent it to family in the United States, hoping for it to be sent here along with a box of other things on its way here. It is not here yet. (Sorry!)3. Update: I

ReaderCon Filipino Friday Week 5: What I expect from ReaderCon

The 1st Filipino ReaderCon is coming up!My reading has not been a social activity lately. It was, back in high school, when I would actively promote (push) books to friends. In college, I told the entire story of Carl Sagan's Contact -- with difference-between-book-and-film commentary -- to a friend who preferred that to actually reading the thing. (That was a very long lunch.) Now, even though I

ReaderCon Filipino Friday Week 4: Philippine Lit

"Reading" to me means mostly novels and novellas, and these are the Filipino authors/novelists I've read since 2004 (when I started my book list).

Arlene J. Chai
F. Sionil Jose
Abi Aquino
Tweet Sering
Carla M. Pacis
Tara FT Sering
Bob Ong
Maya Burgos Cruzada
M.D. Balangue
Zara Irigo
Anna Ishikawa
Katrina Ramos Atienza
Abi Malonzo
Faye Ilogon
Jose Rizal
Miriam Delos Santos
Marla Miniano
Melissa

ReaderCon Filipino Friday Week 3: Being a reader in the Philippines

This week's Filipino Friday post is about the pros and cons of being a reader in the Philippines.

When it comes to book buying I'm a bargain hunter, and I like that I can get cheap books here. This of course depends on reading taste, and the books I read are the ones that tend to show up in Book Sale eventually. I've gone into really nice bookstores in other countries and chose not to buy a

ReaderCon Filipino Friday Week 2: Your Reader's Story

When I was a kid, my mom used to read me stories from Children Everywhere, volume 3 of the Childcraft series. This was probably the first book I read, when I actually could read for myself.
We might have given away our Childcraft set when we moved out of the house, but I saw a Children Everywhere in a Book Sale in 2005, and I bought it.
Stories I love from that volume:

Sorry for the photo

Readercon Filipino Friday Week 1: Introduce Yourself

Participating in Filipino Friday to show my support for the Filipino Reader Conference!
Hello, everyone. I'm Mina, and I'm a trying-to-get-my-groove-back kind of reader. In high school, I would get two new books on Sunday, finish those by Tuesday, and spend the rest of the week re-reading my favorites until the weekend came around again. Today it's rare if I get to finish a book in one sitting,

It's good to go out sometimes

A busy week, in terms of writing. (And everything else, but that's another story.)On Saturday, I attended my first Goodreads Filipino Group meetup. I now understand why these things can last for hours and hours. It was too bad that I only had a couple to spare, but I'm glad that I was able to meet them. (And Tina of One More Page, finally!) I also confessed then and there that I was a lurker, or

Three stories that explain Mina

Recently I was asked two questions that left thoughts bouncing around in my head for weeks."What is your favorite book?" and "Do you have a mentor?"I answered them simply and quickly when I was asked, but of course with time I managed to figure out why I was still thinking about this: The answers are related.To the first question, I said that my favorite book was Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors

How I did it

In case you saw the article in the Inquirer and needed to know how to self-publish on Amazon, here's a quick rundown of how I did it:1. I finished the manuscript.Fairy Tale Fail was in revision mode for a year. Eventually I got it to a "final" draft.2. I sent it to an editor.I asked a friend who worked as an actual editor to review the manuscript for me. Her feedback covered grammar points and