If I remember correctly, I began including Mt. Cloud Bookshop in my Baguio City itinerary in 2016, after I heard from Mina that they were interested to carry some #romanceclass titles on their shelves. They used occupy a small space in the Casa Vallejo compound (Upper Session Road) and recently moved to a much bigger, much nicer space. Holiday rush and traffic notwithstanding, I promised myself I’d visit Mt. Cloud again this year, and I did!
I’m so glad I did.
“Aga-aga daming feelings!” -Lo, 2017
^ Now THAT is a pretty accurate description of what went down at the citruSnap studio last May 14, to be honest. There we were, six giddy authors (one of whom is also the photographer, the other, a book cover designer), two gorgeous models, and one badass stylist, trying our best to stay on our toes and be ~productive on a hot, Sunday morning. While this wasn’t the first time I got involved in a photo shoot, this was the first time I sponsored one for a personal project.
I wasn’t prepared. *insert sweating emoji here* Yes, even when I’ve saved a bunch of reference photos on my Pinterest board and sent it over to Mina to compile. Even when I had already outlined 2/3 of the book for which some of the photos will be shot. Even when I’ve rehearsed in my head what kind of direction I’d be giving Fred and Vanya so I can achieve the look I wanted. Nope. I wasn’t.
A month ago, I had my very first blog tour which had me writing my very first guest post ever (this is a year of firsts, see?) and I thought of posting these little graphic cards I made for said guest post just ’cause.
You may read the entire guest post at The Bookwhore Diaries.
I forgot when exactly it was that Mina tagged me in a #romanceclass discussion thread on Facebook, saying because of certain things she knows about me, she’s inviting me to tag along to this little gathering. Of course I would have loved to join them, but I was new to the group and didn’t know the “rules” yet, if there were any, so getting that little invite made me happy. I asked Mina what those things were, and she gave me only one hint:
Rak of Aegis
Oh she got me. She got me good. 😛
MIBF, or the Manila International Book Fair, is the country’s biggest and longest running book fair that usually happens in mid-September. As per usual, I am a relative n00b to this, and only attended it for the first time in 2013. A sort-of mistake, because I didn’t bring a lot of moolah with me so I failed buying more books. (Then again, that might have been a very wise move.) I did come home with three new books and I was happy and content with them. If I have read all three is another matter altogether.
This year, I got to attend the 36th MIBF as an author. No, really. I had to sit down and read those words from a friend’s Facebook post and realized it was true for me too, and the feeling is unbelievable. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t get a book signing session or people following me around asking to take pictures. I didn’t even actually sell books in the traditional sense, nor did I participate in any talk or seminar about writing. Nope. None of that . . . BUT!!! those are my future goals.
So what did I do, you ask? Well, I . . .