[Feature] Daphne, The Non-Reader

Everything started when I saw Daphne holding a book. Specifically, she was holding Kesh Tanglao's The Real Score. I raised one curious eyebrow and thought of it as an oddity. 

Daphne is a non-reader. 

I've known her since she was in diapers and I have never seen her read a book out of her own volition. And if she was ever reading any book at all, I could say for certain that she'd be dozing off by the third page. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw her holding a book, and actually reading it; a book that's not a textbook or a school-related book. She was reading it. On. Her. Own. No one forced her to read it. I did not even insist that she read it. She voluntarily picked up a book from the pile of books on my shelves, and actually finished reading it!

  

I could not explain how I felt then. I was ecstatic, of course! I mean, for so long, I've been the only one in the family who's into reading. I've always left my bookcases and shelves open, hoping that anyone from my family would be open to reading them. Finally, Daphne came around!

But of course, I didn't want to keep my hopes up. I thought maybe it was a one time thing, and she'd be bored of reading. 

I was wrong. 

A ninja pic I took of the non-reader. hehe

The next day, I asked her if she was done with The Real Score. She said yes, and told me that she started reading Love Story by Jennifer Echols. 

Later that day, she told me that she didn't like Love Story all that much. She said The Real Score was better. 

Today, she said she wanted to read another book. I told her I recommend Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen, but we couldn't find it on my shelves. Someone probably borrowed it. *sigh* 

Anyways, since she seemed to be getting more interested in reading, I handed her Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, because she told me someone recommended Dan Brown's novels to her. She though the book was really thick but took it nonetheless. hihi

As a fervent reader, it makes me giddy to witness a convert first hand. I hope this twist lasts, and she decides to dabble in leisure reading for good. After all, I still have a ton of books lying on my shelves, waiting for another reader to get to know their worlds. 

[Feature] Language, Conjectures and Inflections

I do not own this image. Found it on Google.

As a voracious reader, the idea of being able to read different books in different languages while understanding all the inflections, conjectures and implications in between the written words is probably the ultimate dream! If it was up to me, I’d give myself the superpower to be fluent in all of the languages around the world. It doesn’t even have to be in spoken language. Think of all the literature I would be able to read!

Thanks to the efforts of linguists and translators, language barriers in literature have been reduced to inexistence. Books of famous authors are easily translated, reproduced and distributed in different languages for the consumption of the reading public. This is something that’s really benefitted me, because if it isn’t obvious enough, reading is a huge part of my life.

The most important part of translation, in my opinion, is to convey the emotion. It’s more important to preserve what the author wants to convey, rather than to stick rigidly to word for word translation. As Maya Angelou said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I find this statement true because no matter how many books I’ve read, I’ll always remember the ones which evoke the most emotions in me.

With the advent of technology, texts and documents can be translated from one language to another with the click of a mouse. Easy-peasy, and with very little to no effort at all, since translation softwares do all the work and at very incredible speeds. I see this in a positive light because people who speak minor languages are given the power to voice out opinions and be read by a wider audience through the world wide web – all in just a few clicks! This is where translation softwares such as Smartling comes in! What's even amazing is that Smartling isn't only for translating documents. It can also be used to to support website translation, a tool for app localization, or a translation management system for business documents and other enterprise translation projects.

Personally, English isn’t my first language. It’s my third or fourth. My primary language is Karay-a, which is a language spoken by only a fraction of the population in the Philippines. My second language is Tagalog, which is the national language in the Philippines. I was told that by six or seven years old and despite not having any formal education in speaking Tagalog, I was already fluent in it. This was largely thanks to local children’s shows on TV which dominated my attention and time at that age. I also speak Hiligaynon, which is a regional language here in the Philippines. And then of course, there’s English, which is the medium of instruction in schools and universities.

I’d like to think that it’s not that obvious that I’m not a native English speaker, but that’s just me.

[Feature] I Published a Novellete on a Whim

Title: She Caught Me
Author: DR Lee
Publisher: DR Lee
Date Published: June 6, 2013
Genre: Chick-Lit, Young-Adult

Links:
Goodreads
Amazon





Book Info:

Novellete; 10,400 words 

Melissa Castillo has had enough of hiding her feelings for her best friend Samuel Torres. They've been best friends for far too long, and she has been in love with him ever since forever! It also doesn't help that Sam is a big tease. He always drops an innuendo or two when they're together, but doesn't really act on it. 

Now that College graduation is just around the corner, Melissa finally convinced herself to push her inhibitions aside. She hatches a plan to reveal everything she felt for him without actually telling him!

 - x o O o x - 

About the Author

D. R. Lee (me~!) is the pen name of a law student hailing from the Philippines. Outside of her academic endeavor, she does writing, painting, and a whole lot of reading. On a perfect day, she talks with the people inside her head and tells their stories through printed words. You can reach her via email: drlee.peacelovebacon@gmail.com

- x o O o x - 

I had the idea for this novellete since high school. I originally wrote the story on a scraggly-looking notebook, and allowed my friends and classmates to read it. I also published the same story online as a fanfic, then as an original novellete under a different pen name. It even won as Fic of The Year 2011 under the Short Story category in an online forum (which I shall not mention).

On a cold morning, last June 6, 2013, I woke up at 4 AM and was unable to go back to sleep. It was the crack of dawn and I have nothing to do. Admittedly, I do lots of impulsive things when I'm bored (such as publishing on a whim).

Out of boredom, I clicked on Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (where I had an inactive account) and did a little research about e-publishing. I also researched about Smashwords (another e-publishing platform), and compared the two.

Ultimately, I decided to go with KDP because of the ease and speed with which I can publish.

That same morning, I whipped out my very basic photoshopping skills to conjure a simple book cover out of scratch. I also formatted my complete manuscript and uploaded it on KDP. After tweaking a few more settings, my manuscript was set for review. A day later, it was available on Amazon.

Truth is, this publishing on a whim is nothing but an experiment. I'm starting with baby steps here.

I don't really hope to earn a dime out of the novellete I published. Come on, it's just 10,400 words, and since the minimum price on KDP was $0.99, I was forced to have it priced accordingly. Personally, I would have given it for free.

So far, She Caught Me is solely available in mobi format from Amazon for $0.99, but I'm thinking of giving it away in PDF and Epub formats for free in exchange for a review.

For now though, my next step is to facilitate my Goodreads Author page so that I can interact with readers and promote my novellete.

Today, a novellete; tomorrow, a bestseller!

[Feature] Yes, I'm Writing a Contemporary Romance Novella

Earlier this year, I signed up for an online writing class organized by Filipino author Mina V. Esguerra (Fairy Tale Fail, Love Your Frenemies, Interim Goddess of Love). Aside from a few meet-ups in Manila, the class was mostly held online through a Facebook Group and through Emails, which was ideal for me because I live all the way in Iloilo City.

The objective of the class are as follows:

1. The goal is to FINISH writing a contemporary romance novella of about 30,000 words.
2. The course is free, with monthly assignments and meetups, but everything else will be online.
3. Open to Philippine residents (those far from Manila can participate online and skip the meetups).
4. Online component will be via a closed Facebook Group called "Yes I'm Writing a Contemporary Romance Novella".

There were about a hundred participants in total, but so far, only twelve has successfully submitted a finished manuscript before today. (Today, June 9, 2013, is the deadline for finished manuscripts, by the way.)

I was able to submit Assignment Number One without a hitch, since it mostly entailed roughly describing our ideas for our novellas. By Assignment Number Two, I was stumped because it required hours of thinking, planning and even fleshing out exact details to write about. 

I was able to complete about half of Assignment Number Two, but was soon kidnapped by my academic endeavors. I'm in law school, and I wasn't able to meet the deadline for Assignment Number Two because of my exams. Then came Assignment Number Three which coincided with my finals and deadlines for papers and school projects. It was at this point that I decided to write at my own pace. 

Did I give up in class? Yes, painfully so. Did I give up in writing? Hell, no. Let's just say that I took a much-needed pause from writing.

I was a constant lurker in the Facebook Group. =) The participants were all friendly and supportive of one another. I guess it's because we all share a love for writing and because we all want to be published someday.

Aside from the assignments, Miss Mina V. Esguerra was also gracious enough to share random tips for writing. She also shared her work process and was patient enough to handle all our submissions. I also really appreciate that she shared her own experiences when she ventured into online e-publishing and its costs, which was something most of us wanted to try out for ourselves.

Miss Mina also confronted us with questions that we didn't think we'd ask ourselves, such as: What are your goals in writing? Do you want to be picked up by a local publisher? Do you want to self-publish? Do you want to make writing as your main job?

Personally, I wish to be published locally someday, then I want to try out online self-publishing for the international market. I don't really aim for writing to be my number one source of income or be my number one job because writing has always been something I do for fun or to release stress. Let's just say that writing is a creative outlet for me. If I could earn from writing as a hobby, then that would be really awesome.

Today, June 9, 2013, is the deadline for the finished manuscripts and the day the class finally comes to an end. (The Facebook Group will live on, though. Hee.)

Do I have a finished manuscript? No. 

Did I learn a lot from the class? Definitely.

Despite failing spectacularly in class, I'm looking forward to reading the finished novellas by my classmates. It would be awesome to feature more local authors and their works in my book blog. *hint* *hint* *nudge* *nudge*