The Wheel and Axle

Yesterday, I and fellow Library Undergrounders Deo and Roni (now also christened “Bibliophibians” by Jessica Z.) went to the 2017 Philippine Readers and Writers Festival in Raffles, Makati. Originally, my plan for the weekend had been to go to the 2017 Asia Pop Comicon; however, given that my interest in that event plummeted due to a tepid guest list that I wasn’t really eager to see, it was an easy choice to switch to the literature festival instead.

Jessica had invited us to attend the Q&A session she was hosting for award-winning author Mark Z. Danielewski, who wrote such best-sellers as House of Leaves, Only Revolutions, The Fifty Year Sword, and the (planned) 27-book series The Familiar, four of which have been released and the fifth coming out this October.

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Sometimes, I can’t believe it’s been over three years since that first writing workshop by Jessica Zafra. I was lucky to be part of that first batch, and not only did I learn a lot (and finish the first draft of my first novel), but I made lots of new friends that I still keep in touch with. We still occasionally hang out for coffee, conversations about books and more, or just catch up. Some of us formed and still run The Library Underground; although the site is dead (personally, I think a revival is in order), the social media accounts are still alive.

If you think all that’s great and want to see what it’s like to learn from a master slash the dominatrix of the universe, well, you’re in luck! Jessica has run several successful workshops after our batch, and she has another one this July!

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… are definitely hotter.

Today at The Library Underground, I talk about the time I spent with Alexander Dreymon, star of the upcoming Blood Ransom with Anne Curtis and who also matched wits with Patti LuPone herself in last year’s American Horror Story: Coven.

He reads, and he can hold his own against an icon like Patti LuPone (until she shoves a pillow on his face, that is).

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