I was young when I realized that I loved to read books but it was during 6th grade when I discovered the joy of reading novels. I remembered dragging my mother at National Bookstore to buy me a copy of Sweet Valley High.
Yeah! I am not embarrass by it. It was the first book series I owned but unfortunately, I didn't last long because the characters from the book went to college and suddenly they weren't no longer appealing to me.
When I was in high school I left my province to study in the Metro. I stayed with my uncle in Sta Rosa, Laguna where my new school was located inside a subdivision. It was a good school to say the least because I met few of my best of friends that I have right now. The thing was, our library didn't own a huge variety of books. We had encyclopedia of course, but most of the covers I saw in the shelves were for children which I wasn't interested in. I longed for novels, stories that made me escaped from the reality by just simply reading.
In college I went to a huge University in Mindanao. From the Metro, I flew back to my province and settled in a city where Xavier University was located which was closer to my hometown. Every weekend, I took a three hours bus-ride to go home to the city of Valencia in Bukidnon. The winding highways of Mindanao and the ranches and pineapple plantations along the way reminded me of how I felt when I read a good novel - sort of in a dream.
College was my rebellious years. It was the most crucial times of my life where I argued about everything. I remember being in one of those benches in front of the chapel with friends arguing about the existence of God, life, sexuality and everything else.
I lived in a boarding house along Capistrano Street and one of my roommates, after our long late night conversation told me about the author name Anne Rice. She told me that majority of Anne Rice's books dealt about topics I was interested in and wanted to talk about. She was older than me so I bet she read variety of authors compared to what I had in my pocket. The next day she left a book on my table with a note written in a yellow post it.
The note said "Prepare to Dream! Enjoy!"
I set aside the note and looked at the book "The Queen of the Damned" written beautifully on the cover by Anne Rice. I smiled with the sheer irony of the note and for the first time in years I felt the tingling of excitement again because of the book I was holding in my hand. I had a feeling that I was in for a great adventure with this book and without any minute waste, I fished my coin purse in my bag and headed to the door with the book toggled under my arm. I hailed for a Tricycle to take me to the nearest coffee-shop.
It was a subtle afternoon as it always was in any town outside the Metro. Even if Cagayan de Oro had been a city for a long time earning the tagged line "City of the Golden Friendship". Still, you could feel the provincial vibes anywhere you turned. The gentleness of the people, even the air hummed a soulful freshness coming from the mountains in Bukidnon or from the ocean on the other side.
The Tricycle stopped in front of the Coffee-shop. I ordered a tea and found a table at the corner of the cafe near the window with a very comfy couch. I sank my ass on the couch and let myself settled in for a minute while my eyes wandered around looking for familiar faces. It was the pre-social media days. People I knew might be busy somewhere else before calling it a day in an early afternoon because most of the drifters inside were people I didn't know.
"I was really in for a treat" I told myself.
I started to read the book. The first few pages caught me right away. Wow! It was the kind of book that I really wanted to read. Anne Rice's writing belongs to the era of where her novel took place. It's just perfect! I fell in love with her words and her way of writing. It made me wanted to forget everything and even the reality of where I was in that particular moment. It actually felt like dreaming. It was the kind of feeling I wanted to feel when I read a book.
Time passed by when your having a an amazing time, let alone reading a book with immortal characters. Time is irrelevant for them. It was already dark outside so I decided to go home. I didn't finish the book in one sitting. I was a slow reader but I considered it as an advantage for the reason that I could stay in that world longer. For weeks I was obsessed with all things Anne Rice, I read articles about her and I went to the local library dreaming that someday I would be able to afford all of her books. I wanted to have a shelf with all of her books in it.
Ten years later I already have that shelf in a small room I rented in the Metro. I followed her on Facebook and I still feel the same excitement I felt the first time I read her book. The effect of her charm never fades in me and I will always be a fan of her work.
I couldn't imagine the books I read when I checked my book list on Goodreads because I already have a lot. Now I am trying my best to write my own novel.
I have to say that Anne Rice is the reason why I wanted to become a writer, although I may not be able to write as good as her but she is my inspiration. Before I write something, I read few chapters of her book to fed my imagination and to open the creative mind as they say. I did finish my own novel and I am now in a journey of finding an agent to represent my manuscript for publishing. I already received rejection as it is inevitable and despite of my effort to condition myself that all the authors who made it to the top had been rejected somehow - dude it still HURT!
But giving up is not an option here. I can't imagine what would the Vampire Marius say if I give up on this dream. I don't want to disappoint those ancient ones.
Xoxo
