All 100 copies of my book Stories of Pinoy Atheists are gone.
Some were sold, some were sent to Bookstagrammers, and some were (rightly and ceremoniously) given to the contributors whose stories appear in the book.
I feel released. I’m compelled to move on.
It took me a while to say it, but I’m now writing my second book. As in, I have an active WIP (work-in-progress).
In my Easter 2024 blog post, I talked about four possible projects. At first, I was set on doing a collection of Chinoy mental health stories, following the same format as Stories of Pinoy Atheists. I also considered creating the Archetype Discovery Deck, a psychological tool to support my work as a psychotherapist.
Scratch that. Life happened. Maybe those can wait until a few more things unfold.
There were lessons I had to learn as a first-time author. Now that I have a clearer sense of what the market responds to, I’m ready to change tempo.
Yes, it’s true, your environment shapes you. Becoming a published author has transmuted me—I’m taking Paulo Coelho’s advice in The Alchemist. He writes, and I paraphrase: tap into your heart, decipher the omens, and speak to the interconnectedness of the universe.
What’s hot right now is Young Adult (YA) books. I’m thinking of doing a raw, YA-style memoir—something along the lines of Brent Runyon’s The Burn Journals. Or even fiction-style nonfiction, like We Are Okay by Nina LaCour or How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow. These books read like emotionally exposed, unfiltered teenage diaries. Somebody’s gonna end up in tears after that.
Whatever the end product is, I am staying true to my creed: it’s nonfiction. My current read is Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women—quite a revelation, actually, that a nonfiction book can read like a fiction book. But this is something I already know after finishing my memoir specialization course from Wesleyan University X Coursera.
So, what do you think? Do I have the chops to write this thing? Am I being unrealistic, taking this on while beginning my PhD?
Or maybe I’m just being true to my Extreme Gemini status—one hand (the right) chasing structure, the other (the left) reaching for artistic pursuits.
I mean, look—if Lisa Taddeo took eight years to write her masterpiece, then surely I can be just as generous to myself. We’re both women, we both have desires, and these desires will find their way to the page.
Let the creatrix in me live! She’s got something to say and release to the world. Something just as precious and real and legit.
The featured image on this blog was AI-generated by me using free tools, namely ChatGPT, Canva, and Leonardo AI. I use these images to support my written content creatively and cost-effectively.
