Bookworms unite! National Bookstore's done it again as they bring New York Times Bestselling Author E. Lockhart to our local shores for a special book signing event.
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| Look at all those stacks of fresh books. Don't you just wanna smell the pages? |
Emily Lockhart is the best-selling author of We Were Liars, a rich suspense novel about an affluent New England family and the secrets that they hide. It's a crazy good read that keeps you guessing...guessing...guessing....until in the end it just drives you nuts and leaves you with a book hangover that lasts for days. If you ask me how it ends, I'll just lie. ;)
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| Where everyone at? |
We arrived at National Bookstore at around 12. Think that's early? Think again. Hardcore fans have been waiting since the mall opened.
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| Our copies of We Were Liars and A Treasure Map of Boys, one of the Ruby Oliver novels patiently wait to be signed. |
E. Lockhart is an author of a total of 35 books, including the Ruby Oliver series and other stories. I'm relatively new to her works so I've yet to see how the others go. But if any of them are as good as We Were Liars, they must be pretty fantastic.
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| OTSP Cebu has some really rad shirts |
I went with my sister Karling, who is a proud member of On The Same Page Cebu , a group of booklovers from all around the city. These kids are present at every book signing event and have specially printed shirts for almost every author who visits town. Join their group right here. You might find the best bibliophile friends you never thought you'd have. *wink*
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| Sometimes I try to read the book again just to see if the ending changes somehow. LOL. |
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| The crowd goes wild! |
The long wait is over! The crowd cheers as Emily arrives onstage along with National Bookstore execs. Some kids held up inked arms like how the characters did in the book to the delight of everyone. Emily talked about her inspiration for the book, her other works and her experiences in the Philippines. She says that she's not much of a traveler and was pleasantly surprised when she got invited for a book signing all the way here in Asia. She had so many funny and amusing stories behind her works. My favorite was about how a ferry ride to her grandparents' house inspired her to come up with the backbone for We Were Liars. So simple.
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| Emily answers some questions. Check out that cool ink on her arm! |
She also had insights for aspiring writers. She's the kind of writer who can look into the eyes of writers' block and spit on its shoes. Ha! That might be an exaggeration but she did say that she didn't believe in writers block. That, instead, you had to try and push yourself to write. And that if you were planning to write The Next Great Novel to change the world, all you can come up with with that mindset is a blank page. You're gonna have to write drafts upon drafts of painfully awful stories and imperfect words until you come up with something wonderful. Can she be any more badass?
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| "Thanks for waiting!" I finally get to meet Emily. In the flesh! |
Meeting authors in the flesh is living proof that there's hope for struggling writers, even in a developing country like ours. To have them recognize that there are readers here is just heartwarming. Every time I go to a book signing event I always think, "Hey if they can do it, who's to say a Filipino can't do the same?" Events like these are so inspiring!
Last year we went to see Stephanie Perkins of the wonderful Anna and the French Kiss novels. I can't wait for the next book signing event! Will it be John Green? Rainbow Rowell? We'll find out!
We Were Liars and other works by E. Lockhart is available in all National Bookstore branches. :)
Tell me what you think! Leave a comment and be my friend!
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