Category: News

Q & A with Vikas Swarup

I was glad to have caught the Vikas Swarup book signing last week at National Book Store Glorietta 5, even though I had to sit through an hour of horrible traffic just to get there.

I saw Slumdog Millionaire when it was released and I enjoyed it, but I hadn’t gotten the chance to read the novel Q & A, on which the movie was based. But I enjoy meeting authors and talking to them, so I really wanted to interview Mr, Swarup. I was worried because he was scheduled for dinner over at the neighboring city, so I was glad he obliged when I ambushed him for an interview over cocktails (ooh, samosas and kebabs, and it was almost as if I could hear Jai Ho! in the background)!

Read on for an exclusive Q & A with Vikas Swarup!

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Constant Vigilance!

In the spirit of Harry Potter and my ongoing giveaway, I’d like to get this story off my chest, because I’ve been bothered by this for a couple of days now.

I hit major panic mode the other day when I was tagged in a Facebook photo (yup, the one at the top of this post) to bid on a signed copy of a deluxe edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I must confess that all rationality fled and fangirl mode kicked in — the starting bid was only P700 and the highest bid so far was P850. I plunked down a P900 bid without a clue of the bid mechanics or the details of the item I was bidding for.

The guy (not a friend, but I was tagged by a common friend) was apparently moving out of his apartment and getting rid of some books. I thought, great, a guy who doesn’t know how much a signed Harry Potter book goes for.

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Insert coin: it’s Pac-Man!

I’ve really been enjoying my 18-month Moleskine planner. I used to run through planners sporadically, but in the past months I’ve been using my planner to map out my blogging schedule (more than anything else, but there’s also work, and my reading list, and book club activities), and it’s really been a big help in reaching my blogging targets.

I’ve been sprucing it up to make my work week more interesting so it’s quite an explosion of color these days. I even have special pens for the planner — Dong-A playon color pens, with a pen tip and marker tip at either end, because the ink is the perfect consistency for Moleskine paper (no blots!).

The doodles have been overtaking my planner, and I thought it was about time I had another Moleskine just for doodling!

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You Are What You Read!

Scholastic is celebrating its 90th anniversary with the campaign “Read Everyday, Lead a Better Life,” which underscores the importance of reading as a pathway to success. Big names have gotten in on the action already — Sarah Jessica Parker, Whoopi Goldberg, and Taylor Swift are all part of the campaign!

Part of this campaign is the new social networking site for book lovers, You Are What You Read, and I’ve been meaning to try it out all week, but everything’s been such a flurry this week that I only had time to do it tonight. I must say, I’ve been enjoying it for over an hour already, and I haven’t even explored all of the site yet!

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Halloween 2010 (Nearly Headless Nick’s 518th Deathday Party)

I just got back from a Halloween weekend spent out of town; my cousins and I had a blast at this year’s Halloween extravaganza. I have two more Halloween reads to blog about — Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino and Sabriel by Garth Nix, but I’ll save that for another post and tell you about the Superhero costume Halloween party.

It was my cousin Chickoy’s birthday celebration, and Dianne and I were eager for another party planning opportunity, so we decided to take on the Halloween party, which doubled as our celebration of Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington (aka Nearly Headless Nick)’s Deathday Party.

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