Rocket Kapre – Fantastic Filipino Speculative Fiction

Since I’m giving a talk tomorrow at Adamson University, I thought it might be a good time to finally post this. Last October 15, 2010, I was invited to be one of the resource speakers at the Real People Write symposium at the Ateneo de Manila High School. The symposium is held during Communication Arts Month, and different Filipino writers are invited to deliver a talk to Third Year High School Students in order to “expose students to Filipino writers from different genres, and help foster in students both an appreciation for the art of writing and a love for reading”. With the help of fellow speaker Carljoe Javier, I was able to take a video of my talk (more an audio file than a video file though – my recorder isn’t equipped for low light), which I finally got around to posting today, for the benefit of anyone who wants to hear me ramble about why I write, why I love spec fic, and my four tips to help new writers keep away from the one unpardonable sin: giving up.

It was an interesting experience. all in all. High school boys can be a tough crowd for any speaker, but I don’t think anyone walked out, so I don’t think I was a complete waste of their time @_@ During the open forum (not recorded), most seemed more concerned about the admittedly lousy picture I painted of law firm life… I’m not quite sure if I should hope I didn’t dull the enthusiasm of budding legal eagles, or hope I did. Ah well…

Thanks to the good people of the Ateneo High School English Faculty, particularly Katz Navarrete, for inviting me (and to Mia Tijam and Joey Nacino for suggesting me).

[Image from 101ReasonsToStopWriting, no rights claimed]