"Pa, what makes the sky blue?" I was looking up at it from the car window while we whizzed past the things underneath it. "Depth, like the ocean. Infinity," was Papa's answer. When Papa was a young farmhand, he would gaze with awe at the heavens while lying on the flat of a huge boulder... Continue Reading →
Some people find it uncomfortable to share personal stories. One, they value their privacy and prefer to keep most things close to their chest. Two, they don't want to look like a fame-chaser or a narcissist. Three, why should people care? Some people don't feel important enough to be heard. All of us are, in... Continue Reading →
Muse is unpredictable. It comes and goes as it pleases, and you're most unfortunate if it does in the wrong time--comes in the shower, in an ungodly hour, or in the car while you can't stop to pen an idea; then leaves at the precise time your laptop opens to MS Word, once you hold... Continue Reading →
Do you believe that you are a natural storyteller? "Human beings are embedded in their stories," Jason Silva of Shots of Awe said, "The human race--who we are--is a story. We are a narrative. Mind is a narrative." Every day, your mind runs with words. The world breathes with information. Wherever you look, you see... Continue Reading →
You've probably noticed the surge of aspiring authors around the world in the recent years. Since the virtual world constantly prompts people to express themselves--What's on your mind? on Facebook, What's happening? on Twitter, Write a caption on Instagram, and Write a post on blogs--the tendency to develop a love for words has become almost... Continue Reading →
You are probably aware of memoir's dark reputation in literature. For a long time--stretching to today--the mind of some readers and non-readers has been tainted by stereotypical beliefs such as: "Memoirs are written by narcissists.""Memoirs tell really sad, ugly, traumatizing stories.""There are obscene and illegal truths exposed in memoirs."Although the ditto beliefs may be true... Continue Reading →
It feels like an impossible task to write good stuff when you're mad, sad, or tomorrow's concerns eat you away. "No good fruit comes out of a bad tree," the Big Book says. Sometimes, you force the words out of you, not minding if you're being hypocrite at the moment. "They won't notice it, anyway,"... Continue Reading →
It's easy to define freedom when you're confined to the same four walls for more than a month. You think of freedom, and you think of opening the cage's door and soaring in the sky. You think of freedom, and you think of not being hindered to do what you want. Being free is easily... Continue Reading →
This has been my routine when entering a bookstore: I walk straight to the Biography section, linger there for less than an hour or two. I then amble along the Fiction Section and allow myself to be awed by Stephen King, Agatha Christie, John Grisham and more authors whose books occupy big spaces in the... Continue Reading →
March 7, dawn. News about an NCOV-infected Deloitte employee in BGC came online. My morning and afternoon small group discussions were cancelled. Weeks back, Ate Fel booked us tickets for a theatre play called Joseph the Dreamer, and we chose to see it on March 7. "Ticket World said no advice from the promoters yet.... Continue Reading →
Elaine Marie Factor 