Got a story out in a new anthology under the #MitolohiyaPH series of 8Letters, the very productive Philippines-based publisher that also carries my erotic novel of urban myth and lore, “How to Tame Your Tikbalang Without Even Trying.” To say I am thrilled is an understatement. I am basking in…

This is an editorial that was published in the Manila Standard on April 24, 1995, written by Amante Bigornia after a conversation between him, myself, and Cip Roxas in the newsroom in which Amang found out I was Gregorio Anonas Sr.’s granddaughter. Amang had covered Congress as one of his…

I wrote this tl/dr Facebook post three years ago, in the thick of the pandemic lockdowns in the Philippines. It came up in my memories on that social media platform, and I still think this story is worth telling. Night deepens and I remember now one story my mother told…

Saw a post on Twitter where someone was asking how to write a sex scene a few months back. That got me thinking about my process when I write my erotica, and I made a post about this on my Facebook page, which I’ve edited to put up here on…

Writing a novel is not easy, but it is satisfying. In my case, writing my first complete novel — the actual first novel stalled at chapter three in 1998, and I haven’t resumed writing that one yet — was done in whatever stitches of time I could find between my…

Walked the banks Of your river Kids in tow. You walked unseen Beside us. I know. In a cab now, We’re crossing The bridge spanning My river, in the city That is yours As much as mine.

Too old to take life lightly As the sky would take clouds. Not old enough for death, Or to not care whether I live or die. I sometimes still find The lost wonder of My toddler years when Everything was bigger than me, And gorgeously unfamiliar, Without the need to explore Or put everything in my…

Other people try for youth, Seeking its fountainhead, Chasing it with creaking bones, Grabbing despite the arthritis and gout Handicapping their grips. Others are afraid of time’s march, Seek to avoid confrontation with The inevitable pull of gravity, The fading of locks to translucence, The fireworks of veins beneath skin That each year makes even…

Inflation here in the Philippines is cramping my business style. But I’m going to do business anyway. So there. First off, getting the quality of meat my bacon-wrapped meatloaves and meatloaf balls with cheese are known for is difficult, and finding a steady supply of said meat is even more…