on writing

When I was in high school, I told everyone that my dream was to become a Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Big deal. Most of my classmates have not even heard of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. My grandmother was outraged and told me that writers die of hunger, and I should be a lawyer instead.

And since my parents would be the ones to pay tuition, I obediently took up Psychology in college.

But I wrote. I still think that some of my best stories and poems were written when I was in high school. True, most of them were influenced by Mills & Boon love stories, but I also read Gabriel Garcia Marquez when I was 14.

And so time and fate interfered, and my forays into writing were little adventures, depending on who I read: The Guardian was done after I read Pet Sematary. I wrote less poetry as I grew older, and the stories matured. I also got married and had children, and by that time I was keeping my diaries in the computer. I also blogged. :-)

But I kept them all hidden. I wrote for my own pleasure, and very few people knew about them.

Then last year, I came across an article written by Butch Dalisay in Philippine Star, about 'Writing for Others' (see http://www.penmanila.net/). I wrote him an email and he wrote back. He inspired me to submit what I wrote. He said that the real recognition would come from my readers.

My submission was for Reader's Digest's My Story section.  I got the surprise of my life when it was accepted.  I bet Butch Dalisay won't be surprised.

On Monday, I went to National Bookstore to get the November issue of Reader's Digest. My story, 'The Grand in Grandmother,' is in page 11.

And yes, I bought five copies for posterity's sake.