I enjoyed the opportunity to meet a writer who more than just writes historical fiction, she has a whole other life of her own.
Fully Booked has its very first major author event for 2024 and it was also free to attend so I jumped on to this opportunity to meet a new author and discover not only what they write about but also how Filipino bookworms react to seeing that author and the energy that these writers share whenever they are out of the writing cave.
The first writer to visit Fully Booked for a major event this year was also an international writer. Ruta Sepetys is well known for writing powerful historical fiction with some of her most popular titles including among others, Between Shades of Grey, Out Of The Easy, I Must Betray You, and Salt To The Sea. Many of her stories deal with many aspects of some of the worst atrocities in human history but it also gives readers a wholesome human aspect that is filled with the power of a love for humanity and a hope for the future generation.
For Ruta, writing historical fiction is not as very easy as what most people think in terms of how much research you have to make in order to make a historically-based story immersive. She has to do even more in order to delve into the scale of the event or the time period. She has to go to many different countries and interviews all kinds of people. For Salt To The Sea which centers around those repressed under the Lithuanian military government, she had to conduct interviews with many of those victims across many platforms. Her visit here to the Philippines not only was to promote her books and meet readers here, but she also as part of an extensive research project for a future novel she is writing about people with leprosy around the world and their many struggles.
The energy Ruta had at the event was very electric and it lit up the entire room filled by some book clubs who came as groups as a show of support for the books. Every minute of the conversation was filled with many great ideas and pearls of wisdom. Sure, writing historical fiction can be a very tough job, especially for people like me who are moved by strong emotions. Her secrets to living a good life despite most of her time living in her writing cave were shared with us the audience, such as listening to some instrumental music or taking some time out in nature were captivating for most of us.
As you can see here, going to these author events are a totally fun experience especially if you want to meet new writers and explore some new book recs, it also gives you a chance to see them in a completely different way. Sometimes you get to see them share some lighthearted stories and have fun with the audience even before the event. The photo you see on top of this post was taken while going around the store. I had a really sweet small conversation with her in which I introduced her to some of the books from the podcasters I loved. She was very delighted that I introduced her to them and had a bit of a nice talk.
I hope you get to experience some events like this in 2024, especially with the Philippine Book Festival is coming up. It is a wonderful chance to meet authors both local and international as well as to discover some great Pinoy reads. It will be happening in April, follow the National Book Development Board - Philippines on their social media channels for more details and announcements. Also follow Fully Booked on social medias for more future author events and how you can join.
