Oh, what a magical day it was. It was as if the different worlds I lived in collided together into a single afternoon of wonder.
The Philippine launch of my debut graphic novel, Squalo & Mage vs. the Rage of the Bakunawa took place at the flagship store of my favorite bookshop, Fully Booked, in Bonifacio High Street last June 20th. It was the dream.
My book was on every floor of the store. The ground floor across customer service, next to the table of Heated Rivalry books (too funny to me, to be honest, because in one way or another, I get to be in close proximity to my loves Hudson Williams and François Arnaud). Then, taking the elevator up to the third floor, there’s another table with my books beside a huge event poster just outside the entrance to The Studio. All good and normal, right? Yep, until we go down to the second floor.
Over at the children’s area on the second floor, HarperCollins sponsored this giant Squalo & Mage lightbox, setting the area in a lovely purple light. The thing is huge! I couldn’t stop staring at it. Seeing that lightbox solidified it all for me—this is actually happening! 6-year-old Kara would totally be flipping out right now.
After taking photos with the lightbox, some friends came to join me in the holding room. My work bestie, Camille, was in publicist mode, checking on me and giving updates. One of my besties from the book world, Kate, swung by, and I reintroduced them (forgetting that they’d already met before). It was weird seeing them in the same room together, because these two ladies are my best friends from two different worlds. I had to take a photo. Moments later, my fellow emo and host for the launch, Carla, arrived with her roommate, Monica. Then I overheard Kate and Monica recognize each other from a cat rescue program, and that Kate and Carla went to the same school. Small world!
“There are people upstairs na,” Kate told me. Her husband, Derick, had already gone upstairs to save them seats, while she hung back in the holding room with me. There are people upstairs na. Those words kept ringing in my head as I got my makeup done by the fabulous Inang Maria. For a typically neurotic person, I realized I was relatively calm. I wasn’t trembling with nervousness. I wasn’t overthinking what-if situations. I was just present. And I gotta say, being in that state of mind was kinda nice. The only things that bummed me out that morning were the few dozen apologies from friends who wouldn’t be able to make it to the book launch. A hitch I anticipated. A hitch Camille told me not to worry about. I was fine.
Being on the opposite end of an interview felt weird. At that point, I had done countless interviews as a music journalist, but being the interviewee is still a little odd to me. After each interview, I’d glance over to Camille for reassurance that I did okay, and she’d give me a confident nod. Once we wrapped up, we headed back upstairs.
Rob (who helped me find the color palette you see in the book), stood outside The Studio with me for a bit, asking how I was doing and reassuring me that everything would be great. I took his words to heart as I walked down the steps of The Studio, spotting members of the audience, each wielding their very own balloon battle-axe just like Squalo. The staff miked me up, and I hid behind the stairs—a faux backstage area reminiscent of the places I hung out in back in my music scene days. My friends and I laughed about it because it felt like home.
Our host, Carla, welcomed me to the stage, where we kicked off with a live reading of the prologue and chapter one of my book. I tried doing different voices for each character, since that’s how I talk anyway, but it was a little rough. I was getting a little self-conscious, especially since it felt like it was dragging on for too long. People were listening, though. I heard laughter, and I think that kept me at ease. Carla led the Q&A with questions prepared by Fully Booked and a round with the audience, before we brought up the heat with a quiz on Filipino folklore, music, and the book. Ten lucky winners went home with a Squalo & Mage blind box, and one bald dude with a goatee scored the ultimate prize—a Squalo plush keychain. Everyone lined up afterwards for the book signing at 4:30 p.m., and the tip of my pen touched the last book at 5:52 p.m. That was a lot of books!
I would later learn that 123 people registered for the event, but the actual number of attendees is unknown since a bunch of people who came didn’t (want to) register. Camille told me the number is closer to 150-160. A great turnout! Especially for a venue with a floor capacity of 60 pax. It was quite hot, so I’m grateful people still stuck around.
I was so happy to see all these familiar faces. My family sat in front, supporting me with their love. My nieces, Isla and Luna, were recording the entire event with their gadgets. Friends from high school, college, and my employed era also showed up. My first friend, Mon, who I met in pre-school, was in the audience. Up in the foyer, I spotted my musician friends, who’d dubbed my book launch The Most Wholesome Event Na Puro Band Peeps. A bunch of relatives I hadn’t seen in ages were sitting on the stairs. In the crowd, I spotted friends I met in the art market world and the book world. It really was a full house! All my different worlds under one roof.
At one point, I even heard friends reuniting and catching up for the first time in ages. It wasn’t just my different worlds colliding. Their worlds did too, and we’re all beautifully revolving around each other.
The world of Squalo & Mage is called Mundo, which literally means “world” in Tagalog. Besides the direct translation, I named it Mundo after the IV Of Spades song (there’s another easter egg for you). This is my Mundo, and I’m so thankful that you’re all a part of it.
