Can you take us on a journey through the “writer’s room” of your mind? What’s it like in there?

My mind is a room of constant motion—ideas overlap, storylines twist, and new characters emerge from the chaos. At times it’s nothing short of peaceful, like a quiet library where I can hear only my own thoughts, but more often than not, it’s alive and everything is just messy, and all over the place where characters seem like rolling on my bed like kids, bugging me until I write about them and all of their thoughts.

What’s the most unexpected place or situation where you’ve found inspiration for your writing?

Ideas and inspiration come to me in random moments and situations—while in the bathroom, on the elevator, during the ride home, at midnight, idling on my bedroom floor, browsing the internet, in the middle of a dreary Monday, walking down the street, or on a bus headed somewhere. Ideas just pop into my mind. I’ve actually gotten used to it, and so has my note app. Strangely, there are days when nothing comes to mind—it’s as if ideas are as rare as raindrops on a summer day. Sometimes, I even feel the need to go somewhere just to feel something.

Share a “writer’s secret” with us—a quirky habit or ritual you have while writing that you’ve never told anyone about.

Since college, a quirky habit I have while writing is that I often “talk” through the scene that I’m writing. I would verbalize the exact scenes but in a very quiet, almost whisper-like way. I would read the lines I’m writing in a sort of internal monologue as if I’m acting out the conversations—almost like a private rehearsal before the “audience” (in this case, the reader). It helps me to intensify the emotions and feel if something feels off with the words that I write.

If you could step into the world of one of your stories, which one would it be, and what adventure would you embark on?

I would step into the world of my latest work, The Kapre Chronicles: Heroes Awaken. I would love to join the band of teen Kapre musician and I would immerse myself in their world of hidden identities and battles against dark forces. I imagine how thrilling would it be to embark on an adventure where we travel from town to town, performing at festivals while fighting the dark forces that haunt each place—though this isn’t part of the book. It would also be fascinating to witness the fusion of the supernatural and the human in this world.

If you could co-write a book with any author, living or dead, who would it be, and what kind of story would you create together?

If I could co-write a book with any author, it would be a thrilling collaboration with Rick Riordan. His Percy Jackson and the Olympians series captivated me when I was 16. Although Rick Riordan has explored various mythologies, such as Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse, I am utterly excited about the possibility of delving into the rich stories of Philippine mythology with him and learning throughout the process.
Given the richness of Philippine mythology, it would be fascinating to see how we would incorporate figures like Bathala, Diwatas, and the Anito spirits into a modern adventure infused with his signature humor and action-packed style.