To massage his already overgrown ego, here's my exlcusive interview of the Wickedmouth: Unang Putok author, Glentot:
Did you just wake up one day and decided to make a book out of your blog?
Nope! I was approached by my friend Kuya Chingoy, who happens to work at a publishing house, to write a book. Any book, he said, and my choice of theme. He was the very first one to envision a book from me. At first we went through different ideas in our brainstorming sessions that lasted several months. We played at writing fiction, writing folklore, and when these did not work, I pitched the idea of just taking posts from my blog and compiling them. Sir Mots' name as the illustrator came up naturally. This whole period of brainstorming took so long so you can see how gradual the decision making was.
That long, huh? If I haven’t read Wickedmouth the blog, will I appreciate its book version?
Yes you should, but only if you have an open mind, if you enjoy reading about people's misadventures/misfortunes, and if you don't get offended by expletives and vulgarity. This book is not for the sensitive. And of course, it's not for children.
Although the book is a compilation of past posts and new "never-before-posted" stories, we took care to edit these stories to make the book stand on its own. All the previously posted stories have been edited to lose the "blog" feel and convert it to a "book" feel. Some stories were chopped, some were merged. Every line was edited, and some stories were rewritten altogether. It almost felt like writing these old stories for the first time. Of course, the stories appearing on the book have been taken off the blog.
Our goal was not just to appeal to my blog readers, but more especially to non-readers, so that people who have no idea of Wickedmouth.com won't feel excluded when reading the book.
O, s'ya-s'ya. To whom do you NOT dedicate the book?
To my parents, relatives, family. Although I know they are proud of me doing this, they have NO idea what the book is about. As I answer this question, not one of my family members has any idea what the book contains. And though I would give anything to make them happy, this book is not one of those things. It's almost like a confession. At home, I don't curse, I don't speak vulgarities, I don't tell any stories. This book will tell them who I am outside our home. And I can't help but feel how I used to feel as a child, when I got in trouble at school, and had to come home and tell my parents what I did. I feel nervous, guilty, almost ashamed of this book. I hope my whole family doesn't disown me.
Don't worry. I think they already secretly do. What was it that you found most pleasurable in making the book?
The brainstorming sessions with the publisher and Sir Mots. The ideas were free-flowing. There were no "bad" ideas. Every suggestion was accepted and played around with. I felt like I was back in college, planning for a school project. I also liked how after submitting a story, I'd receive a drawing via email. Each drawing was just EXACTLY how I remembered/envisioned the events. And I had goosebumps the first time I saw the cover art. That moment was epic.
Will you let the famous Jesssica Zafra do a review of the book if she sent you the hint?
You have no idea, because I kept this a secret, but I actually tried to get Jessica Zafra to read the manuscript. Our goal was to get her to give a one-liner feedback, a "What the f__k is this?" is fine with me, and we'll put it on the back cover. I have a friend who has permissions to talk to her (LOL) and asked her to read the manuscript. She initially said yes but then stopped responding. I don't have the balls to make a follow up and we didn't make the deadline.
I have a hunch you were turned down... Anyway, the book is entitled Wickedmouth: Unang Putok. Are you trying to convince us all that there will be another book of this kind soon?
Yes, there will be, Kuya Chingoy assured me, but this will of course depend on so many things: reader feedback, sales, and if someone shot me dead. If the first book is a flop, as much as I want to write another, I don't think a series is gonna happen.
For the sake of respecting you as a subject, what has changed in your daily routine now that the book has been made and is now out?
I now check my social media accounts for orders, tags, book reviews first thing in the morning. I get excited when getting positive feedback, knowing that one person paid good money and got its worth. I like how for a few minutes, I have made some reader laugh out loud, and reading about it on my timeline makes all the effort worth it.