Authorial Magazine - Manila Edition
The Manila International Book Fair is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The book fair, one of the biggest, most prestigious, and longest running events in the Philippines, is a great avenue amongst professionals in the publishing and academic world to collaborate and exchange ideas. It’s our first time to participate in this event and rally with literary giants and emerging voices from the world of books. In this issue, we start off with Virginia Paulette C. Hammack, author of the books The Hiding Place and Whisperings in the Wings. Hammack talks about her life, her two books, and her struggles as a writer. We also talked to Raju Ramanathan, world renowned enlightenment guru and author of Souls from Mercury. Ramanathan shares what inspired him to write and offers advice to aspiring authors. We still receive and get tons of contributions from talented and renowned writers, and in this issue, we’re featuring the works of Adriana Pernetz, Ted Torgersen, Donald Ray Schwartz, Gary Alan Rothhaar, Ivor Kovac, Diane Davies, and Elizabeth Len Wai. Lastly, beautiful spots and fascinating experiences await beyond the bright lights of the city when you read “The Charming City of Manila,” in our lifestyle section. We all love stories that resonate with our own, especially those that bring us to greater heights in mood and in thought. We hope you’ll enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed piecing it together.
The Manila International Book Fair is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The book fair, one of the biggest, most prestigious, and longest running events in the Philippines, is a great avenue amongst professionals in the publishing and academic world to collaborate and exchange ideas.
It’s our first time to participate in this event and rally with literary giants and emerging voices from the world of books. In this issue, we start off with Virginia Paulette C. Hammack, author of the books The Hiding Place and Whisperings in the Wings. Hammack talks about her life, her two books, and her struggles as a writer.
We also talked to Raju Ramanathan, world renowned enlightenment guru and author of Souls from Mercury. Ramanathan shares what inspired him to write and offers advice to aspiring authors.
We still receive and get tons of contributions from talented and renowned writers, and in this issue, we’re featuring the works of Adriana Pernetz, Ted Torgersen, Donald Ray Schwartz, Gary Alan Rothhaar, Ivor Kovac, Diane Davies, and Elizabeth Len Wai.
Lastly, beautiful spots and fascinating experiences await beyond the bright lights of the city when you read “The Charming City of Manila,” in our lifestyle section.
We all love stories that resonate with our own, especially those that bring us to greater heights in mood and in thought. We hope you’ll enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed piecing it together.
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He assured us that we would have<br />
plenty of time to make the flight.<br />
Feeling confident, we headed off to find<br />
some dinner.<br />
6:00 P.M. Mustard Seed BBQ caught our<br />
attention. We ordered drinks and dinner<br />
and began to relax for the first time<br />
thinking we were all set and on our way<br />
home. Then the iPhone began to ding<br />
with messages:<br />
“Ding” - Flight 5212 to Charlotte<br />
delayed to 8:30 P.M.<br />
“Ding” - Flight 5212 to Charlotte<br />
delayed to 9:04 P.M.<br />
“Ding” - Due to delay, you may<br />
miss your connecting flight to<br />
Minneapolis<br />
“Ding” - Flight 5212 to<br />
Charlotte canceled.<br />
“Ding” – Due to cancelation of<br />
Flight 5212 to Charlotte you will<br />
miss your flight to Minneapolis. We<br />
are trying to reroute you. Stay tuned<br />
for more information.<br />
Choking down our dinner, we headed<br />
back to Gate D23 to find the line to<br />
speak with an agent at least 20 people<br />
long if not longer. We asked where<br />
customer service was located and were<br />
told that we were looking at it. By<br />
now 5 more people have joined the<br />
line. An airline agent handed out cards<br />
instructing us to call customer service<br />
to get help before we got to the counter<br />
as that would speed up everything for<br />
everyone. Right!?!?!<br />
We called the number and the agent,<br />
after what seemed like forever, came<br />
back on the phone and told us to stay in<br />
line and request a hotel voucher when<br />
we got to the desk and have the agent<br />
arrange flights for us in the morning.<br />
The airplane loading at the gate right<br />
then was heading to Charlotte. We had<br />
been told earlier that it was already over<br />
booked. At that point the desk agent<br />
announced that if you are heading to<br />
Chicago, the next departure at that gate<br />
after the Charlotte flight left, please step<br />
aside and let the Charlotte passengers<br />
ahead of you in line. Now we are 6<br />
people waiting in line rather than 20.<br />
After what seemed like forever, it was<br />
finally our turn with the agent. Believe<br />
it not, it was the same agent that we<br />
had talked with earlier who had assured<br />
us that we would make our flight out<br />
of Charlotte to Minneapolis with no<br />
problem. We approached and told him<br />
we needed a hotel voucher and flights<br />
in the morning. He just smiled and<br />
said, “Ladies, I’ll get you home tonight!”<br />
The next thing we knew, he handed us<br />
boarding passes for the Charlotte flight<br />
leaving immediately. After much thanks,<br />
we walked right on to the plane, the<br />
doors closed and we were headed to<br />
Charlotte with plenty of time to make<br />
our connecting flight to Minneapolis.<br />
“What just happened?” We decided it<br />
must have been our good looks, clean<br />
living, old age? For whatever reason,<br />
we were where we needed to be and on<br />
our way home.<br />
10:00 P.M. Landed in Charlotte. Found our<br />
concourse and gate as well as frozen<br />
yogurt with fresh fruit and had<br />
time to spare.<br />
10:44 P.M. Left Charlotte on time for Minneapolis.<br />
July 14, 2019<br />
12:20 A.M. Landed in Minneapolis. Picked up our<br />
luggage at the Intercontinental Hotel.<br />
I retrieved my car out of Valet Parking<br />
and headed home. Exhausted but so<br />
happy to have completed the interview<br />
and the trip!<br />
AUTHORS PRESS<br />
authorial magazine | 31<br />
We packed a lot into those twenty-two<br />
hours. By the time I drove home and<br />
crawled into bed, it was twenty-four<br />
hours from that first wake-up call. I have<br />
to say I’m too old to ever try that again!<br />
But it certainly was a fun and exciting<br />
adventure! Now I hope the interview<br />
was successful. Time will tell!
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