Super Teen Kapre

 

New Book Alert! Neph XY Emergence of Giants

 The world was not prepared for the monsters that came out of the deep. These monsters resembled the legends of old. The church named these creatures Nephilim. Children ages 7 to 18 started to manifest powers as well. Some could control them, some could not. Those who can control them can fight the monsters. However, those who could not control their powers were lost and became monsters themselves. 

Stanzo de Oro, 17 years old, is searching for his brother. He had led his own squad to fight these monsters but dreams of his brother plagued him. In a rundown train station, he meets Father David, who tells him he is needed for something greater.

This is my first foray into the inspirational genre. Many themes have been taken from The Bible, but I hope you'll forgive some of the interpretations to help the story flow better. I did add a few scriptures. That is because the person who is quoting them is a priest. He wouldn't be a priest without giving scriptures and lessons. 

Although Fr. David is an unusual kind of Catholic Priest, he has been "worn out" by the world. He has foreseen things up to a point. As for the three sisters, although their order had been decimated and nobody knew of them, they are still true to their vows to God, not the Vatican. 

Will we be seeing more of these stories? Yes! I plan to make this a trilogy. Jael might have her own book. All of this is for the future. If Yah will inspire me to create more, I will do so. Shalom!

Buy the book here.

It is available on Amazon in ebook and paperback format.

Below are the Notes on the characters. Images are AI-generated and edited by me.

Stanzo and Tino are both known as the Kapre Twins. They can grow into giants. The larger they are, the more calories and energy it takes. They are both plagued by anxiety however it is Stanzo who suffers a bit of depression.

They both manifested their powers at seven years old. A few months later, they were put in a training facility because of their destructive capabilities. They easily graduated from the training and were already working to fight Nephs at 8 years old. By 10 years of age, they were recruited by the Singapore Government? Why not the Philippine Government? Because we don't treat heroes like we should. At 12, Stanzo was assistant team captain and became captain at 14. Tino was recruited by the Chinese government and made assistant captain until he was sold at 17 years of age.

JC manifested his powers at 15 years old. He's always been a hothead. He lived in General Santos City with his Grandmother and cousin. His mother and aunt are both Overseas Filipino Workers. His power is pyrokinesis. At the start of the book, he could only become a ball or burning fire or hurl fire at Nephs. Later, he would be able to use fire to propel himself and others. 

Ada "Engkantada" is 10 at the start of the book. She manifested her powers early at 7. She is small and latches on to people. Her powers are to bind anyone at a place. She manifested this type of power because she was separated from her family during a storm. Her family was never found and she was put in an orphanage. Fr. David found her there and brought her to Samal.

Charity is 7 at the start of the book. She had barely manifested her powers when Stanzo found her. She can stop time for a few seconds. It takes a lot of effort and strength on her part. Cha is a homeless orphan from the streets of Cebu. She couldn't remember any of her family members.

Elijah is 10 at the start of the book. He can travel via dreams and also take people with him. Every night, he walks around everyone's dreams in the orphanage. He can also chase nightmares away and leave happy dreams as he leaves. Most of the time, his dreams can be quite real such that they can hold hands and eat. When he was young, his parents didn't understand his powers. They called a priest to exorcise him. Fortunately, Fr. David knew to come at the exact moment.

Jael is 15 but she manifested at 10. A victim of human trafficking, she jumped to the sea when she saw her chance. She used the waves to bring her to safety. Fr. David found her in a cave. She is one of the first orphans in Samal.

Ryan or Rai is 14. He is a Naga or serpent-being. When he is in Naga form, he has grey scales and looks like a dragon. People were afraid of him and tried to stone him. Fr. David found him and took him to Samal. He hates his Neph form but Stanzo showed him that it can be used for good.

Shelley "Siren" is 12 but is small for a 12-year-old. She and Ada are often seen together. Shelley can use her voice to attack or manipulate. Fr. David knew she'd be a force to reckon with if her powers were not used right. Shelley was mistreated by her parents and she screamed at them to stop but killed them in the process. Fr. David rescued her because nobody wanted to take her.

Sophie "Mangagamot" is also aged 10. She manifested early. Sophie is often silent but very helpful. She often saw her family and friends die in the rural barrios and that ultimately made her manifest her powers. Although too late to save her family, she always wanted to make sure her new family was in tip-top shape. She dips her fingers in the stew pot even if it burns her because she wants the soup to become a healing concoction.

Rafa, Rafael "Panday" is 13 years old. He manifested his powers at age 10. Rafa is practical and resourceful. Anything he touches can be turned into a weapon. Fr. David found him in an orphanage neglected and in a sorry state. He took Rafa along with Sally to Samal.

Sally or Salome is only 10 and manifested at 7. Although she's been in a rundown orphanage since age six. Sally can create illusions. All it takes is a bit of imagination. Her parents are both Overseas Filipino Workers but were killed by Nephs. Nobody could take her in so she was left at a rural orphanage. When first brought to Samal, she couldn't believe the beauty of her new home. She took to the three sisters almost at once. 

Tino or Constantino is a Kapre. Although not as assertive as Stanzo, he is quite content in life. He hated fighting but knew it was necessary to protect the world. He was taken by Baal because they knew his blood could open Leviathan's gate. They threatened him with harming Stanzo if he didn't cooperate. For months, he walked the ocean floors to find Leviathan.

When he was recruited by China, he made a name for himself because he could defeat Nephs very efficiently. Unlike Stanzo, he was not made a team captain because China had team captains already. Also, Tino's command of the Chinese language was not very good which disqualified him from leading. In order for the world not to be suspicious of his disappearance, they told them that Tino turned Neph but Stanzo wouldn't believe it.

Fr. David was one of the first children to manifest powers in 2035. He was already 17 years old. His powers were considered non-combat ability but he still used it to fight Nephs. He knew when one was going to attack a day before the attacks. Later, it refined to longer and longer time. To protect him and give him proper training, his parents entered him into a brutal program made by the Vatican. He later decided to become a priest. When he was 18, people thought he no longer had his powers but he still had visions. It was his vision that told him not to tell anyone but to record everything. He recorded how he got all 12 children of the orphanage. However, his vision stops at the defeat of Baal and Dagon. 

Sticker Design

Hi everyone and Shalom!

These are my sticker designs. Feel free to print for personal use. It is not allowed for selling or use of commercial purposes. I made it to share the love!

 

Vampires, Werewolves, Tamawos

Are you Team Vampire or Team Werewolf?

See which one gives you the tingle! 

For Team Vampire, we have Caleb from Care Package Mate (Amazon) and Brad from Mail Order Vampire (Free on this website). Special mention to Johan and King David. By the way, King David has 3 brothers. Might want to write about his story in the future. King David is often mentioned by the Werewolves as the one who got all the Mythicans or creatures of legend out in the open.

For Team Werewolf, you have many to choose from!!! First, we have Anthony and his team from Moonlight Eclipse (Amazon). I might not write about his team, only in passing, because I am moving on to different characters. Also will be doing a new spinoff, the original one that I was working on.

Markus Simeon and the Urbane Pack will be having their own series which will focus on love and the ups and downs or running a resort in Manila during and after Covid. Care Package Mate will connect to this. Markus must have his book because he was the one to tie them all together. Caleb's book should have been second. Argus Urbane , his book is nearly done, will be the third book while his twin Lyka Urbane will be the fourth. It will tie together with Resto Rescue as Rafe Redmoon's adopted daughter will have a book and will tie into this series in the future. Their stories are already in my vomitorium folder (for lack of a better term) and will be completed in the future.

Team Tamawo consists of loner Dante from Dimensional Eclipse (Amazon). He has kids, lots of them. They will be present in the resort and will no doubt be characters in future books. their focus will no longer be in supernatural and human trafficking. Maybe something else.

So, Tamawos are all about family. They don't do well outside family groups. Francisco has his tiny family unit. He wasn't doing so well. Danter, on the other hand, was doing well. Markus and Wolves' treatment of employees made him feel like a part of a big family so they became his family group. When Markus accepted him as an official pack member, his world became right and he felt so happy. 

Is this really how mythological Tamawos operate? We aren't sure as we cannot interview any. What we know is that they do live in groups and they protect natural real estate. That can be waterfalls, a stream or river, a forest, or a grove.

 

Draft2Digital and New Book!

Guess what?

I have a Draft2Digital account. Well, I had a Smashword account that migrated to Draft2Digital. Many of the books have been retired as I put them on Amazon. 

Today, I uploaded a new book to try out D2D's system. If the book isn't out yet, it will be in a couple days.

Here's the book:

What's the book about?

It is a short story about a creature: half-god, half-monster. He escapes the care of a goddess who traverses the underworld. All he cares about is his twin. 

I wrote this story as an exercise in high school. It was our English class and we were tasked to create our own Greek Mythology because that was the lesson of the day. It slept in my messy desk. I typed it up sometime after college and it slept again in my hard drive. Now, I decided it needed to be shared to the world.

The original title was Apocalypsia but I know there's a movie that came out with the same name so I had to think of a new title. Dis, will herald the goddess' return to the mortal realm.

Go to Maita's Books2Digital Portal.

Write with me! Neph XY Chapter 5

 So, I'm writing a new story!

The title is Neph XY. You'll find out in a sec.

In 2035, creatures called Nephs came out of the sea and started to devastate humanity. Certain children started manifesting powers to defeat them. 

Now, in 2045, Neph attacks are more rampant. It was up to children to defend humanity. Stanzo, an angel-touched 17 year old has to train a bunch of orphans... Along the way, he is wavering. He's not particularly prayerful, but being called by a priest will change you. Having to lead orphans will change you. Fighting for the world will change you.

Free Printable Pages

 I have a new book and I have a few copies to be given away during MIBF. These are limited.

For those who couldn't get a copy, it is free to download and print yourself.

See all the free books here

Need more pages, here are some printables:

Where to Buy Lagimat

 Hello everyone! Lagimat: Tome of Philippine Death Myths is available during MIBF. It is also available on Amazon. MIBF is on Sept. 11-15, SMX MOA.

Links down below:

Buy on Amazon

Free Ticket to the Manila Internationa Book Fair

 MIBF is this Sept 11-15, 2024 at SMX, Mall of Asia.

Here's a free ticket!

The guard at the gate takes it upon entrance so you might want to print a few copies for multiple days.

Young Writers Conference in Davao

 On August 20, 2024, the Book Writers Club (BWC) successfully organized the Young Writers Conference (YWC) at the newly opened Davao City Library, a modern hub in the heart of the durian capital of the Philippines. Under the tagline "Stories for Children, by the Children," the BWC aimed to bring young minds together in a creative space where they could enjoy each other’s company while learning writing techniques from renowned authors and peers alike. Book Writer’s Club is a writing club for children facilitated by Ms. Rhoda Osalvo.

The final workshop of the afternoon was led by Teacher Maita, who captivated the audience with a discussion on using Philippine mythology as a source of inspiration. She introduced the children to various mythological deities and creatures. Then she guided them through a quick exercise: selecting a classic fairy tale and swapping out a character or element with one from Philippine mythology. Of the thirty participants, eleven submitted their creative reimagined stories, which will soon be showcased on Teacher Maita’s website.

The event was widely regarded as a success. Teacher Maita, familiar with some of the parents, took the opportunity to give them a tour of the city, introducing them to the local cuisine.

The Young Writers Conference was a much-talked-about event, with participants and parents alike expressing excitement for a potential return to Davao next year. There is already buzz about expanding the conference to include a larger audience and perhaps introducing inter-school story competitions.

Winners of the workshop with Teacher Maita

Buying books!

The Tale of 1000 Roses

 My article in Sun Star came out. 

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/feature/tale-of-a-thousand-roses

I feel a lot of people will see the Roses in society. It is precisely why I wrote it. There are too many Roses with the same stories. It is a sad society where the woman is under attack. 

The woman is not a costume. Give the woman a chance to bloom!

Why Death Myths?

Many Southeast Asian cultures, including the Philippines, have strong beliefs in an afterlife and the presence of spirits. Filipino mythology and death stories help shape national identity by passing down important cultural values like reverence for one's ancestors and reverence for one's elders.

My fellow writers Jean Karl Gaverza and Mary Louise Lu and I conceptualized Lagimat, A Tome of Philippine Death Myths. It has 61 entries divided into seven chapters. There are Psychopomps, The Ones Who Live Beyond, The Balancers, Sowers of Discord, Witches, Creatures and The Places Beyond.

In doing this project, I realized that although each ethnolinguistic group in our archipelago has distinct beliefs, there are similarities. And the way we view death, is different. It is very different from the Catholic and Christian views. Most of our death myths center around a journey. Many of the psychopomps are boat men, places in the afterlife are towns. Our views on death is not grim. What started a horror made me realize that Filipinos (the original pre-hispanic ones) have a more positive view of death. Perhaps there is a lesson or two to be seen here.

And perhaps, there is a part two to be written...

I've used different scripts in the book. they all say the same thing: Lagimat

How come I didn't use more scripts? Simple: These are the only cultures we have touched in these books (those with scripts, at least).

Pre-order Lagimat and other books for MIBF here: https://forms.gle/vmRP9p1AUp6ALore8