Samantha Sotto, author of Before Ever After came to Cibo (Glorietta) in a bright orange dress, a really stylish bob and an energy that matched Juaning’s last July 27. It was her book launch that day and the #Moms had a coffee date with her (Thank you so much Kris for arranging this!)
Sam was enthusiastic and giddy and everyone at the table felt her excitement! I can’t blame her, if I’ve published a book under Random House New York and I’m on the cusp of my global book launch, I’ll be shooting sparks from the tips of my hair to my toes too!
Who’s Samantha Sotto you ask? In a nutshell– Sam’s a mom who parked herself at Starbucks Katipunan because she didn’t want to trek back to Paranaque (wasting gas and toll fare) while her kids were at pre-school class at the Ateneo. Those 3-hour waits bore her first novel — Before Ever After.
Sam’s journey to becoming a published author is awe-inspiring to say the least. She’s never had any formal training but what she has is a wealth of experiences from years of traveling. She drew a lot from her own experiences and credits Google as an important research tool for the book (if you’ve read the book you’d know why!)
She shared so much during the meet-up but I surely learned a lot. My light bulb moment came when I learned how Sam wrote:
She Wrote for Herself – It’s like that cliché “dance like no one is looking, etc” which is true in a lot of ways. Sam wrote for herself and I imagined how wonderfully freeing that must have been.
I remembered how I wrote in my early days of blogging and it was in a voice that has been muffled nowadays. I chalk it up to being more mature and careful – this blog reaches a lot of people daily and with that comes the responsibility of being balanced. My old blog is still alive and my “younger” voice still resonates in that little corner of the world wide web. I do miss my old voice sometimes just because it was so much more fun and forthcoming. I should definitely bring it back.
Sam also said that she treated writing as her vacation. That is such a refreshing perspective and I couldn’t agree with it more. My day job involves a ridiculous amount of technical writing which makes people wonder where do I get the time and the strength to blog? Well there you go folks, I’m on vacation! I have escaped from the land of annual reports and proxy statements and I’m hiding in the land of the DWs!!
I was able to interview Sam too and I’ll post that soon as well as book review of Before Ever After . I was just so pumped up and inspired after meeting Sam in person that I just had to share what I learned right away! (I know I am such a nerd)
Thank you so much Sam! Idol!
Osang says
October 12, 2011 at 6:20 pmhey Neva! how’s her book? 🙂
manilamommy says
October 12, 2011 at 6:38 pmHey O! I love her book 😀 you’ll love it too for sure! i reviewed the book here: manilamommy.com/2011/07/before-ever-after-review/ bili ka na!
Didi says
August 3, 2011 at 6:20 amsana nga. I need to know if copies will also be available here in UAE. Para I can buy my copy here.
trina yap-sotto says
August 2, 2011 at 11:01 pmyes, doing semi ok! hahaha! are you on facebook? e-mail me, i’ll look you up! am katrina sotto on facebook but am not searchable ata…
tikz16 says
August 1, 2011 at 4:50 pmyiii..im excited to read the book. uuhhmm..just curious, why did she say “you can get through anything if you have a chicken” ? hehehe.. thanks!
manilamommy says
August 2, 2011 at 1:06 am@tikz16 – you’ll find out when you read the book 😉
@didi – hi didi!!i know right? sam’s story talaga is inspiring and Before Ever After is a beautiful novel. i hope you get a copy soon!
Didi says
July 31, 2011 at 4:07 amI love this post Neva! There is truth when they say follow your heart and success will follow. I want to grab a copy of the book too. But when I get back to Manila soon.
trina yap-sotto says
July 29, 2011 at 11:06 amneva, as in my weddings at work batch mate neva, is this you?! 😀
hahaha super small world!!!! ano ba yan i didn’t even get to see you in person at the book launch!
manilamommy says
July 29, 2011 at 11:50 am@trina – yes Trina it’s me! haha when i read the acknowledgments in Sam’s book and saw your name and Derek’s , I was like “No Way!!” Small world talaga 😀 Hope you’re doing well!!
erlaine says
July 28, 2011 at 5:09 pmCan’t wait to buy her book too 🙂
manilamommy says
July 29, 2011 at 11:03 amthanks so much tani, jenny, jen, anna 😀 anna and tani go get the book it’s a great read and i agree tani,let’s support a pinoy author and super mom too!
SAM! – thanks so much for dropping by 😀 good luck with your US launch! God speed!
Sam says
July 28, 2011 at 3:56 pmWOW! Thank you for such a kind and wonderful post! It was so great to meet you in person! We should definitely meet up again. You guys were so much fun!!! 😀
Anna says
July 28, 2011 at 3:13 pmShe’s my boss’s wife! Now am curious about the book tuloy!
Jen CC Tan says
July 28, 2011 at 11:12 amNeva! I love this post!
“She Wrote for Herself – It’s like that cliché “dance like no one is looking, etc” which is true in a lot of ways. Sam wrote for herself and I imagined how wonderfully freeing that must have been.”
Soooo true! I think that I am more or less like that — “I will write what I want to write when I want to write” — but sometimes, you gotta sanitize what you gotta sanitize. LOL!
But please, do write like no one is reading. I’m sure it’ll come out very very very heartfelt!
Twas fun hanging out yesterday!
Jenny says
July 28, 2011 at 8:31 amneva! excited!! 😛 had fun 😀
Tani says
July 28, 2011 at 4:09 amI can’t wait to get a copy of Before Ever After and support a Filipina writer/mom. 🙂 I want to read the book first before I read your review. 😉 You’re lucky to have gotten a signed first edition book. 🙂