Red Room Where the Writers Are

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If there is one secret hide away you would like to seclude yourself into, where can it be? Besides serene landscapes and breath taking sceneries and communing with nature, I treasure a place where I can be my self and be engrossed in my own refuge with gazillion of precious books without a care in the world around me.

I am one self-certified book worm and wordsmith and so I can spend a day at a bookstore browsing through pages of thousands of books. My love for reading started way back at an early age when my parents introduced me to children’s books at the fresh age of 4 or 5.

One bookstore I often go to and I consider my fave hang-out is the Power Books in the Philippines inside one of the big malls, where readers can sit down and immerse themselves in their favorite page turners complete with good upbeat songs as background music. I often go to the reference section first to see some books for writers and get some fruitful advice on how to improve my craft. I can get these ideas free as customers are not obliged to buy whatever book they pick and read through. Well you could go there everyday and memorize the pages without actually buying it! You just have to be equipped with a photographic memory I guess to be able to remember things as you scan your mind when the need arises. A vast space of reading materials will welcome you as you onto its entrance and after careful choices of books, you can bring them along as you pick one comfy sit among other readers and begin enjoying your “finds”. You might find some chit-chatters there as young people in groups enter the bookstore and be sitted next to you unmindful of the fierce stares of serious readers as they are disturbed by sudden gossipers and unwanted noises. The voices of Kylie Minogue, Edwin McCain, the Corrs, and others infiltrate the air as everyone gets busy entering their own “world”. My next stop would be the self-help books about personality development, relationships and health issues then comes those about other countries as I become interested in some and would like to get to know how it is to live in such place, their culture, people, way of living, food and of course scenic spots. And lastly of course I get to visit the horror fiction section to get a glimpse of my fave master of terror’s creations – the great Stephen King! I don’t mind the noises created by some people around me as I become truly engrossed and excitement runs through my veins page by page. The place also is my source of fresh new ideas for whatever writing projects I am assigned with and sometimes write my drafts there inside the big bookstore. Well, I can even write at the center of a mall amidst boisterous and busy people walking to and fro in front of me! Talk about the power of concentration! Never a time at the mall passes by without me dropping at my favorite bookstore for it feels like my malling isn’t complete without my presence in my scared sanctuary.