Describe your desk
My desk stands in the corner of my bedroom, always waiting for me to sit down and write; like a loyal dog. It's white, but speckled in nail polish and coffee stains (that I put the greatest effort into removing, but never have any luck with). It's makeshift: Not a legitimate bedroom, classroom, or office desk---It's an old garden table that my father decided to present to me to compensate for the fact that he and my mother were using my new oak desk to store miscellaneous papers of theirs and my siblings'.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I was born in the Philippines, but I've lived in three different homes over my lifetime. The longest place I've lived in is my current home in Farmingdale. Naturally it's influenced me the most, but everywhere I've lived have had made significant impacts on my life and I hold them all close to my heart. I like to take experiences and memories from the places I've lived---and the people I'd known there---and put tidbits of them in my stories. An example of this would be in "Owl Eyes," how Molly finds herself in the forest. In my town there is a dense and mysterious forest known to the townspeople as "The Woods. Spooky, right? Haha, not really, but it sure makes for a great place setting. I believe that a writer can contribute any experience or encounter that they've met to their works--someone wise once said, "Write what you know!"
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