There are very few international bestselling authors who come to Manila. The ones that mattered to me, anyway. I don’t recall ever hearing the likes of Stephen King, Anne Rice, John Grisham, Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, and other A-list authors ever expressing interest in coming to Manila for some book signings. I guess their publishers didn’t think the readers in this side of the world don’t really matter to them.

What their publishers should know is that these international authors would have given people in this side of the world an inspiration to read more, or start reading for some. It would have likely sent fans craving for more from the authors. Lauren Kate of the Fallen series was one of the few authors who came that I was interested in. Unfortunately for me, the day she met fans was the day I was sick!

There’s a petition going on for Becca Fitzpatrick of the Hush, Hush series to come to Manila for a brief visit. I do hope this one pushes through. I also hope that more YA authors will come to Manila and have my books signed My wishlist goes like this…

- Maureen Johnson
- Tabitha Suzuma (although this one will most likely be stopped by the Catholic church if her incest-themed book Forbidden be the one she’ll promote)
- Alyson Noel
- Carrie Jones
- Gayle Forman
- Lauren Oliver
- Lisa Schroeder
- Jodi Picoult
- Jennifer Echols
- Kami Marin Garcia
- Julia Hoban

And a lot more authors I’ve read!

I understand that it’s hard to convert a book many people liked into a movie. This especially happens when the book has a really heartbreaking ending.

I watched Dear John with two good friends of mine. I haven’t read the book yet but I do know from reading news that the movie has an entirely different ending. Knowing Nicholas Sparks, his lead characters don’t end up together. They don’t live happily ever after. So I was expecting that the movie version might have made the ending a little happier. And it did.

I have read comparisons done between the book and the movie. In the book, John ended up alone while Savannah still lived with Tim after he recovered from cancer. The full moon is the symbolic connection John and Savannah have. It suggests that wherever they are, no matter what, the connection they have, the love they feel will always be there. In the movie, John and Savannah ended up together after Tim lost his fight with cancer.

I love how Tatum Channing portrayed John. Amanda Seyfried‘s eyes are so expressive! I love how you can clearly see the struggle within John whenever he’s with his father, and during that night he said goodbye to Savannah. I cried a little with that scene where John read his letter to his dying father. It was heart wrenching.

All in all, I like the movie. Probably because I haven’t read the book yet. It happened to me with A Walk to Remember. After reading the book, I ended up criticizing the movie a lot. I am planning to read Dear John within the week. Let’s see how it fares with the movie.