Bookworm Gallery: All Geeked Out

The first time I met Rocky was the day I fell in love with his chronologically-arranged collection of Star Wars expanded universe books. And then he played Mal to my Kaylee and I really don't know how my heart could recover after that. This month's Bookworm takes care of a bunch of blogs, including his personal one and The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything (which I had read even before one of his partners introduced us). When he's not reading or writing, he works as a Marketing Manager for a multinational call center and has recently started an independent travel agency (A.S.A. Travel and Tours) with his partners.

Rocky is a total Kindle advocate. "Having a Kindle will change your life - reading on a tablet can't compare, I swear. The biggest benefit is that the eInk doesn't feel like you're staring at an LCD screen all the time - it feels like you're still reading a book." You can find him reading multiple books at a time like "the hardcover that I can't bring around with me, the paperback that I stow in my work bag that I read on the MRT and at least one ebook that I read via my Kindle," he says.


1. How often do you read? What kind of books/genres do you often read?
I read every day and I try to squeeze in reading time whenever I can. I admit that these days I read more ebooks versus physical books given I've noticed that I tend to read faster when it comes to ebooks. I'm primarily a science fiction and fantasy kind of guy, but I have been known to deviate into contemporary fiction and magical realism / surrealism.

2. Name three books that you feel would explain the kind of reader you are.
Three books only? Well I guess we can stick to Dune by Frank Herbert, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami and American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

'Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony...'
3. Who are your favorite authors? Is there anyone on your auto-buy list?
Favorite authors are Frank Herbert, Haruki Murakami, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Save for Herbert (who is deceased), all are pretty much on my auto-buy lists.

4. How did you get into fantasy and sci-fi?
I have my biological father to thank for that - he introduced me to the whole genre through the TV series Star Trek and there has been no going back ever since.

5. Which books do you think would make a successful transition into TV or film? Anything you would be excited to catch onscreen?
I don't think that there is any one book that will guarantee a successful translation to a movie or a TV series - that really depends on the vision of the producers / director, the involvement of the author and the budget of the studio. And in the end, the translation is an independent work which is typically better off not compared to the source material.

It's actually great trying to take a peek into Rocky's mind. He's really one of the more interesting people I've met in recent years. For him, "reading is amazing since it introduces us to amazing new worlds, allows us to experience new stories and adventures wherever you are. Of course there's the chance to learn new things whether in terms of practical knowledge or more abstract wisdom for life in general." I can't agree more.