About the Author
For Marianne Christine, there is perhaps no greater joy than to find escape from the hubbub of her busy academic life in UP. Her ideal Friday night would be spent travelling back to her hometown in Valenzuela and spending the entire weekend inside a small bedroom located on the hidden rooftop deck of their home. For Marianne, home is where she finds her seven year-old lilac bookshelf along with her half-brother’s hand-me-down study table. The mere sight of these antique possessions provides her a certain satisfaction in her comfort zone. In her bookshelf, lie her carefully picked paperback novels and science encyclopedias she got on her fifth birthday. She revels in the company of words, metaphors, fictional characters and the all too familiar musty smell of old books. On Saturday mornings, she takes out her canvas as she weaves her own fictional world beneath her charcoal tainted fingers. Marianne lives by her mantra that with books you can never be alone. She allots more time to
