Danbryan Go, writing under the pen name Floro Alterra Pama, shares the inspiration behind his book “Devices” during the launching ceremony on Friday, April 12, 2019 at Fully Booked Ayala Center Cebu. | CDND Photo / Micah Marcellones
CEBU CITY, Philippines — KAT wakes up one day and finds out that she possesses intelligence that is incomparable to anyone and anything in existence.
But she is confined in a room and is never allowed to leave.
This is the scene that Danbryan Go, 18, established in his first novel entitled “Devices.”
Devices is a science fiction novel written with the design of exposing the harsh truths of reality and the dystopian path that awaits it.
“It’s a sci-fi novel so Devices seemed to be an appropriate title. It’s something catchy, it’s only one world. Artistically, I named it after the famous phrase ‘Left to your own devices.’ When you read the book later on, you will also know why,” says Go, who is currently studying Entrepreneurship at the University of San Carlos.
Go says it took him nine months to write the novel and about three to four months to have it published.
This is Go’s first novel, which he wrote when he was 17 years old.
It was originally published as an e-book on January 17, 2018 as an e-book.
Physical book, pen name
With demands from readers to have a physical copy of the book, Go embarked on a journey to make his work more experiential with the launching of Devices on Friday, April 12, 2019 at Fully Booked Ayala Center Cebu in an audience composed of friends, media, family members and literary enthusiasts.
“I also have an e-book that can be downloaded on my publisher’s site and other e-books site. But I decided to have a traditional book because it was something that the readers want. They don’t want e-books. They want something that they can hold and preserve,” shares Go, who finished Senior High School with honors from the Centre for International Education.
The idea of writing a novel came from his mother’s challenge.
“I was already writing so she challenged me to work on a novel. I did not plan it to be a book. It started with words, then they became sentences. The next thing I knew, it was a whole page. So why not?” says Go.
For his first novel, Go decided to write under the pen name, Floro Alterra Pama.
He has a touching reason for doing so.
“This is a combination of the names of my grandfathers. I asked myself what is the greatest gift I could give them. I gave them my name,” he tells CDN Digital in a one-on-one interview.
Writing process
Go’s favorite authors are Gabriel García Márquez, H.P. Lovecraft and Paulo Coelho.
While writing is his passion, Go says finishing the novel did not come easy.
“My challenge was not so much of the idea but the writing itself. The most challenging part is to connect the thoughts and fill in the gaps. You spend the hours putting it together and then editing it. As an author, you never are secure (so you keep on editing and revising),” he says.
The book is not dedicated to a particular person, he says.
“The first line of one of the first pages says it is ‘for all the world and all it wrongs.’ (It is not dedicated) to one single person. I wanted to be broad so I dedicated it to the world’s many problems,” he says.
With the publication of his first novel, Go hopes to inspire the younger generation that they are capable of achieving their goals.
“I don’t aim to accomplish anything. I just want that when they read it, they get something out of it. I hope that somehow (the book) inspire not just writers but young people to achieve more because they can with enough perseverance and time,” he says.
Go credits the support of his family and friends for the birth of his first novel.
Go is not one to rest on his laurels.
This summer, he is back on his writing table to work on his second novel.
“I wanted to do something worthwhile with my summer vacation,” he says with a smile that speaks of humility and passion, the kind of values possessed by a person who loves and cares for his craft. / celr
