Best-selling author Peter Lerangis in PHL to inspire young Pinoys to write

Growing up as the eldest of 13 siblings and cousins, Peter Lerangis learned very early that he loved making up stories.

When he got older, he started writing them down.

But getting to where he is now -- a best-selling author with more than 160 published books -- was not easy.

"I always wanted to be a writer. As I got older I just thought that I couldn't, that I wasn't good enough. I started less confident the older I got. But when I was a kid, I loved writing. I loved it more than anything else," Lerangis said, during an interview with GMA News Online.

He said that becoming an artist was not particularly encouraged by the grown-ups he encountered -- which is why he is aiming to be that grown-up, the one who will encourage young writers to keep writing.

"So I want to be the person for kids, that I never saw. I would have loved to have somebody like me to come in and say, 'Hey I'm a human being. I'm normal. I wanted to do this, and I worked really hard, and I have confidence in my ability and eventually I learned to respect my ideas and my skills -- and look what happened,'" he said.

Lerangis is in Manila for book signings of his recently concluded best-selling series "Seven Wonders." But aside from meeting his fans, he will also be meeting with grade school pupils from various schools.

During his entire stay, Lerangis is scheduled to speak in four schools: the Immaculate Concepcion Academy, Xavier School Manila, International School Manila, and the British School Manila.

"I'm giving presentations to the kids. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kids," Lerangis gushed.

Lerangis will talk about everything from generating an idea for a story, revising it, and publishing it.

He will also share his personal struggles at becoming a writer, in hopes that he will be able to touch those who grew up like him.

"I talk a lot about writing, how to be a writer. I talk about life, and lots of embarrassing pictures of my childhood. I showed them what I wrote when I was their age, examples of stories that I wrote when I was young. Some of those are embarrassing too. I talk about how confused I was growing up and how I lacked confidence, and being a writer, I never thought I was never going to be one, and how I was able to overcome that," Lerangis said.

Lerangis noted the importance of reaching them at a young age.

"The kids listen with different ears when they're older. They're listening to 'Maybe I won't want to do this someday,'" he said.

"I'm here to promote, but I'm also here to inspire, to try to reach to the kind of kid that I was," he added. —ALG, GMA News