The Story Behind the Title

The Story:

I’m extremely happy with the title of my book. It is quite catchy, and leaves no doubt that the book was written for Filipinos. To be honest, I can’t take any credit for the title. It was discovered by the two people pictured above.

Raziel (black tshirt) is my ministry teammate at FEU. Anne (white shirt) is a church mate and has been my friend since I arrived in Manila. She was actually part of my original barkada (we called ourselves the “pacutes”).

Raziel and Anne were at my apartment one afternoon while I was in the final stages of writing the manuscript. I don’t even remember why they came over, but they were having a snack in my dining room. I gave them a piece of paper with possible titles, all of which included “lovelife.” I wanted to get their feedback, because I just wasn’t fully satisfied with anything I had come up with.

Raziel explained to Anne that I hadn’t decided on the full title, “basta lovelife” (translation: as long as it includes lovelife). Anne then suggested using the phrase Raziel had just spoken as the title. It was a great idea and I loved it.

A couple of Filipinas thus came up with the idea for my book.

Thanks guys! I owe you dinner and a movie (no chick flicks, please).