J. Nava Cruz starts ‘verbal painting’ of his first novel

Artist Press Release
Middle East  
March 9, 2014



Fulfilling his earlier plans to come up with a novel, J. Nava Cruz, an overseas Filipino worker and freelance writer based in the Middle East has recently started to write the ‘verbal painting’ of his very first novel, “See Me @ :06 a.m.”, which according to him had been ‘mentally written’ for almost two decades, from 1995 to 2013 — a personal move that temporarily shelve the writing of  “Itago Natin S’ya sa Pangalang… Yagakota Ohli”, which he will revisit after concluding ‘See Me’.   



“See Me @ :06 a.m.”, a suspense-mystery-thriller paints a totally different fictionalized narrative as  its characters tackle and face their day-to-day personal events and express their human faculties,  emotions, reactions inside a real, existing places since the author decided and carefully chosen to use real street names, actual buildings and houses and even mentioning the real towns and places, that by now, are part and parcel of his forthcoming novel.  According to Nava Cruz, “if the author believes in the place where he sets his fiction, he will for sure believe the existence, meaning and drama of his story characters.”

Nava Cruz considers ‘See Me @ :06 a.m.’ as a very inspiring project scheduled for official publication through print and e-book come January/February 2015 in the Philippines.  He added that ‘See Me @ :06 a.m.’ is a novel that will certainly target the psyche and imagination of the reading public as it offers a totally different kind of suspense and mystery.  And although it is too early, albeit, Nava Cruz hopes that ‘See Me’ will be adapted for screenplay after its publication and official launch.    

Just last year, ‘Missed Samonte’ one of the short stories written and adapted for screenplay by Nava Cruz bagged the March 2013 Imphal International Short Film Festival ‘Best Story’ and ‘Best Film’ awards in Manipur, India — award winning artistic collaborations undertaken with his Pinoy Sining Family (The Filipinos for Arts & Culture).   Likewise, his ‘Tinik at Talulot’ book was cited for nomination during the Media Journalism Award 2013 in the Philippines.  And just last December 2013, Nava Cruz won OBRA 2013 Most Outstanding Filipino Community Builder Award in the Philippines, a feat which he attributed to his published general literature and art books.
As of the writing of this press release, Nava Cruz extends his personal thanks to a number of  friends like Rodel J. Menda, Pinoy Sining President and Leonard D. Herrera who both extended their ‘lay-out-editorial assistance’ vis-à-vis his ‘book cover design concepts’ for ‘See Me @ 06 a.m.” and “Yagakota Ohli”. – [J. Nava Cruz, an OFW, is a freelance writer/documentarist and a published book author in the Philippines.]