How to Tame Your Tikbalang Without Even Trying

by Alma Anonas-Carpio

I am no stranger to the erotic and risqué,  even the pornographic in literature. The more it defies the norm and offends our sensibilities, the more I gravitate towards it. But I know of no Filipino author who can coalesce the titillating with the profound intimations of Filipino lore with such sophistication of technique and language. With this novel, Alma Anonas-Carpio has created a new and welcome genre.
- Joel Pablo Salud | Author of The Distance of Rhymes and Other Tragedies

Isang pagbali, kapangahasan, ang nobelang How to Tame Your Tikbalang Without Even Trying. Pagbali sa nakagawian. Kapangahasan ng awtor na taluntunin gamit ang kaniyang panulat ang daang mas matalas (o mas matulis?). Mabibilang lang ang mga manunulat na napagsama ang tradisyonal na paniniwala o alamat at erotica. Kaya’t ang nobelang ito ay malaking ambag sa panitikan.
Tinutulungan nito ang mga mambabasang mamukadkad pa ang mga paksang nais nilang abutin at tahakin. Isang kakaibang paglalagalag sa mundo ng folklore ang How to Tame Your Tikbalang Without Even Trying ni Alma Anonas-Carpio. Tandaan natin, walang bastos na kuwento. Ang kabastusan ay nasa isip lamang.
- Che Sarigumba
Awtor ng mga nobelang Puso Pa Rin Ang Nagpasiya at Sana Kahit Minsan

==

What happens when a Babaylan finds herself a Tikbalang to tame?

Tala Bienvenido can't help but be curious about a strange book in the attic of her clan's ancestral home, and she finds herself thrust into a world filled with ancient lore when she takes the old tome.

Buhawi Batumbakal was caught and he knew it. Yet all that was clear to him was that he needed to find a way to make that Babaylan his forever, elemental disturbances and threats to his life (and hers) notwithstanding.

Paperback

Published February 1, 2023

About the author

When I am not writing the kind of stories I want to read, or the poetry that just won't quit, I am a freelance journalist, writer, member of the Manila Critics Circle and one of the judges for the Philippines' National Book Awards.

I worked as an Associate Editor of the Philippines Graphic magazine, where I also handled stories on technology, science, health issues and worked as the Literary Editor, to boot.

When I'm not writing or chasing some news story or the other down, I cook. My first book, in fact, is a cookbook. That, and I'm still waiting for the Mother Ship. :)

Oh, and my short urban fantasy fiction collection, "Maligno Unbound," is up on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RB8WYM/...

If you want to read what I post to Medium, go here: https://almaanonascarpio.medium.com/

How to Tame Your Tikbalang Without Even Trying will be published in the Philippines by 8Letters Bookstore & Publishing. You may pre-order your copy of my erotic novel here: https://www.8lettersbooks.com/shop/ho...

Reviews

[Cris Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t read this if you’re not ready for Alma Anonas-Carpio’s sassy, bold, and no-holds-barred characters. Don’t read this if you think mythology should be pristine and traditional. Don’t read this if you have too many inhibitions about sex.

Because this book is an exploration of magical possibilities, of the psyche of man (and non-humans), of sexual awakenings and kinks.

Because this book was written by a woman who dares ask, “Pourquoi pas?”

[Cymbeline Villamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The prose simply shimmers in eroticism. Brilliant.