Good day y’all! 

Good news, I just released a book for my birthday. I’ve been self-publishing for almost ten years. I am happy doing that, and I find purpose in all the books I write. I hope you’re having fun, too, doing your purpose! 

Here’s the full cover for the print copies of my latest book, The Restless Mind:

The Advance Reader’s E-book Copy is now available for reviews and interested readers. Please feel free to message me or comment on my posts, so I can send you a copy of The Restless Mind. You may add the book to your Goodreads account. 

Please don’t hesitate to post your honest review of the book on Goodreads:

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231233037

If you’re interested, please send me a message via Messenger, comment on this post, or e-mail me: arlenemanocot@gmail.com. I will send you an e-book version of the book for review. 

As you all know, I am about to release another collection of poems. It is a collection of my written thoughts and feelings in the most creative way I can. It is also my way of releasing overwhelming or underwhelming positive and negative emotions.

The title of the new book to be released is The Restless Mind. You can know more about it from the article that I posted on this website. You may click this link to read more about the book: https://www.arlenemanocot.com/2025/04/new-book-reveal-restless-mind.html?m=1

So going back to the question, where to publish or to print book? This inquiry was sent to me privately by a Facebook friend and I was thinking maybe aside from him there are others who might want to know something about self-publishing. 

In my ten (10) years of experience in self-publishing, I would consider that there are different parts of publishing: writing, editing, formatting, and publishing. I had to ask that friend of mine what specific part of publishing and it turned out, he wanted to print his own collection of poems. 

There are two printing company where I can get print books for my self-published books, one in the Philippines and the other is in the US.

I submit my soft copy and all the details of the books to JMD Prints. They have Facebook page, but personally I like to message Ate Joy on her Messenger account for every transaction I have with JMD Prints. They will ask you send the digital materials via e-mail. Here’s the link for their FB page if you want to get in touch with them and planning to print in the Philippines. In my experience they got the most affordable and high quality output. 

JMD Prints Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/share/1C8RBXWX2A/?mibextid=wwXIfr

This is the first time I am going to try printing in the US and also using Ingram Spark. I inquired to one printing company, but their rate was a little pricey. I have created an account on their website starting to format my latest book according to their requirements. Here’s the link Ingram Spark website for to explore and decide if it is the best option for you. 

Ingram Spark: https://www.ingramspark.com/

I hope this article helps you to get an idea about book printing. Please don’t hesitate to send me a question about self-publishing or anything maybe hehe. Have a nice day!

I don’t usually celebrate my birthday and maybe never post something about celebrating my birthday. It is hard to remember. But this year, my heart is just overflowing with gratitude to God for giving me this opportunity to live and to have a life. Even though life hasn’t always been easy, I thank You God for this gift of life. 

Well, now that I think about it. I never had a sort of celebration for my birthday. Usually, it is just eating together or going somewhere to explore, and I like that idea, that’s the kind of celebration I would prefer. Never had the cakes and balloons with lots of confetti, and it’s fine. I guess that’s kind of celebration is never in my radar. 

Thirty five is the age now. I am in the middle of my thirty’s. Right now as old as I am, I am in the phase of my life where I know exactly what to do but I do not know how to do it. Like I know what I want, I know my purpose, but I am scared because I just got out of one of the many things on earth that makes me feel secured which like everything else is temporary and will definitely perish. 

I just have this thought that I have surrendered everything to God. My trust and hope is in Him. I always pray for provisions, safety, protection, wisdom, endurance, and guidance for me, my family, and loved ones. My prayer also is to live a life that is content and glorifying to You, my LORD. 

I tried to release every year and during my birthday. The Restless Mind is the birthday book this year and it contains some of my confessions. Maybe, I wrote this book out of grumbling and complaining about life or a specific situation and circumstance I needed to deal with. 

I just hope and pray to inspire other people specifically women through this book. Another prayer of mine for this book is to earn a living out of my books. Please get a copy of this book. You may order a print copy of The Restless Mind through this pre-order form: https://forms.gle/B2MrroFvYJCY5fnm8

Please don’t forget to tag me on a post or send me a message if you want to get in touch. Have a blessed day y’all! 

Willkomen is a german word for welcome and it fascinates to learn the word when we visited Fredericksburg. So once again, willkomen guys!

It was a birthday trip for me. It was one of unmarked item in our checklist, and finally my boyfriend and I got to cross it out of our list. He asked me what I want for my birthday, at first, I playfully said "him" but it was going to Fredericksburg that got stuck on my mind. So we ended gracing the city with our presence. 

The way to our destination was long and awesome, since it was never boring. We got to see a lot of interesting places on the way: winery, orchards, burger stores, donut shops, Texan BBQ restaurants, fancy houses, ranches, and the green scenery of the country side. It was an amazing ride. Dripping Springs are Johnson City were the town and city we got to passed through to reach Fredericksburg, and yes, just like what I told you those placing are also interesting, worthy places to visit and explore.

We had to take an hour and half travel time to get to the city. It was a long, long ride. But it was definitely worth it. 

Information Visitor Center. From this place, we got a map of the whole downtown. The guy in the office gave us significant information on how to make the most out of our one-day trip. He gave us a map with some notes that might come in handy throughout our exploration. For my journal, I decided to get a copy of my own map and trail passport, cute. 

Old German Bakery & Restaurant. We didn't have breakfast, so our next  stop was this famous bakery and restaurant. When we got to the place, I could not believe that there was actually a line of people waiting to be called because all of the seats were occupied. Oh boy, my boyfriend was right, it is actually pretty famous. I discovered the reason once I got to taste one of their breakfast meal and baked goodies. Oooh...! They were really good. We ordered Holstein Schnitzel with toast and  scrambled eggs on the side, and hot coffee and tea as our drinks.

Fredericksburg Winery. From the name itself, it had everything related to wine. We didn't get a free taste, but the old man in the store was generous enough to have conversation with my boyfriend about wine and other stuff, and I just listened, hehe, I am a good listener. There was an old lady in the store, but I guess she was busy with the other customers that was why she didn't say anything to us, however she was kind and friendly to greet us on the sidewalk when my boyfriend and I was crossing the pedestrian lane. 

Hill Country Amish. This place got an amazing selection of furnitures and they were made of authentic wood, leather, and metal. They also had organic food like jam, jelly, marmalade, seasonings, snacks, and more. The guy at the store gave us a trivia about yeast, like once you made that kind of yeast you have to take care of it because it is a living microorganism. I thought he was joking about it, but turned out he was dead serious about it, and we really appreciate the new information we learned from him. 

Pioneer Museum. If you want to explore all the parts of the museum, there was an entrance fee of 12 per adult. We were pretty satistified in the museum shop and reception area that we decided not to exlpore that whole area. They got an interesting collection of old photos and quilted products, all from the time of German settlement in the city. 

Pioneer Memorial Library. We like going to the libraries, so we didn't miss this chance to check out the library at the downtown. They also had a store of used books. I got a copy of a book Murakami just by donating a dollar. That's such a steal! I am glad to finally try a book of his. But unfortunately, I forgot the map with all the notes on the table of the room with all the books for sale. My bad. We tried getting it back but it was already closed when we remember about the map.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church. After checking if we could get the maps with notes, which was a failed attempt, we came across a magnificent structure, it was an old church. My boyfriend was fascinated and we were able to see outside only although we tried or I tried opening the doors, unfortunately they were all closed. According to my research, it was one of the oldest churches in Fredericksburg. 

Marktplatz von Fredericksburg. This was a park where we sat down and ate the baked goodies I got from the Old German Bakery & Restaurant. The German Sausage Jalapeno bread had this German sausage and it was thick and hard but in a good way, and we really liked it. The Blueberry Cheese Danish was not too sweet which was a good thing and the blueberry jam and cheesee went perfectly tasty.  There was also an Art Sale at the park and I assumed they were all independent artist. 

Rustlin' Rob's Texas Gourmet Food. Oooh...! This food shop was just amazing. They were so generous with the free tasting of their products. They had jam, jelly, marmalade, butte, pickled fruits and veggies, meat, sauces, and seasonings. The experience was the best. We were already full that we didn’t have to eat lunch. Good marketing strategy Rustlin' Rob!

National Museum of the Pacific War. This building got my attention because it had words like Philippine Sea, Luzon, and Mindanao on its walls. It was not a surprise since my home country became part of the Pacific War, which was a sad part of our history. For us to fully explore all the parts of the museum, a 20 fee was required. We needed to decide whether if it was worth to pay that amount given that we only had thirty (30) minutes left. We got there late and we decided to forego the idea and maybe try it another time. According to the staff, it would require at least two (2) hours to enjoy and explore the place. The shop an reception area were the only part we got to explore and it was still fun. We discovered books at the shop about accounts of how the Philippines became part of the Pacific War. It was mind blowing that there were writers who dedicated their time to tell stories about the Philippines, and I am glad. There was also a coin machine at the museum and I didn’t want to miss this chance to get a engraved coin souvenir. It was always fun to get to try one of those in every place that I visit.

It was a fun and purposeful experience. Thank you for planning this for my birthday! There are still a lot to explore, a second trip to Fredericksburg may not be a bad idea.