At first I thought that maybe it was a fan site or maybe one of his biggest fans decided to open a blog catalog account as a tribute to him and to my astonishment, it’s the REAL Paulo Coelho. It wasn’t such a surprise that he has a blog… but I was so amazed to know that he joined blog catalog. I didn’t think that an established writer would bother joining blogger social network sites.

I have no idea how he managed to find my blog catalog profile but I do know that he did clicked the link to this site. And I’m giddy as a school girl to know that one of my favorite authors came to visit. Paulo Coelho’s blog is filled with little quips and quotes from his books as well as an insight into how he thinks. Though I’ve bought a few of his books, one book has always stood out from the rest: The Alchemist (you can find free excerpts of this book on his blog).

The Alchemist - My all time favorite Paulo Coelho book.

My next favorite would be By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept. In my opinion, none of his succeeding books (that I’ve read so far) has matched how I loved The Alchemist. I’ve been scouring the whole of Cebu for the hardbound copy of that book but I guess I’ll just have to satisfy myself with my worn out paperback.

My personal collection of Paulo Coelho's books.

The Alchemist has inspired me from WISHING that I could follow my dream to actually TRYING to follow it. Which, I feel is a HUGE step but a long overdue one. It’s been 5 years since I first read The Alchemist and I’ve read it several times in between. I’d like to think that its general message has seeped into my subconscious and is running on auto-pilot.

Paulo Coelho’s visit meant so much to me than I could ever imagine. He gave me the beautiful gift of his book as well as a wonderful reminder that life is too short to live miserably.

Thank you, Paulo Coelho.