Last April 9, 2026, DILIM Press Editor Nikki Flores had the chance to sit down with author Bea Bustamante to talk about the latter’s debut Philippine mythology-inspired new adult fantasy novel, She Who Devours, via Instagram Live.
You can watch the Live on Bea’s Instagram
OR
Read the transcript of the interview here:
NF: It is my distinct honor and pleasure to welcome Bea Bustamante to today’s live talk to discuss her debut novel, She Who Devours, published by Penguin Random House Southeast Asia. We’ll have a brief introduction to her, and hear more about her novel. It is now available in the Philippines and the release date is October 6th—I have my preorder, just letting everybody know that—in North America.
Bea Bustamante is a school teacher by day and fantasy author by night. She graduated with a degree in communication from Ateneo de Manila University in 2019. She briefly dipped her toes into advertising as an account manager before realizing her true calling as an educator. Bea is currently finishing her professional teaching certification program at the University of the Philippines. When she’s not teaching or writing, you can find her sharing her literary adventures with BookTok on @missbeabooks, or reviewing favorite makeup products at @missbeabeauty. She’s an avid reader and is running out of space—I can see, for your (referring to Bea) books—and you live in Laguna. She Who Devours is her first novel. Welcome, welcome, welcome, Bea.
BB: Thank you so much for having me. Thank you, thank you so much.
NF: First of all, congratulations on launching She Who Devours. We’ve watched your videos and we saw your discussion at the panel discussion at the National Bookstore last month. So all of us and you at home or at work and if you’re watching the recording, please give a big round of applause to Bea for being brave, and for sharing our stories, and crafting our own narratives, and doing so in such an empathetic and engaging way!
BB: I’m so excited to be here and to just talk about She Who Devours. It’s been a little over a month since it launched here in the Philippines. It’s been quite crazy, and I’m just so happy to talk about people talking about it and sharing it even all the way to the other side of the world. So thank you, thank you so much.
NF: So why don’t you give us a trivia. Is there anything that’s been very surprising or unexpected or interesting to you with the whole process of bringing the book into the world?
BB: I guess the way it’s been received has been quite unexpected because, you know, being an avid reader myself, I have always loved fantasy. It’s my favorite genre to read about. I was a little hesitant about bringing in purely Filipino fantasy into this genre because I wasn’t really sure how people would react to it. It’s not everyday you see that sort of mythology in our culture discussed in the fantasy genre. But I think it’s been a pleasant surprise because everybody’s been so happy and excited about it. I guess I had nothing to worry about when I realized that everybody was also like me, looking for something in fantasy that reflected who we are and our unique Filipino experience, and our history, and culture. It’s been so nice to see that sort of feedback and the clamor for it. People have been messaging me, “I wanna read this”, “I wanna know what it’s about”, “I’m curious about it”. I didn’t know that so many people were interested in Filipino mythology, not just in the Philippines but all over the world—so it’s nice. I wasn’t expecting it, but it’s very nice. It’s so nice to see how many people really wanna learn more about it.
NF: Yes, I was discussing with my daughter. She’s very familiar with the Greek pantheon. She knows the names of the Greek and Roman equivalents but not so much on our culture and that’s something I’ve been learning as well. And I think you’re right—there’s global demand. We are a diaspora. There’s many, many millions of Filipinos all around the world, and your book is one of the ones that are connecting us to this. It’s wonderful. And we never know where our journeys will lead us.
I’m sure that for other creatives and authors and other illustrators who are listening in—we’re interested in the creative process that you underwent in order to put this book together. So can you share a little bit about how you found the inspiration or how it evolved for you. I’m certain it took quite some time for you to put together.
BB: Yes, it took me around one and a half years to complete my manuscript for She Who Devours. It did require extensive research—a lot of reading which made it quite challenging. There isn’t a lot of definitive literature about Filipino mythology specifically, and folklore because our culture really relied on oral tradition. There are so many different versions of the famous legends and stories, even the story of bakunawa. There’s so many different versions of it that we can’t really say which one is the real one or the most true or the most accurate one so it did take me quite a bit of time. I read a lot of different books—both from local authors here in the Philippines and also from other Filipino-American authors, and just about everybody from the diaspora. That took a lot of time. But it was very interesting because I think it made me realize that there was an opportunity to kind of rework these legends that don’t really have that definitive structure and meaning, and kind of contribute to the literature in my own way. So I guess that was one of the things that I decided to do with She Who Devours is take all of these very familiar characters and creatures from Philippine mythology and specific events in Filipino history, and rework it into this fantasy world where it all still fits and all still happens but when you read it I think especially as a Filipino, you feel that familiarity. It feels like “I know what this means and I know how this happens as it’s been explained to me and how it’s affected me now as a Filipino”. That was my main goal when I was writing She Who Devours. And then as I was writing, I would put in another creature that I think, “Oh, okay this is an interesting part of our history—I should put it here.”
The oral tradition is so strong in our culture. I learned about all of these things from my grandfather. I worked on it alongside teaching for almost a year, and then I was also taking up units for education at the University of the Philippines. I think because I was in that academic setting, the book also kind of started in an academic setting. I was reading all of these required readings, and all of these stories, and all of these things that I prepare for class, and so I think the characters and the way that the story starts also kind of morphs into that setting. Those are just some of the interesting things that I’ve experienced during my creative process for writing.
NF: Yeah, wonderful. I’m gonna just say out loud: some of the themes that we found—and again inviting everybody to head on over to @beabustawrites on Instagram so you can see her posts about how these came together—are university setting, an ancient promise, family secrets, we also have like elemental magic, Philippine mythology woven in, a merry band of misfits—which I love the idea—romantic tension, and who did this to you.
And I get how you’re seeing you’re in the middle of it, you’re living from all these different kinds of stew, and it’s all coming together into your creative process so that’s wonderful.
I’m a writer too and I personally like to have a latte or have a coffee and then pick up from where I had a little bit of leftover from the draft from the night before. I wonder if you have any favorite places that you feel productive or any routines that you do especially with respect to creativity. As you know, when you’re working in academia, your brain kind of focuses on that and when you’re teaching, you’re providing lesson plans, you’re thinking about your students, and then you’re also thinking about creative stuff. How did you get ideas from your head into the manuscript?
BB: I wanna say it was by compartmentalizing all these different roles that I have but I had no choice. I would be on for teaching, and I would talk and talk for hours, and then I would have to go home and study for my graduate studies, and then I would write usually at night. Whatever time I had left from the day that I could just squeeze in a couple hundred-thousand words whatever I could manage. That’s what I would do. I feel like that’s why maybe the book is a little, I guess darker, creepier. I’ve gotten some feedback that there are scenes there that genuinely creep people out because it leans toward horror. Maybe writing at night is just letting my imagination run free kind of led me towards that. So I wonder maybe, maybe.
In terms of the manuscript, I actually wrote most of it at the end of 2024. It was a really, really stressful time for me because it was like all of these things and school were happening at the same time. I was also finishing up one of my last semesters for my grad studies. Maybe I’ve also gotten feedback that the ending of the book is very fast-paced like things are happening one after another and I feel like maybe what was happening in my life reflected the way that the book kind of read towards the end. That’s how it felt. ‘Cause I was feeling that during that time I was writing it.
I actually wrote the first twenty chapters, and then I got a major writing slump in the middle of 2024. I didn’t write anything for like a month. Then I thought—it’s not a good idea, I don’t recommend it for anybody—I was thinking what if I reached out to an agent or a publisher even if my manuscript is not finished. I needed that sort of confirmation that we’re continuing. So I did that, got rejected so many times, and then it was Penguin Random House Southeast Asia office that read the first twenty chapters that I had and decided that, “We’re interested in this and we wanna see where this goes, we’d like to see your full manuscript.” So me in the middle of the year, I said, “I have to finish the manuscript.” That was why at the end of 2024 I was super stressed out. I managed to finish it in January 2025. They read it and they said, “Okay, we can proceed with this,” and that’s how I ended up getting published with Penguin.
NF: I know the Bakunawa is also part of the world of She Who Devours, and I wonder if you think that they are real, and if they’re truly responsible for the eclipses?
BB: I get this question a lot. People ask me, “Do you think Bakunawa is based on a real creature or is it based on something else?” I mean I have read so many different versions. People say that it’s real, that there are sea serpents or there were sea serpents in the past. I’ve also read that the Bakunawa is very similar to a Hindu god that also presents itself as a sea serpent. There’s also versions of Bakunawa being the ancient Ilonggos’ representations of the twelve month cycle of the harvest—the seven moons represent the seven months where they’re allowed to harvest, and they used Bakunawas to represent when each moon or each month passes. There’s many different speculations.
Personally, I wanna believe that maybe there was something out there back then that kind of freaked people out, and thought, “Okay, maybe this is something worth taking down” or describing an ancient text in oral tradition. So I don’t know. I’ve seen a lot of pictures as well and I feel like it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think of like a giant sea snake or a giant sea serpent or something similar in their biosphere during that time that existed. So who knows? I wanna say… maybe.
NF: Yeah, absolutely. I think for many cultures, there’s different cryptids or creatures that are outside of the understanding of what people have, and so they don’t have the language or the similar creature to connect it to so they come up with a different function. And you’re imagining new worlds for us from your imagination, and your version of the magic, and your exploration of the elements. So thank you so much for all of that!
I’ve got one more last question for you: what message would you like readers to know long after they read the last page?
BB: I want readers to know three things. One would be that Filipino mythology and folklore is worth reading about, knowing about, learning about. We have so many interesting stories, characters, creatures, and monsters in particular that are not only cool and unique, but also reflect a huge part of who we are and what is important to us—things that we fear, traits, and experiences that we value as a culture. Learning about Filipino mythology and folklore says a lot about us, and I would like to think that there are people out there who would like to learn more about us as Filipinos.
The second thing would be this. In my book, the heroine is very reluctant to accept her fate. I have seen reviews and comments asking why is she so stubborn, why is she so unwilling to accept these things that are just being thrown at her. What I hope is that people who read She Who Devours realize that being a hero is not an automatic resounding yes for a lot of people. Taking on responsibilities and changing your whole life to save the world isn’t always something that people are jumping to do, or are super willing to do. It’s okay to discern and it’s okay to push back and to stay true to yourself.
The third thing is: community is really important. That’s something the book also touches on a lot. You can’t do everything alone. It’s okay to discern on your own, it’s okay to feel like you need to do things your way. But at the end of the day, being part of something bigger than yourself is what that pushes you to do, or can push you to do good and do something right for the world. That’s what I hope people will feel when they read She Who Devours.
NF: Absolutely. I hope that you can go back in time to the you who is waiting for confirmation, not sure, and just realize the thousands—and hopefully hundreds of thousands—of people really feel that same sense of heritage and legacy, and the ability to create new stories that you helped put together and into this book. So thank you, thank you so much, Bea, for writing it and bringing it into the world. Thank you to Penguin Random House for bringing it to the world. So what’s next for you?
BB: I’ve gotten a lot of questions about when it’s going to continue. I know the ending has left a lot of people hanging, but I can’t confirm or deny anything officially for now. What I can say is: it is just the beginning and that you know definitely Maya’s story will continue.
NF: You heard it from the author herself! Thank you so much, Bea, for joining us and if you’re listening in, you can grab the link to buy the book in Asia at Bea’s Instagram which is again @beabustawrites. And then you can preorder for North America on Bookshop.org that’s coming out October 6th—just in time for Filipino-American heritage month and links are all on Bea’s bio. Thank you so much for this. I appreciate speaking with you and I wish you all the best!
BB: Thank you so much, Nikki! Thank you also for agreeing to collaborate on this. I had a lot of fun with all of the themes related to She Who Devours.
NF: This is the way to go. There’s Filipinos on every continent. Let’s get them all together. Thank you!
BB: Thank you, thank you so much, Nikki!
Grab a Copy of She Who Devours
For North American readers, She Who Devours releases on October 6, 2026.
About Bea Bustamante
Bea Bustamante is a school teacher by day and a fantasy author by night. After graduating with a degree in Communication from Ateneo de Manila University in 2019, she briefly dipped her toes into the advertising world as an account manager before realizing her true calling as an educator. She is currently finishing her professional teaching certification program at the University of the Philippines. When she’s not teaching or writing, Bea can be found sharing her literary adventures with the BookTok community on her TikTok profile, @missbeabooks or reviewing her favorite makeup products at @missbeabeauty. She is an avid reader and is running out of space for her books at home. She is also a songwriter and musician, occasionally releasing music under the stage name “beabu.” She lives in Laguna, Philippines with her husband. She Who Devours is her first novel.