Between writing their bestsellers and award-winning masterpieces, they have day jobs, lovers, friends, enemies and children.

For Mother’s Day, we asked several women writers how parenting defines, or is defined by, their writing.

Peachy Concepcion is the author of the newly –released story book "Hold On Tight," a beautifully illustrated book about the touching story of a mother and her growing son who come to terms with the boy’s growing up.

Fanny Garcia is an award-winning fictionist and playwright. Her book, "Erich Slumbook" is her inspiring and engaging account of raising a son with special needs.

Mert Loinaz is one of the editors of "Life on the Cusp", a collection of essays from people in their "post-retirement" or "second wind".

Linda Panlilio is an award-winning biographer ("Teacher To Tycoon") and editor of several anthologies. Linda is editor and Mert is contributor to the best-selling anthologies "Shaking the Family Tree," "The Manila We Knew," "Why I Travel…"

Q: How does motherhood define your writing?

PEACHY CONCEPCION (PC) : Motherhood influences my writing in many ways. I write stories I want my kids to read. I write about things I’ve gone through as a mother and wife.

MERT LOINAZ (ML): Motherhood influences my writing insofar as the experience enriches me because of all the learnings that come with it.

FANNY GARCIA (FG): I was a young writer in the 70s, and quite politicized. Writers then were more conscious about being politically correct in their works. Motherhood-writings came into the picture when I wrote my book Erick Slumbook: Paglalakbay Kasama ang Anak Kong Autistic (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2004). Before this, I read books written by other parents on how to cope with an autistic child. I stopped writing and concentrated on my son, an only child. It took years for me to go back to my career as a writer. When I resumed writing, the first thing I did was a book about him. It was my way of sharing with the public the complexities of autism, and yes, I really missed writing!.

LINDA PANLILIO (LP): Motherhood has deepened my writing because of the rich experiences and insights from being a mother and dealing with the young.

Q: Who do you write for?

PC: My kids, myself. When I write I always hope my words will reach someone who might need them at a particular moment in their life.

ML: Generally, anyone who may be interested in a topic I’m keen on. This could be another grandmother or a friend who knows my children.

FG: Being part of the academe, we are expected to write and publish scholarly papers. In my other career, I write fiction, creative non-fiction, essays, and scripts in Filipino. My audience or readers are those well-versed in Tagalog, or Filipino. Recently, a close friend and fellow writer, Anna Santiago Oblepias, translated into English my book about my son. Since the book was first published in 2004, I updated it. The English version carries the title "Travels with My Autistic Son" and was recently released in bookstores. This new edition is my way of ‘conversing’ with readers who more comfortable in English, like the foreign readers.

LP: I principally write for myself, urged on by my desire to communicate an experience or thought, but then I have to be careful about what I say because it can be misinterpreted by my audience. I think my audience is comprised of ladies of my generation – wives, mothers and retired career women like myself.

Q: When and how do you write? Do you have a ritual, a routine when you write?

PC: I write when the spirit moves me. I write if I have a good day or sometimes a bad day. I write as often as I can at night.

ML: I can’t really write when there’s a lot of movement in the house. I have to wait until most people are asleep and the house has settled for the night.

FG: I usually write when my son is asleep—before midnight until 3 am. He has his ‘makulit’ moments, so no writing at such times.

LP: I have to finish other pressing matters and obligations before I sit down to write. I cannot write unless those things are out of the way. I like to write at night when it’s nice and quiet, with no telephone calls to distract me.

Q: Who are your favorite authors?

PC: Rainier Marie Rilke, Christina Rosetti and Lucy Montgomery

ML: My dream would be to write as effectively as Isaak Dinesen, Carmen Guerrero Nakpil and Cristina Pantoja Hildalgo. My reading is very eclectic. I enjoy reading Robert Ludlum as much as I enjoy reading Isaak Dinesen.

FG: Maxim Gorky. Anton Chekov. I like works that will make us better persons inside and outside. Let me borrow from UP: "Iskolar ng Bayan." From Ateneo: "Man for Others." In La Salle where I am teaching: I read "Christian Achievers for God and Country." Of course, "Paglingkuran ang Sambayanan/Serve the People" of the 70s.

LP: Shall I say A.S Byatt, Doris Lessing, and Isaak Dinesen? They’re incomparable! Recently I discovered Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote "Eat Pray Love," the top "New York Times" bestseller, and Jeannette Walls, who wrote "The Glass Castle," another international bestseller. Perhaps it’s because these authors wrote about their life’s journey, their memoirs, which I’d like to do myself. I am looking for models for my own writing. Locally, these are Gilda Cordero Fernando, Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, and Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, my long-time mentor and UP Faculty adviser for my MA thesis in Creative Writing.

Q: Who/What are your writing influences?

PC: Everyday life influences me. Stories I hear, people I meet and things I read.

FG: The student activist movement in the 70s, it was the milieu in U.P then. Surely, if I were a young writer today, I will say something else…

Q: What elements make good writing?

PC: An engaging plot, a lesson, a fast paced story, and (of course!) laughter. Good writing is what moves me and makes me remember the story long after I have put it away.

ML: An element of good writing is the ability to capture the readers’ interest at once and then to sustain that interest by engaging their imagination so that they are, in a sense, with you inside the piece. After I have read something – an essay, a narrative, fiction or non-fiction – I consider it ‘good’ when, aside from having enjoyed the reading of it, I find that I’ve become enriched by it. It doesn’t have to be anything grand. It could simply be a new way of looking at an old issue or a useful bit of information.

FG: If you really love writing, it will show.

LP: Visual scenes with clear descriptions, and good characterization in a seamless narrative.

Q: How do you manage writing with parenting and working?

FG: A tall order for a writer with an autistic son! At least, in my own experience!

Q: How do you handle criticism?

PC: I’m always open to change. I know that there is always room for growth and improvement in one’s life.

ML: I appreciate (criticism) if it is constructive. If someone were to say, for example: "I don’t like your essay," I would consider it constructive if the statement were followed by "… because of …" " or "… because it is… ."

FG: In the 70s, we had this practice called ‘criticism and self-criticism.’ Now, I review my works based on these options: why consider? why believe? why disregard? Etc, etc… I try not to be disheartened. Being human, I allow myself initial reactions (anger, frustration, etc.) but afterwards, I have this habit of coaching myself, "Keep on dreaming while you may…"

LP: I have a thick skin for criticism, acquired from the many writing workshops I’ve attended. I welcome it; otherwise, how will I learn?