Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach is experiencing many firsts with the new crown she’s wearing as an international author. The pandemic caused the launch of her debut novel, Queen of the Universe, to be put on hold. But now, the stars have finally aligned to let her into a whole new universe she used to only look at from afar.

Pia is on a high but, at the same time, her new experiences can now serve as further reminders to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground. After all, her story of persistence back when she was an aspiring beauty queen and her humility even after a historic win at Miss Universe has inspired many.

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Her story is worth retelling, and Pia had the brilliant idea of indirectly sharing parts of her journey through a fiction novel that mirrors her real experiences. Pia veered away from the autobiographical genre, saying, “Initially, the idea was to come up with a book of my life story, but I felt like I’m not finished yet with my life. I don’t want to put it in a book yet. I wouldn’t know how to end. Is it just gonna be a blank page? How? But definitely, I wanna share a story, some life lessons,” she said back in 2019 when the start of this project was announced.

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Queen of the Universe (published by Tuttle Publishing in collaboration with ABS-CBN Books) was finally released in September at the Manila International Book Fair, and the event was just the start of many similar events that she now wants to fill up her calendar with. The project overlapped with the pandemic, and she could’ve released the book during the peak of the global health crisis but she preferred to wait it out. “We planned this back in 2019. We were ready to launch in 2020,” Pia shared. “We decided to put things on hold, but good things take time. So now, we’re here. Fast forward to now, the book is finally out.”

Pia’s book took the No. 1 spot in National Book Store’s Best Sellers list (Fiction - International Publication) for the month of October.

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Doing book signing events is among the fun aspects of an author’s life, and Pia is hyped up to meet her readers. “The book tours are my favorite part. This is why I wanted to delay the launch of the book because I wanted to do in-person experiences with my fans and followers. It wouldn’t be complete if I don’t do the meet-and-greets in person, if I don’t do the book signings in person and maybe read a few chapters of the book, so this is one of the best experiences ever. I love seeing people’s reactions. I love talking to them. I love signing their books. It’s just a great experience.”

Pia is collecting new memories from her close encounters with her fans. She talks to them, but she also listens to their stories. “I get really kilig when they tell me that they’ve read the book because it means that they didn’t just buy it, they actually took the time to read it and I also really appreciate it when I… ’cause I usually have a moment to speak to them, kahit saglit lang, I get to speak to everybody who has a copy of the book when we do a meet-and-greet and a book signing,” Pia said. Pia just held her first international book signing event at the Design Orchard in Singapore last November 5 (check out the gallery below for photos from this event).

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Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

- Ms. Joy Anne Lai (Consul), Pia, Dr Emmanuel R Fernandez (Deputy Head of Mission & Consul General / Charge d'Affaires)Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

- Pia with ABS-CBN Books Head Mark YambotCourtesy of ABS-CBN Books

- ABS-CBN Books head Mark Yambot with Julynn Tay (Design Orchard General Manager), Pia, and Francis Ong (Sales Manager of Tuttle Publishing)Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

Courtesy of ABS-CBN Books

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Of her encounters with her fans and readers, she cited one story that tugged at her heartstrings. She recalled, “One of the moments that really stood out to me was there was this little girl and she was wearing a pink Filipiniana that she designed. And I was like, ‘Wow, you match with the color of the book.’ So, we took a photo together. It was such a sweet moment, and before she left, she slipped a note and said, ‘Read it when you finish the book signing.’ It was kind of a lengthy letter as well. So I said, ‘Okay, I’ll read it later.’ I had a moment back in my hotel room afterward. And basically, she mentioned that I inspired her because she’s been trying to be the student leader for a few years, but she kept failing. But she tried and tried and she wanted to pursue fashion design also and some people were discouraging her with that as well. And she just didn’t give up on her dreams. And finally, she became a student leader. She’s also a fashion designer. She designed the Filipiniana she was wearing at the book signing event and she’s also going to be one of the speakers at the Yale Model United Nations 50.

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“So, this is the kind of story that really inspires me because I feel like me sharing my personal life stories or even Cleo’s story is inspiring somebody else to pursue their dream. That makes me feel like I’m doing my job. So, that’s one of the moments that really stood out. She also gave me a little bracelet in pink, a friendship bracelet that says ‘Filipina’ and it’s her little business. So, she’s also an entrepreneur, and that makes me very proud.

“Those moments are what I really look forward to because imagine if I decided to launch this during the pandemic, I wouldn’t be able to hear these stories. So, the timing was perfect. The timing of everything was great. Definitely worth the wait!”

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Lead photos from @piawurtzbach

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