Louis Bulaong

Louis Bulaong (born 1996) is a Filipino writer best known for his science fiction novels Escapist Dream and Otaku Girl.

Born in Tacloban City, Philippines, Bulaong began writing as a freelance writer in school newspapers and various websites. His two novels, released between 2020 and 2021, became influential titles in the gamelit and pop culture fiction genres. His works have made him one of the most popular Filipino-Waray writers in modern times.

Biography
Louis Gabriel Bulaong was born on 1996 in Tacloban, Leyte, in the Philippines. Little is known about his early life besides sharing that he grew up with an interest in history, classical novels, and superhero comics. At around 2012, he applied for cadetship in the Philippine Military Academy. In college, Louis Bulaong studied Bachelor of Science in Psychology at St. Scholastica's College Tacloban. He graduated and received his psychometrician license in 2018.

Bulaong began his writing career as a college journalist, fan fiction blogger, and as a freelance writer for gaming websites like WhatCulture. He self-published his first book, Escapist Dream, in 2020 with mixed reception. Critics like Peyton F. panned its peculiar writing style, while others such as author Kayla Krantz praised its themes and representation of geek culture. A sequel was published a year later entitled Otaku Girl, which was received more positively, with journalist Carl Hannigan praising its improved writing and humor.

Bulaong currently works as a jail officer in his province of Leyte. In 2022, he served as a guest speaker for the "Creative Writing Symposium", a writing seminar and workshop held at the University of the Philippines Tacloban.

Writing style
Books written by Louis Bulaong are known for their geeky humor, themes, and extensive inclusion of pop cultural references taken from various media like popular movies, comic books, anime, video games, and other literature. Informal writing in the form of slangs, self-references and memes, is a style he predominantly uses, often for comedic purposes. The author also mostly writes in Filipino-English.

Critic Lenny Machowicz commented in his retrospective about Bulaong's use of free flow speech and emotions, stating, "he knows how to write character reflections and emotional moments", while also describing that Bulaong's writing style is "unique" and "creates this smooth flow of thoughts similar to poetry". Derrick St. Claire also praised Bulaong's artistic use of poetic prose, as well as his style of adding deep symbolism in his references. The themes commonly present in Bulaong's writings are mental health and geek culture. As a psychology graduate, Bulaong tackled issues such as bullying, ostracization, cancel culture, and depression in his stories. His novels are filled with geek-centric terminologies and characters consisting of comic nerds, film buffs, gamers, otakus, bookworms, and others.

Recognition
Louis Bulaong's books were overnight successes, with Otaku Girl becoming the best-selling non-Kindle Unlimited book during its release, selling over 1,000 copies in the first 24 hours. Jake Tatoy from RMN News praised him as one of the most successful Filipino-Waray writers today. Derrick St. Claire of Ezine Articles called Bulaong the "Dean of Pop Culture Fiction".

Nena Jimenez of Pinas ranked Louis Bulaong at number 2 in her "5 Best Modern Filipino Writers", stating, "he is one of the most versatile and emotionally-driven Filipino writers around. Noted for his surrealism and wacky writing, Louis is recognized in the self-publishing industry for his ability to combine multiple popular genres in one amazing story. As a psychology graduate, it seems Louis is one who is also capable of writing about themes of depression, trauma and loneliness very well."

Dustin Kidd praised Bulaong's Escapist Dream in his academic non-fiction book Pop Culture Freaks: Identity, Mass Media, and Society. In his book, he noted the author's ability to integrate "large amounts of pop culture references in the story”, while also adding that these references "both described and satirized geeks in a humorous and intellectual way". Kidd described Escapist Dream as the "The Great Gatsby of Pop Culture Fiction."

Popular titles

 * Escapist Dream (2020)
 * Otaku Girl (2021)

Other works

 * Bandido: The Story of the Most Notorious Filipino Gang (2020)
 * Dark Folk Tales From The Philippine Countryside (2024)
 * To My Love Love: A Tribute To The Most Wonderful Girlfriend In The World By Her Super Geeky Boyfriend (2024)