Tag: books

Scenes From The Shredder || No Two Ways, The Party

In my most recent book, No Two Ways, there’s an empty space between AJ buying a dress and AJ heading home (-ish) after Axel’s mom’s party. I swear there was something there when I first wrote this book. But alas, in the process of beta reading and developmental editing, the chapter was removed and replaced with a condensed version. (Yes, it was an entire chapter.)

I loved that moment though. So true to “001.doc 002.doc 003.doc” culture, I didn’t delete it. I just plucked it out and moved it somewhere where all the feelings can remain safe and existing but hidden… until now!

#SparkPlugs || EXCERPT: The Art of Shifting Gears by Chi Yu Rodriguez

First things first: Don’t forget to follow #SparkPlugs on Twitter to see the rest of the Spark Books line-up in this blog series!

Do take that trip to your nearest National Bookstore or Powerbooks or go ONLINE to get your print copy of The Art of Shifting Gears, then add and/or rate it on Goodreads. ♥

See you later at Ayala Museum!

The Art of Shifting Gears by Chi Yu Rodriguez
Rae de los Santos was en route to a perfect adult life. She knew what to major in, she knew what career path she was going to pursue, and she knew who she was going to be with all the way to the realization of her dreams—until her seamless journey made a turn for the unimaginable and skidded to a stop.

All of a sudden she was facing every roadblock possible, and the people she held dear ended up running over her heart.

For a year, she distracted herself with hot lead and burnt rubber, using karting as a lifeline until she was strong enough to face the world that shunned her.

But during Rae’s junior year in college, she was again blindsided by signs that weren’t supposed to be there. Will Rae go full speed ahead? Or will the seduction of the past slow her down?

Excerpt:
Continue reading #SparkPlugs || EXCERPT: The Art of Shifting Gears by Chi Yu Rodriguez

SHAME GAME! (Because social media and fandom be cray.)

[Open to PH residents only.]

Surprise! August isn’t over yet. Which means my birthday month isn’t over yet. Which also means #BuwanNgMgaAkdangPinoy isn’t over yet either. (Let’s be real, every month should be Buwan Ng Mga Akdang Pinoy, yes? YES.)

So here’s another giveaway with books that might introduce you to new feelings along with the #romanceclass feelings you already know (basically all the feelings, okay). These stories are scandelicious!

You know the drill, save the image below:

Iris After The Incident by Mina V. Esguerra + Scandalized by Tara Frejas

Post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ShameGameGiveaway, and tag me @chiyurodriguez. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Monday, August 22, 2016! Go on, gossip about it. Good luck!

GEEKAWAY! (Because why not call it that, sure.)

[Open to PH residents only.]

I’ve pretty much resolved to do whatever the hell I want this month, because it’s my birthday month… also because I’m turning 30 tomorrow. And when you’re about to turn 30 you tend to want to do random shit. (Or that could just be me.)

We’re also celebrating #BuwanNgMgaAkdangPinoy! There are so many Filipino-Authored books out there that you haven’t seen, many of which can make you feel all the things, and these #romanceclass books might be two of those. So save the image below:

Post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hasthtag #GeekawayGiveaway, and tag me @chiyurodriguez. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Monday, August 15, 2016! Chirp, chirp and cheers to your #innerdyromantic! (I’m so making that a thing.)

17 #AprilFEELSDay Feelings

So a Thing happened yesterday. That Thing that everyone had been looking forward to as early as March finally happened… and it was glorious. We got there way too early, and left long after everyone else had gone home. I got home extremely tired, and woke up feeling so sore. It was as if I’d finished a Triathlon!

Honestly, I don’t even know where to start. I thought I was able to process it enough already, having spent until nearly midnight talking to everyone about it. But no, of course not, how could that be possible? After all I am simply a living, breathing, human shaped casing of feels. So let me just express my feelings in a way that I know everyone will be able to understand… here are my 17 moments of feels during #AprilFEELSDay.

Continue reading 17 #AprilFEELSDay Feelings

FEELS: NOTED || The Last Night of Her Wake by Chrissie Peria

Disclaimer: Everything you will read after this will be spoiler-free. This is not an actual review. These are just feelings, put into slightly incoherent words that hopefully make sense enough for you to understand how a certain book affected me. There will be no technical comments, no nitpicking. Just feelings, all the feelings.

Get it on Buqo

First things first: Don’t forget to follow the #StrangeLit blog tours. Which will be going on for the rest of the month!

Do download the Buqo app and purchase your own e-book copy of #StrangeLit Killer Seasons, and rate it on Goodreads. ♥

This story in the #StrangeLit Killer Seasons bundle is one of those stories where… you think you know, but you really have no idea. I mean, the title itself should be self explanatory, right? Someone died. A girl died. It was the last night of her wake and she’s probably not dead. You’re probably going to read a story about how she’s watching over her coffin, spitting out ironic commentary about the people coming to visit.

It’s probably going to be this hilarious story about how the afterlife sucks, told in the point of view of a girl who died.

Well, simply put… NO.

It’s a story about how life sucks, told in the point of view of those who got left behind.

Continue reading FEELS: NOTED || The Last Night of Her Wake by Chrissie Peria

GUEST POST || Personal Taste by Therese Barleta

First things first: Don’t forget to follow the #StrangeLit blog tours. Which will be going on for the rest of the month!

Do download the Buqo app and purchase your own e-book copy of #StrangeLit Darkest Dreams, and rate it on Goodreads. ♥

My featured author for today is Therese Barleta. She’s a good friend–smart, armed with beautiful words, but is one that isn’t very fond of people-ing. (Like me.) So I thought, what better way to open her up to people than to force her to write something that will give everyone else an inside look at that big brain of hers. (There’s also an interview coming up from another friend of ours. We are, as the author will say behind the cut, “sadistic” like that. :p)

Read more to learn about her and her #StrangeLit story, When It Rains In Mystic River.

Continue reading GUEST POST || Personal Taste by Therese Barleta

#StrangeLit Fateful Turns || Excerpts and Things

First things first: Don’t forget to follow the #StrangeLit blog tours. Which will be going on for the rest of the month!

Do download the Buqo app and purchase your own e-book copy of #StrangeLit Fateful Turns, and rate it on Goodreads. ♥

With eleven stories, Fateful Turns is the biggest collection of stories from the #StrangeLit workshop. (Can you say, bargain? ♥♥♥) Behind the cut are a few excerpts from four of those stories. Hopefully, some of the ones you haven’t quite read about yet. 🙂

Continue reading #StrangeLit Fateful Turns || Excerpts and Things

DREAM CAST || In Over Her Head by Anne Plaza

First things first: Don’t forget to follow the #BacklistRevivalProject hashtag, to stay updated on all the books we’ll be bringing back to life this year.

Do rate/review In Over Her Head on Goodreads, or give a shout-out to the author on Twitter and Facebook.

Get the book on Amazon | Smashwords | iBooks

All she wants is to get even…

Erika Apostol’s quiet and unassuming life gets disrupted when she learns that Richard Javier, the very same person who broke her heart many years ago, is now back in the country. Her world is turned upside down as old feelings she thought were buried resurface to haunt her once more.

Determined to give Richard a dose of his own medicine, Erika finds herself involved in an outrageous plan devised by her friends. They enlist the help of Jerome Gonzales, an attractive and charismatic DJ (with a playboy reputation), to pose as her significant other.

As the plan goes in full swing, Erika discovers Richard’s jealous side, and that there’s something more to Jerome than meets the eye. Will this grand charade work out the way it should, or will she be left with nothing in the end?

We read books and as soon as the author starts describing a character so-and-so, we form this image in our head of someone–some familiar or unfamiliar face that becomes our peg for that character. It may not always be the same with everyone else, but we stick to it. Because it makes the character feel more alive in our heads as we read along.

Author Anne Plaza gives us her own Dream Cast for In Over Her Head and it’s nothing if not a whole lot of eye candy. ♥

“When I was writing In Over Her Head for #romanceclass, Mina asked us to come up with character profiles for our stories,” says Anne Plaza. Continue reading DREAM CAST || In Over Her Head by Anne Plaza

FEELS: NOTED || Only A Kiss by Ines Bautista Yao

Get it on Amazon | Buqo | Local bookstores

First things first: Do rate/review Only A Kiss on Goodreads, or give a shout-out to the author on Twitter and Facebook.

When she was nine-years-old, Katie knew she wanted Chris to give her her first kiss. It wasn’t because she was in love with him (no way, he was her best friend! Besides, she was in love with his fourteen-year-old big brother), it was because she could make him do anything she wanted.

Besides, it didn’t really mean anything. It was only a kiss after all.

But then things started to change. They grew up. They parted ways and went to different high schools. And other girls and boys—well, just one particular boy—came into the picture, throwing their lives upside down.

Told from the alternating points of view of Katie and Chris, this love story between two best friends will tug at your heartstrings and leave you thinking how the simplest things can mean so much.

I went back in time, that’s what happened when I read Only A Kiss. I went back to re-live a childhood that wasn’t mine, filled with cotton candy, rainbows, and firsts I never had. From the very beginning, it was wonderful and fluffy and just… see that gifscale up there? Totally accurate.

Continue reading FEELS: NOTED || Only A Kiss by Ines Bautista Yao