Tag: writing

Writing || The Thing About Fear

It’s a scary thing to begin with, writing. You’re pouring your soul into this piece that other people will end up reading, consuming, absorbing, criticizing. There’s always a hope in there somewhere that someone will fall in love with your words, your story. But along with it is the fear that someone will close your book feeling disappointed.

The standards we set for ourselves as writers, however, are far more terrifying. I used to think it’s the opinion of other people that will hold me back. But right now as I sit here struggling to write this blog entry, not able to write a lick of anything since the day I didn’t finish something I promised I would last April, I’ve been proven wrong.

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The Bye-Bye Bouquet… in paperback?

In case you missed it, my first full-length romance novella went LIVE on Amazon last February 14, 2016. Before I proceed with anything else, I just want to say thank you to those who pre-ordered the e-book, and those who purchased the e-book after it went live. ♥♥♥ I’m currently working on getting the e-book available in other online platforms, but I’m opening the option of holding the actual book in your hands… right now!

If you want a paperback copy of The Bye-Bye Bouquet, fill up the form below. If I get at least 10 orders, I will have the first batch of books printed.

…and I will also love you and appreciate your support oh so very much. 🙂

So flex those fingers and start typing!

Continue reading The Bye-Bye Bouquet… in paperback?

COVER REVEAL + GIVEAWAY || The Bye-Bye Bouquet

It was December 2015 when an idea came to me and never left. The Plot Bunny was so strong, I already had a title and a blurb within hours!

Depending on how you look at it, it was either a smart or a really stupid idea to aim for Valentine’s Day release. I only had one month to finish a fifteen thousand word novella. There were a lot of things going on in my life and there were days when I struggled to write even just a sentence or two.

I still ended up going over by one week but guess what? More than twenty thousand words later, I finished my first ever, full-length romance novella, The Bye-Bye Bouquet. Somebody hold me.

Every month for the past year, like clockwork, Meile Simon has gotten orders at her shop for the same type of bouquet, from the same guy, delivered to twelve different girls. By the third month, she starts to take note.

Warren Leigh likes women. He does. He knows there are too many beautiful women out there just waiting to be plucked by the right guy. But he firmly believes that personal relationships with them must have an expiration date.

When the girl who likes to watch flowers bloom encounters the guy who’s only in it while the fragrance lasts, curiosity gets the best of both of them.

In the midst of intermittent weather, will their connection blossom or wilt?

Continue reading COVER REVEAL + GIVEAWAY || The Bye-Bye Bouquet

StrangeLit: When Filipino Authors Get Fancy

Step 1: Think of a theme.
Step 2: Give it a name.
Step 3: Throw a bunch of Filipino authors in a room and tell them to WRITE.

What happens?

Let me introduce you to the wonderful world of #StrangeLit. Forty-one stories. Four anthologies. You get not one, not two, but ten magical stories (or even eleven for bundle three) for its current introductory price of Php90.00 ($1.99)!

Show your support for this amazing and talented community of Indie Filipino Writers by checking them all out… ♥

 

BUNDLE ONE: Killer Seasons
A werewolf chef, a cursed family, a spell to forget. You’ll meet these and more in the ten stories of the KILLER SEASONS installment of #StrangeLit, featuring:

StrangeLit Killer SeasonsResto Rescue by Maita Rue
The Last Night of Her Wake by Chrissie Peria
House of Silver: A Cursebreaker Novel by C.P. Perez
The Myth Menagerie by Lana Garcia
Vengeance: The Awakening by Arlene Manocot
At The Wishing Well by Amae Dechavez
Intersection by Den Lim
Disappearing Act by Roselle De Guzman
The “Forget You” Brew by Tara Frejas
Aurelia by Japonicus

Download the Buqo app and get this bundle HERE.

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Ain’t No Party Like a #SparkNA Party

June 6. National Bookstore Super Store, Cubao. SparkNA: Last Day.

[ cue orchestra music with matching flashing lights and creepy humming ]

Me, being dramatic: While SparkNA classes were ongoing, it felt like the days were going by so quickly, that two months was way too short to finish a novella. When it was over, I felt as if we’ve all been doing this together for years. And it felt like I was saying goodbye to a bunch of long time friends.

Me, being spazzy: I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT, BUT I FINISHED! 31,000+ words. How even?

Congratulations to all my other classmates who finished, and to those who kept going even when things were going wrong and it was getting difficult to write. Finish it! You can still submit. This isn’t the end. Let’s get that thing out there no matter what! ♥

Me, being sentimental: I took photos, like the stalker that I am. Mostly for those who didn’t come, because reasons.

Me, being realistic: StrangeLit is coming soon, and HeistClub after. No one knows exactly what 2016 has in store for us (except maybe Ms. Mina). But I bet we’ll all be waiting with bated breath, too excited for whatever the next class may be.

And then we’ll be alive on twitter again, stress out again, go nuts again, create another monster out of a hashtag again–it’s going to be EPIC.

For now, let’s chill. Because we can finally get some sleep!

Yeah, no. Who am I kidding? It’s time to plot.

Introducing: The Month-old #SparkNA Monster

March 17. I got my first official e-mail from Ms. Mina with information on what I’m supposed to do to be able to proceed.

This is what it opened with: Thanks for signing up to join SparkNA! We will be writing a New Adult novella together, from April 6 to June 6. Anvil’s Spark Books imprint is sponsoring this online class and they may make an offer to publish and distribute the stories they like. I hope we give them a lot of wonderful books!

I was terrified. I think I said this in my Activity 1 entry, too, how scared I was–and still am.

But thanks to the very supportive #SparkNA tag on twitter (which is also right over there on the right side of the page :p), I discovered that I was not alone in this. Even previously published authors felt the fear, the uncertainty; heard that small voice telling them that going into this might not have been the best idea ever.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all come to the conclusion though that yes, Best. Idea. Ever.

I mean, I never thought I would meet newRunning Word Total (actual, real people) friends, but I did. The friends I went into this with in the beginning, we’ve all learned so much about writing and each other as writers, it’s insane. The thought of writing 20,000 words in 2 months seemed impossible (like, seriously dude, stop playin’), and yet I’m already past the 12,000-word mark in a month!

Great things have happened since I decided to sign-up for SparkNA, and they continue to happen. And it’s amazing.

We all want to finish. I’m sure we all want to get published, too. But after everything that has happened, I don’t think any of us will come out of this experience as losers. We’ve gained more than we expected already.

And no matter what, by June 6, we will all be better (and braver) writers than we were before. ♥