Mina V. Esguerra's Blog, page 30
January 16, 2016
#romanceclass podcast episode 5: COVER (STORY) GIRL excerpt read by Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates
Chris Mariano’s book Cover (Story) Girl was a fun choice for this podcast because it remains one of the few contemporary romance books by a Filipino author that gives us the male point of view–as of right now anyway. Gio (the guy’s name in the book is actually Gio) is our narrator and guide throughout the story, and Min Hee is the mysterious person whose life and intentions we’re made to discover. This chapter reading was a hit when Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates performed it for the first time to a small group of authors; I hope they give you the same feels in this extended version.
Something I’d like to add by the way, is that Gio and Rachel can do voices. They can do something as small as a subtle change in the reading so that the line has a different feel, or they can do an entirely different accent and have you think they’re some other character all together. Gio does two voices here, and in theory they could do more, but on the production side we decided not to go all out on that, so listeners don’t get distracted.
So how much do you want to take Gio up on his beach tour offer now? And don’t forget to join the giveaway!
January 9, 2016
#romanceclass podcast episode 4: SONGS OF OUR BREAKUP excerpt read by Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates
The #romanceclass podcast is back from its holiday break with a scene from Songs of Our Breakup by indie author Jay E. Tria. Jay’s books haven’t been out that long but the reviews and reader love make it seem as if she’s been around for years. We hope this scene captures the reason why.
We changed it up a bit in this episode, if you’ve been following the podcast. At rehearsal we asked if Gio could try being the narrator, and he did a full reading of the entire scene on his own. Doing all the characters, different voices. It was cool (because he’s a great actor duh) and from there we figured out how he could be both the narrator and the love interest, heartthrob actor Shinta. So in the episode you’ll hear, Gio is the narrator, and also Shinta, and Rachel is the main character Jill in dialogue, but we also use her voice when it’s Jill’s inner thoughts. There’s also a walk in the rain, abs, and ice cream. Does it all sound yummy enough?
What did you think of how we changed it up? Here’s a bonus treat: Watch Rachel and Gio perform this scene at the Filipino Readercon.
January 5, 2016
#romanceclass 2016, anyone?
So maybe we can do this again, because it’s been a while and we’ve learned a lot since we first did this, and the publishing industry has changed a bit or a lot. Time for an update?
#romanceclass
When: March to May 2016
Where: Online, mostly. (Facebook, Twitter, email)
What will we write: Contemporary romance, in English, minimum 30,000 words, steam optional, Philippine setting preferred, must be ready to publish indie-style if you make it all the way to end.
How to join:
1. Buy and read a copy of the #romanceclass textbook. There are no print editions available in the Philippines.
Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/l/MDqis
Buqo: http://bit.ly/rctextbook-buqo
2. Buy and read at least 3 of my books. Which ones? The ones that you feel will be helpful to you, based on the book descriptions.
Ebook editions: Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo Smashwords Apple iBooks Google Play Flipreads buqo
Print editions: The Book Depository National Bookstore Direct Order
3. Buy and read at least 3 contemporary romance books by Filipino indie authors, in particular the ones listed here: romanceclassbooks.com. Which ones? The ones that you feel will be helpful to you, based on the book descriptions.
After reading all of that, and you feel that this is still something you want to do, then email minavesguerra@gmail.com with photos of your books and receipts. (There should be at least 7 books + receipts if you have everything. If you already have copies from before and lost the receipts, then photos will do.) Include in your email a short reaction to the books you’ve just read, and what you want the manuscript you’re writing for this class to be about. Please take the time to write this and make sure it shows a good grasp of grammar. As with my other classes, this is not a basic writing or grammar class, and I will not be taking on participants who need help in this area.
You’ll get email confirmation soon after. And then…start thinking romantic thoughts. For research! For writing!
January 3, 2016
#romanceclass podcast extra: Interview with Ana Tejano, author of FALL LIKE RAIN
We’re taking a little break from the romance novel excerpts this week to bring you a quick interview with Ana Tejano, author of the featured book for episode 1, Fall Like Rain.
Giveaway ongoing!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
January 2, 2016
How to share the love (helping #romanceclass and Filipino indie authors)
First of all, thank you for being interested enough to read this page. The #romanceclass community of authors is a group that came out of the free class I ran in 2013, meant to encourage Filipino readers of chick lit and contemporary romance to start writing and publishing their own stories. “romanceclass” was the hashtag used to informally discuss things with each other over Twitter, and it stuck. That time, 100 people signed up, and 16 authors completed a contemporary romance novella. They’ve since gone on to write more, publish, get publishing deals…and we continue to support each other on social media and everywhere else.
More authors have since joined us, through more classes, or just from interacting with us online. We’ve set up romanceclassbooks.com to showcase what the authors are writing and publishing. Most of us are indies, but even the traditionally-published authors need help getting the word out about their books. But we do this for each other because we read each others’ books anyway and it’s a natural thing, to share books you enjoy.
If you’re a reader in the Philippines or anywhere else in the world, and you want to help out too, here are some ways. (And please remember that no one ever has to do this. You are not required! Do only what feels right to you.)
1. Read the books
Most of us write romance, in English. Some with Filipino characters. Some with non-Filipino characters. Some are branching out into fantasy/crime/scifi, but most will be contemporary romance. There’s some steamy, some non-steamy adult, some YA. Check out the blurbs and start with what speaks to you the most. Please please don’t treat this as “required reading” — we wrote this for fun and feels. We’d love for readers to approach them that way too. If it helps, know that we don’t expect you to love every single book. But we hope you find one that really speaks to you and support that author and similar books.
2. When you find a book or author you love, talk about them! Post on social media. Blog about the author and book!
Because the best “marketing” is a happy reader, we’ve learned every single time. If you’re interested in blogging about the books, digital review copies are available from the author. If you just want to discuss things tag me @minavesguerra or use #romanceclass so we can find it!
3. Send the books as gifts!
All the published stories are available as ebooks. Those on Amazon can be sent as gifts to friends, and they won’t be more than $2.99 usually. Some authors have put in the time to get indie print editions done and those range in price from P180 to P300. prints.romanceclassbooks.com has a list of what’s in print. If you aren’t in the Philippines, some of us have our print books available worldwide through Amazon and Book Depository.
4. If you haven’t found an author to support yet, maybe support everyone?
Periodically tweeting, RTing, FB sharing of the main website romanceclassbooks.com or the different books featured, that’s helpful too.
5. Create or organize things that encourage reading and supporting the books.
Currently, we have people who
– sell our books in fairs
– organize blog tours for new releases
– assign the books for school reports or book clubs
– place orders so our books can be in school or neighborhood libraries
– produce podcasts and live readings so the books can be experienced in a different way by other audiences
– create graphic teasers and quote cards featuring lines from the books, for posting on Instagram and other social media
– make shirts and other merchandise for fans of the books
– invite us to school events and literary festivals so we can talk about writing and publishing and the books
You can join in on any of these, or volunteer to start your own, or suggest a totally new thing that we can help with, that matches your own interests and what you’d like to do.
6. Write and publish too
Yes please! We’re always looking for the next fun thing to read.
January 1, 2016
Interim Goddess of Love trilogy [For Students, Teachers, Schools]
My YA fantasy romance series Interim Goddess of Love is a retelling of the Maria Makiling and includes modernized Philippine myths. When asked which books of mine can be read by high school or college level students, this is what I recommend.
The books are available everywhere and are always in stock! How to get copies:
buqo app (ebook edition, pay with credit cards, Paypal, cash over the counter, or Smart/Sun load)
Smashwords (ebook edition, pay with credit cards or Paypal)
Amazon (ebook edition, pay with credit card)
Book Depository (print edition, free shipping worldwide, pay with credit cards or Paypal)
Free options:
Wattpad (free to read, Wattpad account and follow required to read last 3 chapters of all books)
Contact me at minavesguerra at gmail if you don’t have access to the payment options or would like some donated copies for your book club, school, library, class, or reading group. I donate books every year and will prioritize those who ask me personally for copies. Thanks!
December 29, 2015
Historical Romance set in the Philippines [Also, Under the Sugar Sun by Jennifer Hallock]
I have a wish list of books that I need to exist. Whenever I get in this mood, my first instinct is to try and write it myself, and then when the wall hits that’s of course when I learn that just because I want it to exist, doesn’t mean I’m the best person to write it. So I talk about it, so maybe I can will it into existence, or be told that it already was written and here’s the link.
Anyway, lately, the wish list:
1. Historical romance set in the Philippines. Because many Filipinos like to read historical romance, but we have almost none set in the country, written in the same style.
2. Historical fiction set in the American period (turn of the 20th century). When I was brainstorming with my husband which period a historical romance set in the Philippines could take place in, he suggested this, and I agreed. My grandmothers grew up in this window of history and were the first in their families to get a college education, and work before marrying. Anyway — a great time, and many stories to tell.
3. Sugar families. Katrina Ramos Atienza (whose family is from Negros Occidental) and I tried to do this, and we have a full outline for something but life happened so we’re not done yet. But plot bunnies abound for romance and YA.
And then author Jennifer Hallock and I started talking online, and she told me about the book she had written.
Under the Sugar Sun by Jennifer Hallock [Amazon link]
A schoolmarm, a sugar baron, and a soldier…
It is 1902 and Georgina Potter has followed her fiancé to the Philippines, the most remote outpost of America’s fledgling empire. But Georgina has a purpose in mind beyond marriage: her real mission is to find her brother Ben, who has disappeared into the abyss of the Philippine-American War.
To navigate the Islands’ troubled waters, Georgina enlists the aid of local sugar baron Javier Altarejos. But nothing is as it seems, and the price of Javier’s help may be more than Georgina can bear.
I bought it immediately. And started reading it too. It’s exciting to see someone actually do this! I may host a discussion on this soon, and I’ll blog about it when it happens.
Here are my thoughts on the book, posted on Facebook the day I finished reading it. Bear in mind that I’ve made a decision not to do straight-up reviews of books (I find it easier to help people to publish when I’m not also seen as a critic or gatekeeper), but that hasn’t kept me from having opinions about books, or from sharing them if I’m asked. So this will read more like a reaction and reflection, with exclamation points:
Oh my god this book!
Kept shuffling back and forth in my thoughts of this, like one side of me is the historical romance reader who likes rom-commy/modern-bordering-on-anachronistic style [to clarify: this book is not so much rom-commy], and the other side of me is the Filipino who understands the other layer and is unconsciously looking for what feels right and what doesn’t. But then, let’s say at 38%, it all kicks in for me, and I realized how I could be both.
Anyway, given that: JAVIER. Juskolord. (“Hay sus.”) Would not have believed it but there it is, Pinoy-style “ligaw” in an international romance book, but with a twist because romance heroes always and must do it better. And I’m usually not into the high-stakes romance because my heart doesn’t want to handle it, but this guy. I’ve not felt more sorry for a romance hero when it comes to that part when he decides what to give up. I’m also usually very generous and forgiving toward a romance heroine however she’s written but GOD almighty I wanted Georgie to wake up already.
Is it because it’s all closer to home? Is it because I find the whole thing, even if we get our HEA, bittersweet given the likely outcome in the years that followed? Shouldn’t that be part of every historical romance story anyway, that these are people whose HEAs still bring them right in the path of some war, tragedy, loss? Why am I feeling it more here??? (Because it’s Pinoy and it’s personal?)
There’s a lot of history in this historical romance (and despite the banter that helped anchor me to this, the history may be too much for some) but I love that so I wanted that. There’s also a lot of setting, way more than we get usually, but for a reason, and I’m not sure how that would seem to a casual reader, because the commitment to place and how unfamiliar it can be is a main part of the conflict. I like how there’s a lot of layers to the characters too — I was asked on Twitter if I found the book “respectful of the culture” and I found it difficult to answer in 140 characters, because what is the culture? It’s an American/Catholic heroine, a Filipino mestizo hero, the Chinese, the Filipinos, and there’s ugly and heroic and self-serving and decent in everyone. There are things that sting, sure, not that I was bothered by it.
Jennifer Hallock’s next book (there’s a preview at the end of this one) is historical Manila. YAY. Buying that when it comes out!
December 26, 2015
#romanceclass podcast episode 3: BLAST FROM TWO PASTS excerpt read by Rachel Coates and Gio Gahol
The third episode features a scene from Blast From Two Pasts, a romance novel by author Kristel S. Villar. It’s an indie release, available in ebook and print, and it isn’t in mainstream bookstores just yet. If there’s anything that excites me about doing this podcast, it’s that we can showcase indie books that are loved by readers. Kristel’s book has its share of fans and loyal readers — go listen, and we hope we brought Lucas and Cara to life in the best way possible. (And then go get the book!)
I chose this scene for Gio and Rachel to do because it seemed like an interesting, packed chapter. If this were a movie it would be a montage, and we’d see quick cuts of their amusement park date, as they go from one attraction to another. There’s also a nice range to this, because we get to hear Gio/Lucas be scared and teasing, and later, tender. Rachel/Cara gets to be jokey and fun, and later, swoony. Gio throws himself into this and that was fun even during rehearsal. Rachel changes gears and slows it down near the end but you don’t feel it as abrupt, even when you’ve only been listening for less than ten minutes.
What was your favorite line? 
Join the giveaway, by the way! You could win the books in print, or ebook editions, or a guest pass to the next live reading!
December 23, 2015
My new book The Future Chosen, soon on Radish Fiction
Andres and Lourdes board on Pinterest
A few years ago, I began writing the story of young, future politicians Andres and Lourdes. (Read the short story “Extraordinary” on Clara Romance Journal.) This is a bit different from my usual romance books, first of all because Andres and Lourdes live in Isla, a country that doesn’t exactly exist. But they’re in love, and they can’t marry, because Isla has a law: no two politicians from the same family.
Their story “Extraordinary” starts in college, and continues in three parts. Part 1 is called “Broken,” part 2 is “Lying Season,” and part 3 is “In Fair Isla.” The full book is called The Future Chosen, and it will be serialized on the new Radish Fiction app starting in February 2016, before going up for sale elsewhere.
To get updates and to read it first, go sign up here: http://radishfiction.com/?a=Mina+Esguerra
Thank you! So excited about this!
December 22, 2015
Buy #romanceclass podcast season 1 in mp3
How fun is the #romanceclass podcast so far?! How about buying the entire first season? You’ll get it in mp3 format, with extras!
The podcast is available on YouTube and iTunes, but purchasing the entire season here on Gumroad helps the authors, the podcast producers, and the actors. And maybe we’ll make more of these? If you live in Manila and would like to attend a live reading and meet the authors and actors, then this purchase may just be even more exciting, because you’ll get a guest pass to the next one.
Season 1’s readings were performed by theater actors Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates.
The #romanceclass podcast was produced by Tania Arpa and Mina V. Esguerra.
Preorder price is $4.99. Regular price of $8.99 starts in January 2016. Thank you!
