Mina V. Esguerra's Blog, page 7

Launched at MIBF 2023: Blush Books (Komiket x RomanceClass)

We launched a new romance imprint this weekend at #MIBF2023: BLUSH BOOKS by @komiketph and @romanceclassbooks are new editions of #RomanceClass books, with art by Komiket’s community of talented artists. Very thankful for the support Paolo Herras, Rome, Aiza, Elisse, Gio, Shaira, and everyone at Komiket who contributed to making these gorgeous books.

Thank you Betsy Cola and Haranikala for sharing your time and talent

Thank you Brij Bautista, Danice Sison, Dawn Lanuza for letting us work on these new editions

Thank you Gio Gahol, Rachel Coates, and Jade Albert, for bringing the characters to life

How are these books different from their first editions? New cover art, inside illustrations, an updated layout, a larger print run, and wider distribution in the Philippines.

(So yeah, no ebook edition for this. All digital and worldwide print editions of the books will still be the original author-pubbed ones.)

Will there be more Blush Books? Yes! Watch out for the Blush Books edition of Filipino Readers’ Choice Award winning You Out of Nowhere by Jay E. Tria, which will have art by Shai San Jose.

How does a book get considered for Blush Books? Write a #RomanceClass book! Follow our editorial guidelines and the way we prioritize readers in our process. Textbook at gum.co/romanceclass and snack.ph/minavesguerrabooks

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No Strings Attached (2023 cover)

No Strings Attached, first released in 2010, has a 2023 cover! I am having 8 of my Chic Manila books redesigned, and I’m excited to see these as a complete set.

Designed by Tania Arpa, photographed by Chi Yu Rodriguez, featuring cover model Marynor Madamesila.

Carla’s 29 and a whiz at her job: she’s efficient, reliable, and a total genius when it comes to putting something together at the last minute. Her dating life is practically nonexistent though, and everyone has an opinion about that. Her girl best friend (who’s married) keeps trying to set her up with stable banker-types, while her guy best friend (single and proud of it) encourages her to play the field–no strings attached.

Then Carla meets hot, smug, sexy Dante, and he’s everything she didn’t know she liked. He’s also five years younger, and she thinks it makes him perfect for the non-relationship she had in mind. What happens to that plan when he thinks he’s met the one for him at 24?

No Strings Attached book description

Buy the book: Amazon | Gumroad | Snack | Google Play | Smashwords | Ko-fi | Kobo | Apple Books | Buy direct from me

If you own ANY previous edition, you can get a free digital copy of this new one! Just email photo proof (selfie with the book etc) to minavesguerrabooks at gmail dot com.

No Strings Attached was first published by Summit Books (my publisher in the Philippines) in 2010. This was my third book, still in “chick lit” style. This is special to me because I consider this the book when I figured out what I wanted to say. As a Filipino author writing this in particular.

It has my first recurring character – Anton (from Fairy Tale Fail my 2nd book), but called Tonio here all throughout because Pinoy nickname rules mean you are known by an entirely different name in a different context. (He gets his own book in That Kind of Guy.)

It has the first instance of my main character telling herself (in so doing, telling the reader and this environment in general), that there are things she doesn’t have to do.

20+ books I’ve written after will be variations of this message.

Back then (in my Summit chick lit era) I knew I had a page limit and this manuscript was way over that. Rather than trim it before submitting, I sent it to my editor and publisher as is, so at least any cuts would be up to them.

They wanted to keep it intact. “We’ll make it work in layout!”

When I read it now it feels like Early Me but it’s also a reminder of when I knew what I wanted my books to say and feel like.

I get lovely reader feedback in general but this email from 2011, about No Strings Attached, is one of the coolest.

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Welcome to Envy Park (2023 cover)

My book Welcome to Envy Park, first released in 2013, has a new cover in 2023.

Designed by Tania Arpa, photographed by Chi Yu Rodriguez, featuring model Mela Serranilla. This is the first of several cover changes — eight actually! I will be changing the covers for 8 of my Chic Manila books. It just happened that I’ve run out of print copies of Welcome to Envy Park, and it’s turned 10 this year, and it seemed like a great time to start with this one.

Moira Vasquez is a doer. A planner. A get-up-and-goer. At twenty-two, she left her hometown to work in Singapore, to satisfy a need to travel as well as give her savings account a boost. Five years later and she’s back in Manila, with a shiny new apartment to her name, but no job, no career, no boyfriend. She meets Ethan Lorenzo, the quiet hunk of an IT consultant on the ninth floor of her condo building, and he’s a welcome distraction during this period of having absolutely nothing going on in her life.  

But she has a plan—of course she does—and this is just a short layover on the way to the next country, the next job, the next big thing. Or will she be missing out on something great that’s already there?

Welcome to Envy Park book description

Buy the book: Amazon | Gumroad | Snack | Google Play | Smashwords | Ko-fi

If you own ANY previous edition, you can get a free digital copy of this new one! Just email photo proof (selfie with the book etc) to minavesguerrabooks at gmail dot com.

I’m glad I wrote this book when I wrote it, because it captured a lot of what my friends and I were feeling at the time. If it feels like there are a lot of people in this book (more than my usual set of characters in my books), it’s because this was one story where I tried to capture all the people who would have something to say about this demographic working abroad and coming home. I also wanted to describe what this situation felt like, to differentiate it from the conversations that the generation of our parents (or older siblings even) were having.

And then I was actually living at “NV Park” at the time (if you know), and there were too many micro-stories in my head. Would never become full books but I just wanted to be able to introduce them. (Matilda, JM, all of you in the background.)

Of the three friends I dedicated this book to: eventually one moved back to Manila, one lived in Thailand after Singapore, one is still in Singapore. I had to choose one path for Moira in the book but they ended up living all her choices. I don’t live in “NV Park” anymore but I do miss it.

Thank you to the readers who read this, and got what I was trying to say. It’s nice to look back at this and know we understood each other! Ten years later my thoughts are about other things, and I’m reminded to try and be able to capture all of this in the moment.

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A word to think about (but maybe not use a lot)

There’s a word that seems fairly obvious for me to use when talking about this book in the marketing of it, that I haven’t been using. (As a self-publisher I get to decide how this book is marketed, from tweets to tags, and the omission of the word has been deliberate yes, but not due to a rule that I’ve written down. I don’t mind if other people use it when talking about the book, but I want to think about what I mean when I say it.)

“Virgin” appears only once in the entire book.

The book is about a main character (the “forty-one year old virgin”) asking an old friend who has had more sexual experience to be her first partner. If you’ve been reading my books, you might know this but here I am confirming it — I very rarely write about first-time sex. Of the more than 20 stories I’ve written where the characters have sex, only 2 depict someone’s “first time.”

I very rarely write “virgins” (who eventually have sex in the story).

It’s recorded in one of the Kilig Cafe Twitch livestreams, the moment when I realized that I was writing First Time for Everything without actually using “virginity” or other words that we usually see with depicting first-time sex. I took note of it and then continued writing it, without changing the way I was going to not include those words, but I knew I was going to have to write this post eventually and explain why.

One of the ways that I think I contribute to the world of stories, as a Filipino romance writer, is the depiction of Filipinos who actually have sex. I was lucky to have had a book published where this perspective was respected and supported, not toned down or edited out, and then encouraged further by having readers get in touch with me and say they loved it.

I could write a paper about how most stories that include sex and Filipino characters are absolutely Not For Me. There’s so much judgment and punishment and guilt, often wrapped in marketing that makes one think finally these desires are explored without all of it. Often that’s in the marketing and the first and second acts in the story. The third act is when it all comes down to ruin and shame.

I don’t/won’t do that and that entails a lot of thinking about the words that are used to take us in thinking that the story is for us, and maybe not using those words.

Or maybe using them once just so we’re clear and then moving on.

This is an ongoing (maybe career-long) conversation for me, for us. Thank you for participating.

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First Time for Everything (Cafe Titas #1)

Hello to my 28th book! Available on July 1, First Time for Everything is the first book of a series I’m now calling “Cafe Titas.” Here’s what it’s about:

During lockdown, good friends Sabrina and Victor spent a few days together in the same apartment. She was starting a cafe; he was teaching her some of his family’s recipes. They made sandwiches, then made out, and almost had sex. At 39 years old, it would have been her first time. She panicked, fled, and did not return any of his calls or messages. 

That night looked like a rejection, but Victor was never mad at Sabrina about it. They’d known each other for a long time, and if anything had happened he would have failed a relationship anyway. He was already everything to everyone, from keeping the family business running, to being the reliable eldest son while the world was seemingly on fire. No time to fall in love, even with one of his favorite people. 

Two years later, Victor gets a call from Sabrina who asks if they could possibly try again. Which part? Everything.

Buy links: Amazon | Gumroad | Snack | Google Play | Kobo | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Scribd | Overdrive | Smashwords

The cover features new art by Shai San Jose, and design by Tania Arpa. The Philippine print edition will have the full cover art as a full-color glossy insert, and can be ordered from here: minavesguerra.com/buy. International print edition available at your preferred retailers!

The book is set in 2023 but my 40-something characters met and fell in love when they were in college, so I wrote along to a lot of music from a certain time. Here’s a playlist on YouTube Music:

Erika’s story is next! Excited to be working on book 29!

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When you know and love a thing [Post-Philippine Book Festival Manila]

My buena mano sale at the recent Philippine Book Festival (World Trade Center Manila, June 2 to 4) happened while I was still setting up our table at the Savage Mind booth. Someone from the book industry who was there early for the opening ceremony dropped by, saw our setup, and said he wanted something for his daughter who was 14, liked to read YA, read mainly in English. No problem po–#RomanceClass had several YA books in print in stock and he eventually chose Heartstruck (teen arnisadors) and My Quarantine Diary (first love over online class during lockdown).

Being at a book fair in person, for the 8 to 10 hours per day that someone needs to be there, is not a joke. It’s a commitment, but also not everyone gets to be given that chance at all. If I had the time and the energy I would do it, and I saved my energy for this one.

RomanceClass is a community that encourages authors to start with the story, instead of the social media footprint the book or the author might have. We’re still one of those spaces where an author can be supported and read even if they have no social media following or internet buzz. Remember how publishing used to be? LOL. Consequently our selling table is occupied by books that did not go popular online first, or weren’t propelled into publication by virality. But for sure they are going to be so loved by someone once they find out that the book exists.

I’m so sure because I see it all the time. It’s why I love being book fair tindera. Someone said “I want love triangles!” and we sold her a copy of Waiting in the Wings. Someone stood in front of our queer romance display and asked if the books had a happy ending and we said yes these have HEA. We had a quick conversation with the ambassador from Hungary about the HEA and why “always dying for love” is not always the best thing for our stories — and IMO our view of the world and life.

Here’s a tip from me to any author trying to sell a (new) book at this time: You need people like me. What I mean by that is, you need someone who will champion your book in spaces where readers have many, many options. It doesn’t have to be me because I don’t have limitless time and energy, and I also can’t be in all places at once. You find people who are willing to do that for you, when you start doing that for other people.

It sounds like I’m suggesting a transaction and if only it were that simple — I only recommend books I love and care about. If you believe and care about the same things I do, and you also read and enjoy the same things, we will be doing this for each other anyway. That’s just…recommending books you love. Being part of a community of readers and writers. Contributing to our culture of storytelling and reading. Knowing where your book is, in the universe of Filipino literature.

By now I don’t feel the pressure to take this on all by myself because RomanceClass authors, especially the ones who volunteer to sell at fairs, actually know how to do this too. I can leave the table and know that if someone wanders over asking for a…single-parent romance, or a beach romance, or a hate-to-love romance, that reader will get the book they’re looking for.

Oh and the new cool thing that happened this time around? Someone came over to our booth knowing of one author (like Carla, Six, Ines, me) and then browsed/bought books by other authors after. YES THIS IS EXACTLY what being a writing community is about! Every author is the gateway to all.

I’ve heard it’s best if fellow Filipino authors who are delegates at international book fairs are knowledgeable about large parts of the country’s catalogue, and not just their own books. Sometimes what someone needs is what someone else has written. How do we recommend something if we don’t know what else our community has made? Be a reader and a participant in the community, alongside your journey as author and someone who wants their book to sell.

Sesame Street outro voice: RomanceClass at Philippine Book Festival was brought to you by the National Book Development Board (thank you, Executive Director Charisse Aquino-Tugade and team!), Savage Mind Bookshop of Bicol (thank you, Kristian Cordero and team!), and Komiket Philippines (thank you Paolo Herras, Rome Sale, Aiza Elpedes and team!). Salamat sa suporta!

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Writing romance when your setting has no divorce

There is no divorce in the Philippines. Yes, marriages can be annulled, there are some alternatives which include legal separation, there are also situations where a divorce will be recognized, but in general, there is no divorce in the Philippines. (Also read: “Ending a Marriage in the Only Country That Bans Divorce“)

This is just one of the things that, growing up Filipino, I knew and built an entire life around and didn’t necessarily think about too much. Now that I am thinking about it, it absolutely does affect how I write romance and comment on the work of others, especially as founder of a community of romance writers.

How does it show up in my work?

1. I don’t consider a proposal or a wedding an essential part of the Happily Ever After. This doesn’t mean other Filipinos will accept this too or write their romance the same way; this culture still expects marriage despite not having divorce. But personally I use my stories to push back at a lot of things about this culture and this is one of those things.

2. A few of my main characters do end up married and now I’m thinking about why I chose them for that. Manolo (of Kimmy and Manolo in Love Your Frenemies) has generational wealth. Julie (of Julie and Anton in That Kind of Guy) is at heart a girl who values marriage and would want it. Again I didn’t have “there’s no divorce” in mind as I wrote about these marriages happening but here they are.

3. My stories and other RomanceClass stories have characters who are legally married to but separated from their partners. They’re all over our books as people of these circumstances are in our lives. In some cases like Kimmy and her mother’s financial situation in Love Your Frenemies, their lives are affected within the story but the text doesn’t explain how Kimmy’s parents being not-divorced is a factor. (I don’t think Filipino authors should worry about explaining in our books how we don’t have divorce, if we’re writing for Filipinos. We know!)

4. I am and have been that person who looks at story pitch with a forced or arranged marriage trope (with Filipino characters) and goes, “Really?” (skeptical) But it is common for Filipinos to write it, so common that I’m now ready with a list of questions to ask, if an author really wants to do this. There are many books and stories from local publishers and online spaces about forced marriages, some involving minors, some involving adults, where the circumstances qualify as financial abuse. I just think that if we recognize that situation is a problem, then divorce would have been one solution that would give our characters some agency. But we don’t actually have divorce as a solution, so what are we really doing when we frame that situation as a romance? An author ideally should be approaching this with care and intention.

Legalizing divorce is still a heated topic and I’m not sure if I’ll see it happen soon. Until we have better laws, this will probably explain why my books are mostly HEA without weddings and it’s still fine, their love is very real.

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Where is romance happening? RomanceClass Books all over the map

Our row of booths at the Philippine Book Festival (where we’re hosted by Bicol indie bookshop Savage Mind), plans to highlight books about the regions. At RomanceClass we’ve always encouraged authors to write about their favorite places in the country — even/especially if that place is not Metro Manila. We’ve done a livestream talking about writing the Philippines as a romance setting. Using the travel map that got popular a few weeks ago, here’s a map of where RomanceClass has visited (so to speak):

And here are some of those books set around the Philippines:

Cover (Story) Girl by Chris Mariano (Kalibo, Boracay)

Vlog Like You Love Me by Clarisse David (Iloilo)

Feels Like Home by Angel C. Aquino (Pampanga, Metro Manila)

Maybe This Time by C.P. Santi (Misamis Occidental, Metro Manila)

Dare to Love by C.P. Santi (Ilocos Sur, Bohol, Laguna)

When Sparks Fly by Ines Bautista-Yao (Silay City Negros Occidental, Metro Manila)

Promdi Heart by Ines Bautista-Yao, Jay E. Tria, Agay Llanera, C.P. Santi, Georgette S. Gonzales, Chris Mariano (Aklan, Misamis Occidental, Negros Occidental, Bulacan, Ilocos Sur, Zambales)

Take Two by Kaith C. Cimafranca (Dumaguete, Canada)

Field Guide: Love and Other Natural Disasters by Six de los Reyes (West Philippine Sea, Metro Manila)

Interim Goddess of Love by Mina V. Esguerra (Laguna, Naga, Metro Manila)

RomanceClass Books will be available at the Philippine Book Festival! Look for us at booths T40-43, with Savage Mind Bookshop.

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Philippine Book Festival [June 2 to 4 World Trade Center Manila]

My books and RomanceClass books will be available at the Philippine Book Festival, World Trade Center Manila, June 2 to 4!

RomanceClass will have its own booth (look for us at T40-43, we’ll be with Savage Mind Bookshop and Mt Cloud) and these authors are signing in the afternoon of June 3 Saturday:

Tara Frejas (What If We Fall in Love?)
Jay E. Tria (Love to Meet You)
Six de los Reyes (Field Guide: Love and Other Natural Disasters)
Celestine Trinidad (Ghost of a Feeling)

I’ll be at the festival on all 3 days but I also have signing schedules!

June 2, 5 to 7 PM, FEU Publications/Tams Bookstore (booth T17-18)
June 3, 1 to 3 PM, RomanceClass Books (booth T40-43 Savage Mind Bookshop and Mt Cloud)

I will sign books you previously bought at other events or other venues!

You can also by my books direct from me. Or buy digital editions from my Snack store.

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Watching Maria Clara at Ibarra (part 1)

I’ve been watching Maria Clara at Ibarra on Netflix and I thought of archiving my thoughts as posted on Instagram, here on my blog. My livetweet as I watch is here.

Appreciating the wide shots (you know I love a screenshottable shot), the outfits, the way things feel lush and large but also intimate. Remembering Noli as this goes along and it feels timeless. Ibarra is someone who leaves the country to learn and see things, and comes back to find that most of what he loves is gone (and plans to take everything else away are afoot). It does speak to contemporary people and I’m sad that many who want this probably don’t know that a book from 1887 has it. Also like how by episode 11 Klay our modern protagonist has completed the turn from thinking Noli is irrelevant, to being more immersed than her sorcerer (?) prof expected her to be. Felt! Di ko lang feel yung paramihan ng conflict, I am a low conflict gurl.

As a romance author, LOL.

I know which romance develops for the protagonist (everyone was talking about it as it aired) but now that I’m seeing it unfold with the LI not showing up ready to be LI all the way to episode 14ish wala lang I’m reminded of the differences in format and medium . Happy to see that scenes still look gorgeous.

and then Klay attended a literary conference–no she didn’t lol she just wound up in a space where she was not taken seriously hahaha isn’t it great that after a hundred plus years things are different /sarcasm 

But also: It’s good that they explicitly said here that book banning is about oppression and made the direct connection to villainy.

And then I super love this tambay sa hagdan blocking

“Irog ko” is…kinda hot ok. Also this conversation which is really about a commitment to a relationship as equals but my romance brain also saw promises of a future (that they never get to have). 

Sandale if Maria Clara reads Count of Monte Cristo will that change her storyline? Pero no don’t tell me haha. I mean Klay had the key to her adventure in her hands but she didn’t read it to the end so she doesn’t know the new guy. 

Hello to Elias. I named a character after you.  

One thing I have to get used to when watching series is the romance hero who doesn’t show up as one from the jump. I endured () 20+ eps of Fidel being the mouthpiece of the patriarchy, thankfully there wasn’t a lot of it because normally I’d DNF or ask for a dev edit lol. But what saves that for me is a clear and serious turnaround and he does that. So, ok Fidel. Now I have to be worried about this ship haha.

Gonna admit that even though I’ve encountered maybe a dozen versions of this, including remixes and retellings, I’m feeling this Ibarra in a different way. Maybe it’s the series format and the many hours I’ve spent on this version before it gets to this moment (his excommunication and very public downfall) that’s preceded by slow walking and a gazillion fancy-clothes house parties. The more time we spend on gentle, romantic, “let’s build a school for the kids” Crisostomo the more it hurts when this turn comes. And I knew it was coming, I just never really thought of the life he and Maria Clara could have had so the mourning was superficial. This version…I feel.

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