Bianca Mori's Blog, page 4

Cover reveal: Scorched Earth (out April 30)

I'm so happy to reveal the cover for Takedown 3, SCORCHED EARTH. Had such a hard time choosing between the four cover studies -- it was agony, you guys! But this cover captured the spirit of book 3 the most:

Scorched Earth is going to be more suspenseful. Peyton is on the run from a trusted liaison, and the stakes are much, much higher.We're going to dive deep into Peyton's past. How'd she become the specialist that she is? What drove her to the Takedown lifestyle?For someone who lives by her wits and defaults to suspicion to survive, is there space for love and a real, meaningful connection with someone else in Peyton's life? I can't wait for you all to read it!!! What do you think of the cover so far? :)

Just leaving this here...

#BacklistRevivalProject: Thank you!

Throughout January, bloggers participated in the #BacklistRevivalProject to shine a spotlight on a book published in 2014 or later -- here, my One Night In The Palace Hotel:

> Carmela Barrios wrote:

What I liked most about this book is that it depicts a common issue among offsprings. Some of us feels trapped with the obligation to fulfill our parents' dreams, some of us are even forced to attain it. Sometimes, it feels like we don't have a choice, it's a call of duty, a sign of respect...we want them to be proud to us, we want them to approve. Even if it's not what we aspire, what we dream of, or what we are passionate about, we do what will make our parents proud. Even if by doing that we kill that burning light of our own dreams. The question is, is it okay to do it? 

(I got a little teary at this review. Because Carmela dove into the heart of this story! #hugot.)
> Anette The Wicked starts her review with "One, I'm a sucker for high society stuff. Anything and everything about old families and their dramas, I'm in. Two, I love romances like these." (You and me both!)
> Carmel and Kyla have Chapter 1 of the book up on their website.
> Maan of PigeonReads interviewed me and got me to write this:

The experience of writing explicitly about sex for the first time was exciting and thrilling…and then, holding the finished draft in my hand, reading through what I’d written, I had this crazy rush, like: “I cannot believe I just wrote that! What will my co-workers think of me!!” 

> Jee Ann of The Booktales reviewed the book, recommending it for "Lovers of contemporary romance who love their reads a little steamy, with a sprinkling of sweet moments. Also if you like fashion and food, you’ll love Mori’s descrptions!" She also asked me to put up a guest post on my inspiration for Consuelo, Sam and The Palace Hotel - read it here if you're curious.

> Finally, Carla of Some Midnights and I play dueling casting directors with our picks for the ONATPH characters. This one had me laughing out loud at her Benjo -- and made me seriously reconsider my character's background!

My thanks to everyone who participated in this project! I did a little raffle to show my appreciation --

 I listed participants by date of post.


Pressed 'Randomize' and voila: Congratulations Maan!! You win a $5 Amazon GC!! :D
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If you are interested in reading One Night At The Palace Hotel, you can get it here:
Amazon - $0.99
Smashwords - $1.50
Buqo - Php45

Please drop me a line or leave a GoodReads review to let me know what you think about it? Thank you!!!

Celebrating Diversity in Romance (and a giveaway!)

I'm glad to be part of the awesome group of 31 authors celebrating diversity in Read A Romance Month! I wrote all about The Joy of Owning It - or how I've come to accept, nay, CELEBRATE! my love for the romance genre. I kind of got a little forceful here, but what the hell. When you own it, you own it, right? :D A sample:

"Because the more I read romance, the more subversive I feel. Those who say romance is silly, unrealistic, formulaic fluff have it backward. It is the detached male-driven narrative that dominates ‘acceptable’ forms of fiction that is tired and old." 

Booyah.

Please check out my post here and leave a comment to get the chance to win a special two-book Takedown bundle of In Too Deep and Peyton Riley! 

The Backlist Revival Project: One Night At The Palace Hotel

It's the night before The Palace Hotel opens, and the entire city is abuzz with what everyone is calling a throwback to the Gilded Age. Everyone, that is, except Consuelo De la Red. Faced with a destiny picked out for her and a dream she just can't forget, she confronts the choices she has made and the man she was forced to reject. When the past comes crashing into the present, will she listed to her duty, or give in to the urging of her heart?

One Night At The Palace Hotel was my first ever steamy novella and the first I wrote as Bianca Mori. I was assigned 'the one who got away' trope for this one -- not what I would have initially picked, mind you -- but when I started writing this? It just flowed. I got to exercise my telenovela skillz in this tale of sad little rich girl Consuelo de la Red who meets her first love, again, on the eve of the launch of her fiance's hotel -- The Palace Hotel.

I was inspired by the book I was devouring at the time, To Marry An English Lord: Or How Anglomania Really Got Started which is all about rich American heiresses arriving in England to marry prestigious, but nearly almost always penniless, English aristocracy. One Night sort of has the same set up, but reversed: this time it's the Castillian with the social cachet married off to the rich upstart Chinese to restart a family's flagging fortunes.

Calling all book bloggersI've always had a soft spot for this book, but because it was my first ever stab at a pseudonym, and also because I re-read all the sex scenes with a horrified blush on my face and did NOT know how to promote it at all, I've always felt this little green novella did not receive as much love as it should have. But now, thanks to the Backlist Revival Project, we're getting a second chance!

The Backlist Revival Project is a genius idea to shine the light on books released in 2014 and older. Book bloggers can review these older gems and that readers can hopefully discover (or re-discover, as the case may be.) And I am so glad to say that One Night At The Palace Hotel is the Project's featured book for January!

Please go to this sign up form if you would like to review One Night At The Palace Hotel. Reviewers will be provided a copy of the book gratis, of course. And it would be so amazing if you could also share the link to your friends.

Thank you and shine on!

Favorite romance reads of 2015

Mina asked this question on Facebook the other day, and while I answered with three of my favorite books, new ones that I really enjoyed kept popping in my head. Lest I spam her thread, I'm doing this blog post instead!

Now for me when I really love a romance book I immediately re-read it. Like, right when I finish it, I stew around in a puddle of feels, and then I go back to the start and experience it all over again. These were the books that did that for me this year, in no particular order:

1. Submission Moves by Camilla Sisco. A feminist and an MMA fighter walk into a bar right after his match. Sounds like the recipe for a joke, but instead it delivers a lot of steam and lots of food for thought for subscribers to Jezebel and Bustle and The Mary Sue but also love romance.

2. When A Scot Ties The Knot by Tessa Dare. Because Scotland, and Jamie Fraser, and drawing, and hilarity, and so hot. 

3. The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen. The Ivy Years series, you guys. (Because I had to restrain my self from putting up The Year We Hid Away and Blonde Date up here too.) They don't shy away from difficult topics, but Sarina writes them with such honesty and heart, they just grab you by the chest. The Year We Fell Down's Corey Callahan, a former hockey star disabled by a terrible accident, is tough and vulnerable in all the best ways, and Adam Hartley, her next-door neighbor? Sweet and complex.

4. Songs Of Our Breakup by Jay E. Tria. This one brought me back to high school: Bands, and hanging out with boys all day, and trying to get over your ex when he's always there. Plus cute Japanese actor friend to help (that part not in high school experience but a girl can always dream!)

5. Off Base by Tessa Bailey and Sophie Jordan. HOO BOY. The sizzle in this one is off the charts. May I present to you two sample sentences?
"You're worth shaking hands over. Worth the time it takes to be read the riot act." (Beck & Kenna)
"You're not going to run out of here and pretend you didn't just back that ass into me." (Cullen & Huntley)

6. The Duke Takes A Bride by Suzette de Borja. An aristocrat called The Delicious Duke and the childhood friend he tries to marry for convenience. Add a bug-eyed goldfish that happens to be black. This one had me laughing, squirming and clutching my heart for feeeeeelllssss. 

7. Choco Chip Hips by Agay Llanera. A YA book in a sea of contemporary romances? Yes please. This had me in tears in the best way possible. The story of shy, overweight Jessie discovering herself is just too wonderful.

8. Learning to Fall by Mina V. Esguerra. Team Stayson! Hunky rugby player and quirky book blogger, with an interesting 'Live Like Fiction' challenge in the end and proof that awesome alpha males need not be jerks.

And that's for my 2015! I wish I could've read more (she said, looking guiltily at her towering TBR pile) but it's been an awesome book year so far! What's on your list? :D

Update: So much stuff happened edition

So much stuff happened, you guys. It's kind of nuts.

Thank you sooo much to everyone who dropped by and bought books at #romanceclass booth at yesterday's @filreadercon! We hope you enjoy your haul and please keep on supporting homegrown authors, regardless of the genre they write. And if it isn't too much to ask, leave your reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, etc. Keep talking about them on your social media pages because these things help authors a huge lot! Most of them are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so reaching out to them is pretty easy. If you're an eBook reader or have friends who are, head them over at romanceclassbooks.com for more choices! We also hope you had so much fun (and feels!) at the #romanceclass live reading by @giogahol and @theatrachel! Did you heart take it well? ;) By the way, the lovely booth setup was made by some authors themselves! Photos from @jotheefulA photo posted by #romanceclassbooks (@romanceclassbooks) on Nov 29, 2015 at 5:19am PST

FilReadercon
I had a blast at the FilReadercon with the rest of the lovely #romanceclass and RWP ladies. Highlights of my day would be:
joining the Speed Dating event, where readers got to sit with authors and talk about what kind of books they like and what we could offer them, in 3 minute-intervals. I got a lot of interesting insights, lemme tell ya! The live reading by Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates from #romanceclass books. FEELS EXPLODING EVERYWHERE. At one point, while they were reading from Dawn Lanuza's The Boyfriend Backtrack, Rachel narrated a bit that asked "Should I take his hand?" and I was all "Do it. DO EEEETTT." BTW please subscribe to the Romance Class Podcast Youtube Channel to hear more of these wonderful performances by Rachel and Gio!Just hanging out with awesome authors with the same silly sense of humor, hugot and feelsplosions. Check out more recaps from Mina, Jay and Anne.Sports discussionWe got to sit down and talk with Gabe Norwood! Too awesome!!So every other month or so we meet and talk about our favorite books. This month, it was all about sports romances, and Gabe was kind enough to answer all our questions about the life of a pro-athlete -- and yeah, that includes his love life! It was an enjoyable afternoon, crazy traffic notwithstanding. Recaps from Mina and Anne.
ReadingMy TBR pile is just getting longer and longer! I have my Readercon haul and lots of new and not so new e-releases from my favorite authors, like Agay Llanera's This Side of Sunny (I'm a huge fan of her Vintage Love, Once Upon A Player and my super favorite Choco Chip Hips, so excited for this!), Tessa Dare's Lord Dashwood Missed Out and Mina V. Esguerra's What You Wanted (back to the Philippines for this one!). Plus I started on Sarina Bowen's FREE series starter, The Year We Fell Down, and now I'm hooked on her Ivy Years series. Blonde Date was awesome and now starting on The Year We Hid Away. WHEW. 
WritingTakedown 3 is coming together, you guys!! I SWEAR. Sorry it's taking so long. Because...
Real lifeIt's the holiday season and it's get-togethers and shopping and cooking and decorating and putting up contingency plans at work for the lean season left, right and center. I've been squeezing in writing time where I can (mostly at lunch. Hah!). I'm so inspired lately that I feel the words just itching to flow down to paper, but where's a Time Turner when you need it?
So how's that for an update blitz? Thanks for keeping up and I'm wishing you the loveliest Christmas season ever! 
kisses,Bianca

Ready for #FilReadercon!

I'm going to be hanging out at the #romanceclass and Romance Writers of the Philippines booths at the Filipino Readercon and I hope to see you there!

November 28, 2015 - 8:00AM - 6:00PM
Henry Sy Sr. Hall | De La Salle University, Taft Ave. Manila Register here!
I'll be selling my ebooks too. I'll email them straight to you, and you can get them in any digital format you want! Pricelist below:

One Night at the Palace Hotel - Php 45
Takedown bundle (In too Deep and Peyton Riley) - Php90Bianca Mori bundle (One Night at the Palace Hotel, Tame the Kitten, In Too Deep and Peyton Riley) - Php 125
eBook buyers get coupons that you can use as bookmarks too :)

See you there!!! 

Surfacing

The last week and a half have been a word marathon to get to the finish line: submit the #heistclub draft by 8PM on October 31! Of course work has been kicking my ass, not to mention my own difficulties with the manuscript, so I ended up blazing through eight chapters in nine hours last Saturday to make the deadline.

I ended up canceling our weekly supermarket date (sorry kids) and went all out with a celebratory dinner afterward, but it was worth it! My wrist hurt but I felt so alive, silencing my inner editor and just letting the words flow so that I could satisfy my outline.

This week is the hard part: editing all that wordflow! Hah!

And then I'll be taking maybe a couple of days' break before diving back into the manuscript that got interrupted by #Heistclub: Takedown 3. 

(Unless mom lit gets there first.)

(And there's that plot bunny I posted that seems to want to jump in line of everything I've got in order -- wait your turn, plot bunny!)
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So anyway, while I was racing to finish my manuscript, I also missed my own book launch. Yes, all six Spark Books titles were launched last October 25... and I missed it!

(It's a long story, but short version: trip planned way back in June, launch date hard to schedule, etc.)
So I just tracked through my fellow authors Chrissie Peria, Dawn Lanuza, Kate Evangelist and Agay Llanera's posts (Camilla Sisco couldn't make it too.) Spark Books posted these photos of the launch also. And then there are these recaps of the launch:

Mina V. Esguerra (who also hosted)
TBD Book Blog
What's A Geek?
Anette The Wicked
Chrissie Peria (author of The Kitchen When It Sizzles)

Congrats to my fellow authors and thank you to everyone who supported the launch of Spark Books! You can find them at any National Bookstore branch. On Instagram, readers have spotted them on the YA shelves, Romance, Pinoy -- and sometimes right at the counter! So if you can't find them, just ask any of your friendly NBS sales staff and they'll point you right.

Writerly thoughts: When writing knocks you off balance (#Heistclub)

I started this post in Facebook and realized I wouldn't have enough space to go at it, so:

Writerly confession time:
I shifted to writing romance in my mid-20s because that was the time when I no longer wrote as therapy. Prior to my first book (published in my real name), I wrote to work through difficult emotions in my life. Until I didn't need to anymore.

And since the shift, I shied away from any writing that explored those difficult issues. Because they dredged up things that were better buried. Because a lot of my well-being depended on keeping those things in the past, and moving forward, and keeping balanced. So I wrote about love, and people coming together, and happy endings, and caring deeply, and having that 'caring deeply' be enough to resolve the obstacles I put in my characters' way.Because those things kept me happy and balanced and let me create and still tell stories.

This year I wanted to explore more in my writing. To dig a little deeper, to talk about different things, to stretch. I started shifting to romance-suspense with the Takedown trilogy, and I've had a lot of fun with it. My MC and LI are both amoral criminal types working for even worse people, but on the whole it's been fun and breezy and enjoyable to create. Still light, still balanced, still happy.

And then came #heistclub. (#Heistclub is this prompt I'm working on along with lots of different writers to come up with Filipino crime fiction.) And this is all my fault, really.

I could've approached the prompt with the fun side of crime fiction in mind -- and that's what I intended to do, at first. A little Italian Job, a little Ocean's Eleven. But then I started plotting and outlining, and I ended up with something...not fun. More We Need To Talk About Kevin. Murder, and hate, and deceit.

I wonder: How did I get here? Maybe it's the advice to 'say something with what you're writing.' Or maybe these are things that I wanted to explore after all, and this is the perfect time to go for it.

It's not been easy. As I am writing through this I feel those buried things clawing their way up to the surface. It's unsettling. Every time I face my working file, something in me shrinks. Do I really want to get into so-and-so's headspace, again? It was terrible the first time. Or is it really the fear that these distasteful things I am describing are a little bit too close to home?

And the biggest fear of all: what if after all the anxiety and imbalance that this assignment's brought up, I end up with something that sucked? WAH.

But I'm going to finish it -- you know that's what I'll do. Let's just hope it doesn't suck. In the meantime, let me go for a run and work those icky thoughts away. And then I'll go back to something fluffy after this.