Currently #14
1. My heist romance/con artists in Manila book SCAMBITIOUS is $0.99 until March 31! I released these as short stories through 2013/2014 and may have had too much fun researching various frauds. I’m proud of this and especially the last one, because election grift is probably the most satisfying y/n. Get it on Amazon, or Gumroad.
2. For some reason my post about “historical romance set in the Philippines” is always among my top posts on this website, after all this time, and look, there just isn’t a lot of it (in the romance in English world). I have an ongoing challenge to Filipino authors to write historical romance, and my offer is to sponsor the publishing costs of a historical romance set in the Philippines that fits RomanceClass guidelines and IF the author chooses to self-publish, but I haven’t received any submissions yet. I’ve said that I think any Filipino author who wants to write historical romance should read Beverly Jenkins, Jeannie Lin, Courtney Milan, Alyssa Cole, Lydia San Andres, and Sherry Thomas — to help untangle the knots that I feel we all see when we look at our history. I’m going to add another book rec to this list:
I’m still in the middle of reading The Earl’s Egyptian Heiress by Heba Helmy, but a couple of things–or ten–have already popped out of the page and right at me. The MMC who makes an effort to speak her language. The swipe at the consul who serves a colonial master, and not his people. Some scene where a door is opened and a bagong paligo man is on the other side. Come on now. This book, and the books of the other authors I listed above, excite me as a Filipino reader.
Last month, right before Valentine’s Day, I gave a lecture about RomanceClass at Ateneo de Manila University and received a question about how I deal with cliches. I asked the student if she reads mostly US romances, and if the cliches that she’s thinking of all pertain to US romances. (She may have said yes.) I said don’t worry about a cliche in a US/UK/”Western” romance because that doesn’t apply to us writing our stories. Relocating Pride and Prejudice to, say Los Banos (see Well Played by Katrina Ramos Atienza) breaks a “formulaic” story right at its foundations; putting it back together is art.
3. The 21st Ateneo National Writing Workshop this year will be all romance, and they’re accepting applications now. The deadline is April 6. RomanceClass is working with the Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices to do this and let’s all do what we can to give Filipino romance authors more. More support, more opportunities, more more more.
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