Browsing Tag

Hanazawa Rui

Tourism

Things to Do on a Summer Trip to Tokyo: Chiba Castle, Ginza

Going to Tokyo was one of those dreams I never thought would come true. Even with the news of dirt cheap plane fares, guesthouse-type accommodations, and more lenient visa rules, the Tokyo-plan remained in the airspace of dreams. The trip just had to be perfect, you know? Sakura blossoms raining from the sky, sushi platters floating in the air towards me, and maybe Oguri Shun escorting me around the city. That kind of perfect. This year, however, I realized I cannot keep waiting for the perfect timing, or the perfect weather (or the perfect celebrity bishounen date. Sad face), or else I will never get there. I just needed the perfect travel buddy, and the perfect excuse. Continue Reading

Writing Now

Blossom Among Flowers: Cover 2.0 and Print Book!

My first book Blossom Among Flowers was plenty busy last month!

  1. It had its very first virtual blog tour thanks to the wonderful folks at Pinoy Book Tours,
  2. It received sweet, tears-in-my-eyes reviews from Anne of Will Read for Feels, Camelle of Home of a Book Lover,  and Claire of Coffeebookmom (thanks for giving my weird, manga novel a chance guys *group hug*)
  3. It had a new cover thanks to the magic of Tania Arpa. I loved the first cover, done by my awesome friend Sarah Magdasocbut I thought I’d give it a makeover and experiment with something that looks more fun 🙂

Oh, and last but not the least, Blossom Among Flowers AND my New Adult book Songs of Our Breakup are now available in print! Fill out the order form here to get your copy.

Phew. September was a good month 🙂

Blossom Among Flowers is available on Amazon, Buqo and in print.

Writing Now

What I Did When Hanazawa Rui Didn’t Get the Girl

Years before the civil war between Team Edward and Team Jacob, Makino Tsukushi had been torn between Domjouji Tsukasa and Hanazawa Rui. In a dramedy with a wild premise and many unlikely plot twists that only a Japanese dorama can pull off, Makino and Domyouji’s love prevailed, leaving Rui in the shadow as the soulmate who doesn’t get the girl.

So what is a fangirl (moi) who fell in love with the introverted millionaire bishounen to do?

I did the only logical thing. I created my own introverted millionaire bishonen. He is also a snob, and had fair hair that made his head glow. But I also made him a genius; the smartest and most popular boy in school. I gave him his quirks, his own strong, warring parents, and his personal conflicts. Thus I created Takeshi Hinata and made him my own. Takeshi became a unique and active figment of my imagination.

I gave him Hikaru Saito, a wallflower who preferred whiling her time away inside a manga store over trying to understand boys, or trying to be liked at school. She doesn’t even try hard enough to keep herself in school. So she flunks her English exam, which leads her to tyrant tutor himself, the beautiful genius Takeshi.

I created Tetsuya Sakuishi, because what is a Japanese drama if you only have one beautiful boy? He is a young teacher-in-training in Takeshi and Hikaru’s high school. Hikaru quickly notices his pretty eyes and his distracting smile. Tetsuya quickly promises to protect Hikaru and always be there for her.

Several years and many, many drafts later, Takeshi, Hikaru and Tetsuya’s story has been channeled from brain to written word. You can read about their high school romance, Blossom Among Flowers, soon.

Maybe then there will be some debate between Team Takeshi and Team Tetsuya too. That would be cool 🙂