I’ve always thought of C.P. Santi‘s writing as this delicious balance of sassy, sweet, and juice-out-of-your-nose funny. She has an innate grip on the culture of both countries she calls home, and that’s something that seeps out of her work (see Be Careful What You Wish For and When Cocoy Became Kikay). She brings all of these in her new book of short stories Maybe This Time, together with a couple of new aces, as she writes about second chance romance. Continue Reading
One of my favorite authors C.P. Santi has a new book, a collection of short stories about love and second chances aptly called Maybe This Time. Release week is currently happening, and to show my support, and also as an excuse to do some cyber-chika because I miss her, I’ve sent a few questions her way.
Read on as we talk about her new book of romantic and insightful shorts, writing about love and older characters, Arne as Alex Skargard, Barney songs as writing music, and an exciting sneak peek of her upcoming work. Continue Reading
Let me just put it out there. Scandalized by Tara Frejas spoke to my sleeping K-pop/K-drama fangirl heart. It has admittedly been too long since I last indulged in a good 20-plus-episode binge or boy band concert spectacle (because time and oh my gosh the expense). But fandoms such as these don’t really ever leave you. You only need one push, a small spark to reignite the madness–and Scandalized was just that.
Fi Legaspi is living the dream working in Seoul as a road manager for one of South Korea’s hottest bands, East Genesis Project. Until she isn’t.
When she finds herself in the middle of a scandal and a hostile fangirl witch hunt, Fi seeks the comfort of home, and to her surprise, not the person she had been pining for for years. All too suddenly it’s no longer her career on the line, but also her heart. Will she walk away from everything that matters to her or fight to keep her dream alive?
Anyone who’s ever been a fan of Korean idols is likely to nod in quick understanding upon reading the blurb. It’s all very familiar–the pretty, untouchable boys, the crazy saesang fans, the endless stream of Internet vitriol, freeflowing in comment threads once triggered by the vaguest of blind items and the most obscure photographs. Frejas delves into this mad world with equal parts fascination and disgust at the glitz and muck of it all. Obviously, Frejas is a fan too, and she is very curious about what happens behind the scenes. Her passion for the pop culture seeps through her words, and that is what separates this story from raw fanfic scribbles. What makes it such an enjoyable read.
So go ahead and read it for the pretty boys with the pimped out drums and guitars. Read it for the unapologetic wish fulfillment (come on, she’s a Filipina roadie in Korea! She’s surrounded by hot guys who like to walk around shirtless! The magnae calls her noona! Bet your daydreams didn’t get that far). Read it for Daniel Henney, Frejas’ peg for the band’s PR exec Gabriel. Read it for that Styroboat-in-the-flood scene. Yep, even for just that.
Scandalized will go live on Amazon on May 5! Make sure you pre-order while the book is still $0.99 🙂
About the Author
Tara Frejas is a cloud-walker who needs caffeine to fuel her travels. When she’s not on work mode, she keeps herself busy by weaving her daydreams into stories.
Aside from her obvious love affair with words and persistent muses, Tara is very passionate about being caffeinated, musical theatre, certain genres of music, dancing, dogs, good food, and romancing Norae, her ukelele. She owns a male bunny named Max who sometimes tries to nibble on her writing notes. Scandalized is her second novel after Paper Planes Back Home.
Fun fact: She’s a Piscean. Go figure.
Facebook: facebook.com/taratriestowrite
Twitter: @tarafrejas
Blog: taratriestowrite.wordpress.com
East Genesis Project’s website: bit.ly/EGProject
Twitter: @eastgenproject
The season may be over but we still have extras coming your way. Get inside the head of the authors of the books (heh only if you’re sure you want to) with the author interviews. Here we’ve got Chris Mariano, author of Cover (Story) Girl. She talks about her love for Boracay, the awesome surprises of hearing her work read, and her feelings about Gio reading Gio 🙂
I hope you click here to own the entire #romanceclass podcast season!
Here too to subscribe to the #romanceclass podcast. Season 2 featuring Young Adult books, and Season 3 featuring more New Adult romance will be out very soon ?
I was quite fortunate to have been there the first time Gio Gahol read as Richard and Rachel Coates read as Erika from Anne Plaza‘s In Over Her Head. It was in this small rectangular room. Twenty of us, more or less, were crowded around a narrow table, with glasses of cold water to sustain us. In front of the room, seated as casually as if they were only reading aloud text messages were Gio and Rachel. They delivered the words and brought the scene to life with all the sentiment and heartbreak they could fit into those nine minutes. I don’t think I was the only one who had chills crawling up her arms when they finished.
Read up on the story’s synopsis below, then scroll further down to catch the podcast episode.
All she wants is to get even…
Erika Apostol’s quiet and unassuming life gets disrupted when she learns that Richard Javier, the very same person who broke her heart many years ago, is now back in the country. Her world is turned upside down as old feelings she thought were buried resurface to haunt her once more.
Determined to give Richard a dose of his own medicine, Erika finds herself involved in an outrageous plan devised by her friends. They enlist the help of Jerome Gonzales, an attractive and charismatic DJ (with a playboy reputation), to pose as her significant other.
As the plan goes in full swing, Erika discovers Richard’s jealous side, and that there’s something more to Jerome than meets the eye. Will this grand charade work out the way it should, or will she be left with nothing in the end?
And that wraps up Season 1 of the #romanceclass podcast. If you enjoyed this episode and all the other ones that came before it, I hope you click here to own the entire #romanceclass podcast season!
Here too to subscribe to the #romanceclass podcast. Season 2 featuring Young Adult books, and Season 3 featuring more New Adult romance will be out very soon 🙂
If you’re a fan of Chrissie Peria‘s The Kitchen When It Sizzles *waves hands enthusiastically*, you would be very familiar with this excerpt. This is the one with Adam Levine, coffee as cold as yesterday’s soup stock, a colorful weekend market, and the Talk. Nate is here too. Oh Nate.
Read on for more context, then click the video featuring Rachel Coates as Olivia, and Gio Gahol as Nate. Enjoy the feelings!
Olivia Nadal is an almost perfect girl with an almost perfect life. She has stunning good looks, an exciting job that pays well, men lining up to date her, and a homey little condo she calls her own. The only thing keeping her from perfection is her utter inability to cook.
Enter Nate Olivarez, a hotshot chef who’s filling in for Olivia’s cooking instructor. Sparks fly when they meet, but a fling with the visiting hottie is the last thing Olivia needs. But as things keep heating up in the kitchen, she can’t help but wonder. Can things work out between her and Nate? Or is the sizzle all set to fizzle?
Click here to own the entire #romanceclass podcast season! And here to subscribe to the #romanceclass podcast. The podcast Season 2 featuring YA books, and Season 3 featuring more New Adult romance will be out soon 🙂
If you need to feel more things, the same excerpt was read LIVE last November at the 2015 Filipino Readercon. Scroll down and hit play. You’re welcome 🙂
Fi Legaspi is living the dream working in Seoul as a road manager for one of South Korea’s hottest bands, East Genesis Project. Until she isn’t.