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StrangeLit

Writing Now

Bad Dreams

Posted on March 27, 2017

Some time ago, my friend and fellow author Anne Plaza asked me if I could find my #StrangeLit feels again for a short story to contribute. This came out and now it’s up on the Philippine Genre Stories website, hurray!

Note: not a romance though, k? 🙂

***

My lola always told me that if I had bad dreams I shouldn’t tell anyone about them. Talking about them meant spreading the seed, sharing the terror. And I wouldn’t wish that on any one, would I? That would be just mean. My dreams were vivid things too, especially the bad ones. The images were sharp as if they played from a digital movie reel, one that I was inside of. Only the hollow echo of the voices, and the blurred outlines of the scenery, together with this underlying knowledge that I was, in fact, in a dream, reminded me of what it was. Lola said that when I woke up from these things I should go to the guava tree in our backyard—any tree, actually—touch its trunk and murmur the nightmares to it. Only then will the dreams stop visiting me each night and leave me alone.

I had a bad dream five nights ago, and true to lola’s advice, I didn’t tell anyone about it. But I didn’t pass it on to our backyard tree either. I didn’t want its aged bark and its lush leaves to take this one dream away. Because in that dream Miguel was still alive. My Miguel. He was in the dream, and he spoke to me.

Read the rest in the Philippine Genre Stories website.

Writing Now

Artist Interview: Raine Sarmiento

Posted on March 20, 2016

I fell in love with Raine Sarmiento‘s work the first time I saw them on a blog post listing local artists (thank YOU social media), and then again when I found out she did the art for Mina V. Esguerra’s Gifted Little Creatures. I knew then that she would be perfect for the book cover of my paranormal/urban fantasy tale Majesty. The end product above should be enough proof that. 

I asked Raine if she’d let me get into that sweet head of hers for a short interview and I’m so happy she obliged! She talks about being inspired by dreams, books, and audio books (!), and the importance of doing work that is a reflection of who you are (heart eyes). Continue Reading

Life and Lemons Writing Now

The Year I Didn’t Turn 30

Posted on January 1, 2016

I realize this is my second 2015 year-end post, and there will be some overlapping highlights. I guess the double-post of sorts is testament to how remarkable last year had been.

And I did turn 30, technically. But going into 2015 I thought that’s all this year will be: the one when I turned another decade, wherein I would embark in a more serious hunt for anti-aging implements that worked, and I would solemnly swear that I’d watch what I eat, and that I would figure out if I like my day job enough. But I think it’s that fear exactly, of aging, of a bucket list I can’t keep up with, of being more than ever required to be an adult, that pushed me to take the leap on things I’ve only dreamed about. This year, I looked at some of those dreams in the face, and went ahead and grabbed them by their slippery tendrils. Continue Reading

Life and Lemons Writing Now

2015 – The Bookish Year That Was

Posted on December 31, 2015

2015—at least the latter part of it—was the year I came out of my writing closet. I closed my eyes, jumped, and found a lot of things waiting for me after the fall. It was awesome. When I decided to take note of these things, I found a surprisingly long list. Apparently since July this year, I was able to: Continue Reading

Writing Now

Majesty: Cover Reveal and Print Book!

Posted on November 29, 2015

Majesty-Strangelit-Darkest-Dreams-Jay-E-Tria

 

Last August I joined StrangeLit, a paranormal/urban fantasy writing workshop sponsored by Buqo and Mina V. Esguerra’s Bronze Age Media. The product of that is Majesty, a novella about a beautiful ghost and friendships that endure.

What would you do if the ghost of someone you love appeared in front of you?

Majesty is a beautiful ghost, with her hair of fire and eyes gray like smoke. That is Andy Fey’s first thought when the ghost of her best friend Majesty Hall appeared in her bedroom, only two months since her death. Majesty doesn’t know why she’s there, why only Andy can see her.

Andy isn’t sure if she should tell Gale, that boy who claims that he and Majesty were in love. Funny, sarcastic, and a self-proclaimed serial heartbreaker, Gale is proving to be a good friend in grief, though his trail of broken hearts could soon include hers.

As Andy and Gale wade through their sorrow, Andy wonders if Majesty is here to help ease her into this new, complicated friendship, or if she has a mission all her own.

Majesty is happily bundled with 9 other stories in the Darkest Dreams eBook, available at the Buqo store. But soon the story will be released as a standalone, so it needed its very own book cover. Covers for my last two books were magicked from photos by the awesome Tania Arpa. But for Majesty, I wanted an illustration. So I commissioned watercolor artist Raine Sarmiento after seeing her beautiful work on Mina’s Gifted Little Creatures. I hardly knew what instructions to give and what to expect. But when Raine sent me her final work as you can see above, I teared up just a little. It’s exactly what I didn’t know I wanted.

I brought a few printed copies to FilReadercon last Saturday and all copies were promptly gobbled up (thank YOU, friends haha). The standalone eBook version will be available on Buqo and on Amazon early next year, but if you want to have your own print copy now, please fill out the order form here 🙂

Thank you so much again Raine! You make me want to write a Caleb story just so we can do this again 😀