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[BLOG TOUR] Play It By Ear by Tara Frejas

May 10, 2019 • Leave a Comment

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance Release date: May 15, 2019 Cover illustration: Shaira Bea San Jose Cover design/layout: Tara Frejas

SYNOPSIS

What does it really take to be a champion?

AMAZON: bit.ly/PIBENovel GOODREADS: bit.ly/PIBEGoodreads

When East Genesis Project’s Jo Yihwan reluctantly pinch-hits for injured band mate Steven Bae in a reality TV-slash-talent competition, he decides he’s only in it to win. After all, he is representing his band, and the All-Kill Champion title had some handsome perks attached to it.

But he didn’t expect to meet a gutsy, driven teammate like Ha Yoojung, or feel drawn to her incandescent spirit week after week after week. He didn’t expect her to be carrying a devastating secret that could cost them the grand prize, either.

What starts as a competition becomes so much more. With careers, a long-held dream, and honor at stake, can Yihwan and Yoojung’s hearts survive?

Content warnings: Mentions of sexual assault

E X C E R P T

Yoojung nervously ran her fingers through her tea-colored hair one more time and took a deep breath as she stared at Jo Yihwan’s name on the dressing room door. Earlier today, the All-Kill Champion staff had the trainees draw their teammates’ names out of a fishbowl, and she got Jo Yihwan.

All right now, Yoojung-ah. Let’s stay calm. Professional. Casual, she repeated in her head. You’re not a fan right now, you’re a teammate.

“So let me get this straight. She’s my age, she’s trained longer than I have, and yet she’s never debuted? How did she even make the cut for this show?”

Yoojung’s fist froze mid-knock. Was that…Jo Yihwan?

“Does everyone already know who their partners are? Is it too late to switch?”

“Sorry, Yihwan-ssi. We can’t do that.”

“I guess I’m screwed then.”

Well…screw courtesy, she thought. Jo Yihwan might be an industry senior, but he was acting like a brat. No way was she going to let him get away with his prejudice, especially since he was so vocal about it.

She wrapped her fingers around the door knob and twisted it open.

Yihwan’s whining stopped as soon as she entered the room. The production assistant he had been speaking to dropped her jaw. And her clipboard.

“Annyeong haseyo!” Yoojung greeted, making sure she was flashing her biggest, friendliest smile when she stepped into the room. Yihwan looked like he was about to choke. As he should. “Ha Yoojung imnida.”

The EG Project band leader cleared his throat and got up so abruptly, he almost knocked his chair over. As he greeted her with a bow, Yoojung pushed the door shut.

“Please. There’s no need to be overly courteous.” She maintained her smile even as vitriol rose up her throat. If she wasn’t careful, she might just find herself getting thrown out of this show.

That wasn’t part of the plan.

“Ha Yoojung-ssi, I—”

She raised her hand in front of his face. God forbid Jo Yihwan work his charm on her and derail her raging train of thought. Who cares about those expressive doe eyes, or that chiseled jawline, or that perfect Cupid’s bow? Not her. No sir, not today.

“I’m not going to pretend I didn’t just hear what you said, Jo Yihwan-ssi.” Her eyes darted toward the PA, who kept her eyes on Yoojung even as she was picking up her clipboard.

Taking a deep breath, she continued. “And because we’re going to be working together for—hopefully—the next two months, I’m going to make things clear: I am here because I passed the open auditions despite the fact that I don’t have an agency representing me. Now, you’re free to keep your opinions about me, but I’m not here to prove anything to you.

“I know you’re only here to replace your band mate, so I understand if the stakes aren’t that high for you. But this is a lifeline for me. This show could be my last shot at a career in this industry, and if I have to work with someone who thinks very little of me so I could get that chance, then so be it.”

Without batting an eye, Yoojung offered her hand to Yihwan. He quickly took it, only to let out a muted groan when she squeezed his hand a little tighter than what was normally acceptable.

“I’m sor—”

“Don’t.” Her grip eased around his hand. “Half-assed apologies are non-apologies.”

Yoojung pulled her hand away and bowed to the woman behind Yihwan. The poor PA returned the gesture, albeit bewilderedly.

“See you at the studio,” were her last words before stepping out the room.

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.

Fun fact: She’s a Piscean. Go figure.

Connect with her online:

Twitter / Instagram: @tarafrejas

Facebook: fb.com/tarafrejas

Website: tarafrejas.com

Subscribe to her newsletter: bit.ly/subscribetotara

[BLOG TOUR] No Two Ways by Chi Yu Rodriguez

April 25, 2019 • Leave a Comment

Cover Models: Rachel Coates, Gab Pangilinan, Gio Gahol Photographed by: Chi Yu Rodriguez Cover Designed by: Chi Yu Rodriguez Title Art by: Carla de Guzman Styling by: Alex Lapa

AJ Felipe makes the most of being the head information security engineer for a local law firm with the help of her loyal team of nerds. Their job isn’t really the most fun, but things take a turn when one of her junior security engineers decides to nominate her for a makeover show.

Enter Jackie Niño, the one-night stand AJ didn’t expect to meet again—who also happens to be the makeup artist who’s going to get her all dolled up on national television.

More complications arise after the episode is aired and another ghost from her past comes back to haunt her: Axel Herrera, the ex-boyfriend who still thinks she left him because she’s a lesbian.

Spoiler alert: She isn’t.

Being bisexual is hard enough. How will AJ navigate new feelings while finding closure for old heartaches?

(Disclaimer: On-page F/F and M/F only)

BUY LINKS

Amazon: bit.ly/NTW-Amazon

Print Pre-order (For #AprilFeelsDay2019): bit.ly/NTWPreorder

Print-on-demand (PH only): bit.ly/chiprints

Goodreads Link: bit.ly/NTW-Goodreads

EXCERPT

Axel asked one of their drivers to take me home because I was in no shape to drive. I didn’t know how Kuya was going to make his way back, so I asked him to stop at a McDo drive thru near my condo before dropping me off so I could at least buy him some food.

While the car was in line, I pulled out my phone from my purse to ask Jen if she wanted anything. Before I could even start typing, a message from Jackie popped up on the screen.

My knufht in shiming arnour save meeeeee!!~[

After taking a second to reinterpret the jumble of words, I shook my head and laughed. I can be Brienne of Tarth, sure.

“Ma’am?” The driver let me know that it was our turn. I ordered him a cheeseburger meal, handed him some cash, then replied to Jackie.

And where might this damsel in distress be?

Luckily, Jackie was located somewhere in BGC. After getting the food, I asked the driver if we could make a quick stop before heading home.

When we got to the bar, Jackie was accompanied by two of her friends. She had draped herself over one of the outside tables, and they were trying to get her to stand up.

“Are you AJ?” one of her friends asked when I finally got out of the car.

“Yeah. What happened?”

“A lot of cocktails with different types of alcohol,” the other friend said.

“We were going to take her home but she insisted on waiting for you.”

Jackie finally lifted her head from the table and her eyes landed on me. She was a mess. “Oh, heeeeeeey!” she yelled and got up to make her way to me.

She fell right into my arms and I did my best to keep her upright. Axel’s driver appeared beside me, ready to assist if I needed him to.

“You okay to bring her home?” the first friend asked.

“Yeah. Uh, do any of you have a business card so I can text when she’s finally home?”

“Just look for Pamie or KC on her phone. She turns the passcode off when she’s about to get drunk so we can call people for her just in case.”

I planned on revisiting what it meant for her to have a system in place for this already, but for now I asked the driver to open the car door so we could get inside.

After giving directions to Kuya, I focused my attention on Jackie. She was piss drunk and staring at me from where she was pressed against the opposite door.

“Why do you look so fancy?” Her words were slurred as she threw herself over to my side and started fussing over my dress.

“I came from a party.” I checked the rear view mirror when Jackie started getting more handsy. Thankfully, Kuya was keeping his eyes on the road.

“You look so pretty oh my god!” She had grabbed my face and started to inspect. I tried my best not to laugh. “Who did your makeup?”

“I did it myself. Do you approve?”

“You are always approved!”

The next thing I knew, she had attached herself to my side and was breathing warmth into my neck. The ten minutes it took for us to get to her place felt like forever after that.

“Thank you, Kuya.” We’d left Jackie in my car while I booked another car to take the driver back to Axel’s house.

Once he was gone, I began the quest to get Jackie into her apartment without either of us getting injured.

“Why did you have to be biiiiiiiiii?”

I’d hooked one of her arms over my shoulders as we went up the stairs. “Oh I ask myself that sometimes too.” I belatedly thought that I should’ve taken my heels off for this because she was practically dead weight.

“You’d be so perfect if you weren’t bi. Like, I imagine you wearing one of my shirts sometimes, you know? Standing by my bed in the morning. You’d drown in any of my clothes and it’s so cute to think about, my heart hurts.”

My shoulders felt a little sturdier after that, and I smiled my way through the struggle until we got to her door.

“I need to get your keys.” I held her against the wall while I fished for the keys in her purse. But she was making it so difficult with her traveling hands and treacherous lips.

As soon as got the door open, she stumbled her way inside and started to take off her clothes.

“Oh god.” I slammed the door and rushed to steer her away from the furniture. We eventually got to her bed, Jackie significantly more naked than she was six feet ago.

“Can’t you just be full-on gay instead of just halfway gay to make all this easier?”

“That’s—Stop. Doing that. I’m weak!” Jackie was trying to pull me into bed with her, kissing my neck and attempting to lift the hem of my dress.

It took all the decency I had left in me not to kiss her back until she got tired and just let herself fall against her pillows.

When I finally got her under the covers, I found her phone and opened her messaging app. I took a photo of Jackie sleeping in bed and sent it to the contact labeled “Pamie.”

She’s home safe.

Thank you so much!

The last time we were together, we’d agreed to keep things casual. I wasn’t ready for a relationship, and she wasn’t ready for a full serving of a bisexual woman.

We stayed in both our safe zones and it was fine. I was more than happy to be her constant booty call.

Being her pseudo emergency contact wasn’t part of the deal. Me cradling her cheek after tucking her hair away from her face wasn’t, either. But she didn’t have to worry about any of that until tomorrow—the latter, at all, ever.

I helped myself to some coffee and went home only when I was sure I was well enough to drive. I left a note stuck to her phone on her bedside table telling her to text her friends when she woke up.

Tonight had been more interesting than I anticipated.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chi Yu Rodriguez has many feelings. Sometimes these feelings find their way to paper in the form of short stories and fiction online. Sometimes they don’t come out at all and end up as unresolved sexual tension or terrible internal angst.

She prefers making imaginary people go through these feelings for her pleasure. Her muses hate her for it, and they repay her by being forever fickle.

She wrestles with them in her head every day.

* Read more about #romanceclass

If only

March 1, 2019 • Leave a Comment

Several weeks back, a friend of mine, author and editor Liana Smith Bautista (@liasbautista on Twitter), posted a question on Facebook for her female forty-something contacts:

What’s the one thing you wish you’d known when you were in your 30s?

It was for an article she was going to write for the Female Network, an online lifestyle and women’s magazine. I didn’t think twice about contributing my two cents. But I thought long and hard for which particular thing I can share. Something that wasn’t very dramatic, but enough to have possibly reshaped the path I had taken in life had I followed that particular road.

The article came out last February 9th and my contribution was featured along with 5 other women’s replies. Yay!

So here’s what I said:

“I wish I’d known I could have looked forward to more employment options as a performing artist than an office girl. I had a door open to me that could have led me to being a professional actress or singer but I turned down the opportunity because I believed the wiser decision was to work behind the desk. If I’d chosen the artist’s way, I could be performing in Disneyland right now and having such a great time. My life doesn’t suck, though, but you know what I mean.”

I was a thirty-year old newbie marketing and PR person for PETA at the time. That’s PETA, the Philippine theater company; not PeTA, the animal rights group. I auditioned for one of the plays we were producing for the season. The play was an original Filipino musical first staged in the Netherlands, IIRC, and it was debuting on the Philippine stage the first year our marketing and PR team became a solid unit.

I made it through, and was chosen to play The Little Match Girl, alternating with another theater actress. It was an exciting time because it was the stage! And I’d be singing and acting! And it was a professional theater company and not just a school/student production and there was a possibility of going on tour… But also I’d be doing theater simultaneously with office work…Could I make it work?

Doubted it. Or maybe I didn’t want it enough? But well, like I mentioned in my reply, I’d grown up thinking the way to go is to be an office girl. So I ditched the opportunity in favor of a desk, a work computer, clients, and long hours burning the proverbial midnight oil.

Oy vey.

Years later, I auditioned again for another musicale but as an older person, I’d probably developed bigger insecurities and I guess it showed in my voice, in my movement. I didn’t make it through that time. And that was the end of it. And while there’d been events when I still got to perform on stage, that first opportunity still remained my one big TOTGA: The One That Got Away.

A scene from the one-act play “Moog” (Tower/Stronghold) by J. Dennis Teodosio and directed by Nor Domingo, staged at the PETA Theater Center for the Summer Lab in 2007

That’s water under the bridge now, and like I said in my reply, what I currently have in my life isn’t what I’d call fvcked up. I’m okay. My life is okay. My life is great! Because maybe if I had chosen to be an actress, there might have been people I’d never have met. And these people in my life right now make me happy.

And being happy makes up for everything else.

[BLOG TOUR] Flipping The Script by Danice Mae P. Sison

February 25, 2019 • Leave a Comment

Miri dela Merced’s film director grandfather and Pabs Paglinauan’s studio head grandmother had a huge falling out that ended Lolo Ikong’s career. At seventeen, Miri finds herself in the same summer film internship program as the down-to-earth film studio heir Pabs, whom she’s decided to automatically write off, just because of his lineage. As Miri gets a crash course in her expectations vs the reality of what it’s like to work on a real movie, her true feelings for Pabs become harder and harder to ignore. In between attending outdoor screenings of classic Pinoy movies and battling monster production assistants together, can flipping the script on a decades-old grudge be only a few sequences away?

Genre: Romance, Young Adult
Release Date: February 15, 2019
Cover Models: Liane Palomo, Boo Gabunada
Cover Designed by: Tara Frejas
Flicker Design Identity: Clarissa Ines
Photographed by: Chi Yu Rodriguez
Makeup by: Carla De Guzman
Styling by: Alex Lapa

BUY LINKS:
For PH print edition: http://bit.ly/FTSPrintOrder
For International readers: http://bit.ly/FTSintl
For the Kindle edition: http://bit.ly/loloikong
Add us on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/FTSgr

So now what? Are we a thing? Do I want us to be a thing? Would it be so wrong if I say that I do? What do I do with these feelings, exactly?

So now what? Are we a thing? Do I want us to be a thing? Would it be so wrong if I say that I do? What do I do with these feelings, exactly? It was definitely more simple when we weren’t friends. It was easier hating Pabs, but I must admit that falling for him is a lot more interesting.

THE AUTHOR

Danice Mae P. Sison realized she wanted to be Harriet the Spy when she was very young. Since then, she has been digging out from real life experiences, pop culture obsessions, and her growing TBR pile of young adult and romance books for inspiration. She works in pay television as a channel manager, and has previously contributed as an author on the anthology Start Here. Flipping the Script is her first book.

Contact Danice:
danicemaepsison.wordpress.com
Twitter: @danicemaepsison
Email: hastyteenflick@gmail.com

I interviewed Danice about the book and her writing journey. Here’s what she has to say…

Tell me about your writing journey. How/when you started and how did you come by #romanceclass.

Iirc it was about the time after I read Mina V. Esguerra’s The Interim Goddess of Love in 2015 or so? I read it in one sitting on a bus trip from Manila to Baguio, and wanted to read more of her work. When I visited her blog, I came across an entry about #romanceclass and the free romance writing workshop she was holding at the time. I submitted a book description but dropped out very early in the game because… life. Anyway, I signed up for the FB group and lurked for about a year. I only became more active in the community when I spotted the callout for the “Start Here” anthology and the #romanceclassYA workshop shortly after.

Before you discovered #romanceclass, what romance books did you read?

I grew up reading Sweet Dreams, Sweet Valley High and Crosswinds pocketbooks. I read those from age 10-13. Then there was a long gap where I stopped reading romance and only one or two titles would grab my interest, like Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander” series, (though I stopped after the fourth book!). I rediscovered the romance genre recently when I discovered Tiffany Reisz’s Original Sinners series. I was also reading a lot of M/M fanfic and BL manga, which led to C.S Pacat’s “Captive Prince” and K.J. Charles’ “A Charm of Magpies” and her “Society of Gentlemen” series.

Do you have a favorite romance author/book?

It’s hard to pick a favorite especially after discovering so many awesome authors, but a recent favorite would have to be Rebekah Weatherspoon’s FIT trilogy. I marathon-ed all three (plus the novella) in late 2018 because I couldn’t get enough of the “fit but soft” heroes in the books.

Tell us about how you came up with FTS. What were the difficulties you encountered while writing FTS? In what way was the writing process easy?

The #romanceclassYA workshop called for a story for young adults incorporating one Pinoy element that I wished there was more of in YA stories, or a Pinoy element I haven’t seen yet written in any YA. I immediately thought of coming up with a storyline that had to do with a couple of young filmmakers because I’d just completed my undergrad in Film the previous year (after a 15 year hiatus!) so a lot of my experience from being around young people in film was still quite fresh. That was the easy part.

However, to be honest I’m terrible with conflict, so I was struggling in the beginning how to bring the story to Act 2. I kept going back to the #romanceclass textbook to keep myself in check as I pieced the story together.

Is there a character you identify with?

It would have to be Mimi Dela Merced, the mom of the MC, Miri. I think if I became a parent, my parenting style would be like hers. That, and I wish any future daughter of mine would be as awesome as Miri is.

Is there a trope you dream of writing? What is it and why?

Oooh, there’s a lot I want to try experimenting with. The biggest one right now (and I’ve been thinking of this for about a year) is Older Woman/Younger Man. I look to previous work done by awesome #romanceclass writers Agay Llanera, Jay E. Tria, and Carla De Guzman and I want to contribute my own story! Reading these writers’ work have inspired me, and I think we need more of these. I need more of these, especially as I approach my 40’s. There are thankfully a lot of seasoned romances available, but I think I may need to write seasoned romances about 35+ women who don’t necessarily identify with those who are/have been previously married or have had children, because I’m 39 and haven’t experienced those personally. There must be a lot of us that haven’t, and am sure we’d also love to see some representation.

Where is Danice headed from here? What can we expect from you in the near future?

I’m a really slow writer when I don’t have any imposed deadlines, but I’m hoping to finish my next book, which is Older Woman/Younger Man, or Woman-in-her-thirties/young-man-in-his-barely-twenties. Here’s hoping I finish! *crosses fingers*

Is a community of authors who attended #romanceclass, #romanceclass2016, the steamy reads, YA classes organized by Mina V. Esguerra
Readers of the books by those authors
Readers of English-language romance books by Filipino authors
Actors and artists who are part of the event and publishing process

We are a community of Filipino writers and readers who gather together to do what we love. Quoting from Mina V. Esguerra:

“The #romanceclass community of authors is a group that came out of the free class I ran in 2013, meant to encourage Filipino readers of chick lit and contemporary romance to start writing and publishing their own stories. “romanceclass” was the hashtag used to informally discuss things with each other over Twitter, and it stuck. That time, 100 people signed up, and 16 authors completed a contemporary romance novella. They’ve since gone on to write more, publish, get publishing deals…and we continue to support each other on social media and everywhere else.”

So I Just Turned 46…

October 15, 2018 • Leave a Comment

I have been neglectful of this blog. I haven’t any news to share so I didn’t feel like opening the site. But I just had a birthday, and I thought of making an entry. I hope I can update more often after this. 😉

So, yep. You read that right. I’m 46 now. A few more years, I’ll be officially a golden girl. Hah! I dunno what to feel about that, really. Maybe I’m excited or just blah.

Anyway, what did I do? How did I celebrate?

I didn’t have a shift last Friday, the 12th so the parents and I celebrated early. Went to a resto for a seafood buffet lunch because the weekend price of the buffet is more expensive. Har har! Stayed up til the wee hours of the morning replying to greetings, watching TV, and writing three articles for the community magazine. Three, because the editor will be on vacation out of town beginning next month and will only be back in January.

Saturday morning was gloomy, cold, and rainy. But what the heck? Rain is a blessing. Lunch was chicken and pork adobo eaten at home, then we heard Mass in the afternoon, and oh yay! Went to see Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral!

I’d been looking forward to that movie after seeing Heneral Luna a few years back. While Goyo did not leave me in as much tears and heavy feels as Heneral Luna did, the lines still hit home. This one has got to be my favorite:

“Ang pagkakaiba… ikaw, tapat sa idolo mo. Kaming mga pinatay at papatayin mo, tapat kami sa isang prinsipyo. Namatay si Luna na isang sundalong may paninindigan. Ikaw, pumapatay lang dahil sa utos. Hindi ka sundalo, Goyo. Isa kang… aso.” -Manuel Bernal

— Leong Makabayan 🇵🇭 🦁 (@LeongMakabayan) September 14, 2018

For non-Filipino followers of this blog, the lines translate to

The difference between us is, you are loyal to your idol. We who were killed, and will still be killed by your hand, we are loyal to our principles. Luna died as a soldier fighting to make a stand. You kill because you are told to kill. You are not a soldier, Goyo. You are a dog.

Great job, makers of this film! Was extra exciting seeing familiar faces in the movie–friends from Philippine theater. I am definitely looking forward to the next. Is it going to be Manuel Quezon?

Took photos on our way out of the movie house because nice backgrounds, ya?

Day ended, but the celebration continued with a trip to The Ripped Bodice. Author Sherry Thomas was having a book signing thing and yeah, had to go 😁.