Tara Tries To Write

5 nakakakilig things at Kilig Cafe 2026!

March 8, 2026 No Comments

Yes, YES, three weeks have passed since Kilig Cafe happened and I’m only now creating this wrap up post. As a *twenty-five year old, there are just some things I’ve made peace with. Such as giving myself more time to recover after a huge event such as Kilig Cafe. (Plus I had to work on more content for the #RomanceClass social media accounts.)

So anyway, yes, we made it happen! Kilig Cafe, the #RomanceClass tambayan concept that we started online during the pandemic, became a real-life hub for romance fans for one day! I still feel a bit emotional and overwhelmed that a wild idea thrown into a conversation over brunch became such a fun and memorable event almost three months later. Check out this post by Mina V. Esguerra to see everyone who’s been instrumental in mounting this event.

^ My little gratitude post on Instagram.

I was stationed at the registration table for most of the day (yes, with a custom-made Kilig Cafe apron because why not), which meant I had very little time to actually go around and see what was going on at the other tables. It was a little unfortunate, but thankfully a lot of event attendees took and shared photos and videos and I was really happy seeing all of them, especially since they highlighted a bunch of things I missed.

Ben and me having a chat at the Registration table.

Check out these posts and reels from @pryngols, @highnyzbibliofiles, @katonthejellicoe, @archiveofbea, and @pamzaragoza.

It might not have looked like it (because I was ngarag the whole day), but I felt so much kilig at Kilig Cafe. And these were the Top 5 things that brought in that rush of joy:

Events, The Writing Community

Tara na’t kiligin sa Kilig Cafe 2026!

February 11, 2026 No Comments

Filipino romance enthusiasts, rejoice and take a look at what #RomanceClass has in store for you this month of love!

On Sunday, February 22, #RomanceClass together with other Filipino romance authors from different writing communities and publishing backgrounds will come together in a mini romance convention called Kilig Cafe. Does the name sound familiar? Yes, if you’ve followed #RomanceClass for a while now, you’ll remember that Kilig Cafe was what we called our online hangout during the pandemic. We did everything from book launches to talk show-like streams to readalongs!

Now we’re bringing Kilig Cafe to the real world—and we’d like you all to come!

This event is for you if you:

Love to read romance books. It doesn’t matter if you like Tagalog romance, serialized fiction on Wattpad, or romance written in English, we’ve got all of this for you at Kilig Cafe! #RomanceClass is launching four new books (My Usual and You by Mina V. Esguerra, Comeback to Me by Carla de Guzman, Step One by Angeli E. Dumatol, and Win Meah Over by Ana Tejano), while the authors from Whimsical Books are bringing Tagalog romance to the table. Leng de Chavez and the authors of Guilty Reads will be bringing some titles that were originally published on Wattpad, and the BRU Multiverse authors are showcasing the work they’ve produced over the past few years. You’re definitely going to be spoiled for choice!
Want to meet our local romance authors. The event will run from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm, so there’s plenty of time for you to go around and meet all of the authors we’ve invited to participate in this event. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be busy on that day, but I’ll do my very best to say hi to all of them too. It’s not every day we get to have all of them in one venue in a day!
Want to meet readers with similar tastes. We’ve invited a couple of bookish communities to attend the event as well, and this is a great opportunity to get to know some of them, especially if you’re looking for a book club to join. These readers have very varied tastes in books, and I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to find a kindred spirit or two in the crowd.
Like getting free stuff. Our exhibitors are preparing lots of freebies for the attendees, and here are some of the ways for you to be able to get them:
1. Arrive at the venue early. The first 150 attendees get freebies upon registering!
2. Join the games. Don’t be shy, it’ll be fun!
3. Participate in the activities at an exhibitor’s table.
Like attending bookish events. If you’re the type to go to the big bookish events like Philippine Book Festival, Manila International Book Festival, or even Fully Booked events, I urge you to give this one a try, especially if it’s your first #RomanceClass event. I think you’ll find it a very refreshing experience.

So ano, game? Ready ka na bang kiligin?

Hope to see you there!

Kilig Cafe is happening on Sunday, February 22 at Ayala Malls the 30th in Pasig City. Admission is FREE.

This event is brought to you by #RomanceClass and Komiket.

Events, The Writing Community

That Market! Market! moment (My self-publishing talk at Komiket BGC)

January 25, 2026 No Comments

Last weekend, I gave a short talk about self-publishing at Komiket BGC as a representative of #RomanceClass. Yes, I had my Market! Market! moment. I’ve made it!

Anyway, thought I’d share the three quick self-publishing tips I mentioned during this talk. But first, an important note:

A lot of people still seem confused about the term self-publishing. I’ve seen people on the internet say “I’m a self-published author” and in the next sentence, say, “So-and-so is my publisher.” This is incorrect. When you SELF publish a book, that means YOU are The Boss of things. YOU are the publish. YOU have the power to make all the decisions regarding the publishing of your book.

Of course this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do EVERYTHING from editing to book cover design to marketing. You can hire people (or a company) to do that for you. These are services, and if you hire people or a company to do these things, they are simply providing a service. They are NOT your publisher.

Remember: You never have to pay a publisher to get your book published. An actual publisher pays you so they could acquire the rights to publish your book.

Now that that’s (hopefully) clear, here are my three tips!

Theatre

Tara’s Thoughts On: IdeaFirst’s Anino sa Likod ng Buwan

November 16, 2025 No Comments

I watched #AninoSaLikodNgBuwan, a play based on a Jun Robles-Lana film of the same title, directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio. I came in not knowing anything about the story, just that the show was provocative and mindblowing. And Edward Benosa is part of the cast, so…what was I supposed to do, say no? 🤣

Set in the 1990s, Anino sa Likod ng Buwan features the complicated entanglements between a married couple, Emma and Nardo, (played by Elora Españo and Ross Pesigan) living in a remote province, and Joel (played by Edward Benosa), a soldier with whom they form a friendship. Through their conversations, we learn their backstories, their hopes and fears, and what fuels the decisions they’ve made thus far.

Book Tours, My Work, The Writing Community

3 Takeaways from the Waiting in the Wings book tour

November 11, 2025 No Comments

So… this is two months late, but I can’t not write about my amazing experience with Talk Bookish To Me, AKA the community of readers and content creators who organized the book tour for Waiting in the Wings.

Yup, I had another book tour this year! (Check out my BookLoverTitas collaboration for Connect the Hearts~)

I just figured that since I’m planning to release another book next year, I should reintroduce my backlist to new readers. So I reached out to Talk Bookish To Me for a collaboration, and they did a week-long feature for my theatre babies Erin, Ramon, and Pio on the first week of September.

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I remember having a Zoom meeting with some of the TBTM members and their admin, Emman, asking me: “What are your expectations from us?”

I was a little stumped. What did I expect nga ba? Honestly, the only thing I wanted out of this book tour is new readers who would be interested in my books, so I just told them to do whatever they wanted and to surprise me. 🙂

And surprise me, they did. For seven days, Avy, Obi, Shian, Ceej, Jesh, CL, Nyz, Mark, and Veron featured my book in various creative ways. I was so kilig! One of them even made me cry. *points to the post below*

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So yeah—here are my three takeaways from the Waiting in the Wings book tour with Talk Bookish To Me!