Personal – Page 8 – Tara Tries To Write

ARC Tour | Like Nobody’s Watching

October 21, 2017 No Comments

Cover reveal, check.

ARC kits, check.

Blog tour -- CHECK!

The Like Nobody's Watching Press Preview began last Wednesday, October 18, and people have been so generous with their stars! I am so kilig! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to those who signed up for the blog tour. You are all such a blessing to authors like me.

To those who are curious about this book, you may read about (and ONE-CLICK!) it here, or get a sneak peek at its first chapter here. If that's not enough to whet your appetite, scroll further to read another excerpt and listen in to my book playlist. And oh--if you reach the bottom of this post, you'll find a giveaway too!

Ready? Set. SCROLL!

Once Upon a Project

August 30, 2017 No Comments

When I released Waiting in the Wings in February, I had no idea I would be writing a spin-off novel so soon. Honestly, I already had plans for a second book in the same universe, but it wasn’t top priority on my writing calendar. (Yes, I have one. :P)

And then, #AprilFeelsDay2017 and a certain theatre actor came along to shake things up.

Needless to say, I succumbed to the kilig and gigil and began outlining #ProjectPio in May–and if there was a phrase I’d use to describe everything about this writing process, it would be whirlwind affair.

Peripherals, Personal, Projects, Writing

Love Songs: Waiting in the Wings

June 23, 2017 No Comments

I love love songs. I mean, I love songs in general, but I’m a sucker for passionate well-written love songs, and I believe we have plenty of that in OPM (Original Pilipino Music). Including some of my favorites in Waiting in the Wings was such a fun thing to do, but also a little daunting, only because I couldn’t really quote the lyrics in the book. Often, I wondered if describing the songs was enough to get their messages across, and when I felt that wasn’t enough, I put together a Waiting in the Wings Spotify playlist.

Today, I’m sharing the lyrics to the four OPM songs mentioned in the book, together with English translations so that international readers may also understand what they mean. Please bear in mind though that I’m not a translation expert, but I tried my best to capture the feeling of the songs. Take a look/listen:

Peripherals, Personal, Projects, Writing

Gio & Gab For #SummerCrush!

June 1, 2017 No Comments

And so, the final promotional ~thing for our summer music festival anthology, Summer Crush ended last Sunday! It came in the form of three video recordings, excerpts from each of the three short stories–Jay E. Tria’s You Only Need Reminding, Almost There by yours truly, and Six de los Reyes’ Ocean Eyes–read by two people we love, Gio Gahol and Gab Pangilinan.

Instagram will load in the frontend.

Personal, Projects, The Writing Community

Book Cover Crazy: My 1st #RomanceClassCovers Experience

May 23, 2017 No Comments

#romanceclasscovers shoot day — **THAT’S A WRAP!** #romanceclasscovers 3.0 featured Fred Lo and Vanya Castor. Photo by Chi Yu Rodriguez. Styling by Alex V. Lapa. Overall coordination by Mina V. Esguerra. Additional, *panggulo* feels by Ana Tejano, Jay E. Tria, Tania Arpa, and yours truly.

“Aga-aga daming feelings!” -Lo, 2017

^ Now THAT is a pretty accurate description of what went down at the citruSnap studio last May 14, to be honest. There we were, six giddy authors (one of whom is also the photographer, the other, a book cover designer), two gorgeous models, and one badass stylist, trying our best to stay on our toes and be ~productive on a hot, Sunday morning. While this wasn’t the first time I got involved in a photo shoot, this was the first time I sponsored one for a personal project.

I wasn’t prepared. *insert sweating emoji here* Yes, even when I’ve saved a bunch of reference photos on my Pinterest board and sent it over to Mina to compile. Even when I had already outlined 2/3 of the book for which some of the photos will be shot. Even when I’ve rehearsed in my head what kind of direction I’d be giving Fred and Vanya so I can achieve the look I wanted. Nope. I wasn’t.