gio gahol – Tara Tries To Write

Cover Reveal, Personal, The Writing Community

[ Cover Reveal ] What If We Fall In Love?

October 24, 2022 No Comments

I love cover reveals. I do. Especially when I know the author doing it and I trust them to “deliver the goods,” so to speak. And also when I’m the one doing the reveal.

In the #romanceclass community, we have a project called #romanceclasscovers where we (or actually, our resident photographer, Chi Yu Rodriguez) takes photos of Filipino models (sometimes they’re actors, sometimes they’re friends of friends!) and we put these photos on the covers of our books. It doesn’t sound quite revolutionary when you think about it, but it’s a statement. It says, loudly, that we want to see Filipinos on the covers of our books. We want to see not just faces, but faces with real emotion. Poses that entice and tickle the imagination. The whole she-bang.

It’s a representation thing. It’s an aesthetic thing. It’s a choice.

My choice for my upcoming book, What If We Fall In Love?, is a playful, happy photo of Gab Pangilinan and Gio Gahol taken way back in 2017, when we still did regular studio shoots for #romanceclass covers. It’s been hidden away for so long, I’ve just being waiting and waiting and waiting to see where I could use it, and the opportunity presented itself after deciding on releasing a romance anthology.

And here it is—the cover of What If We Fall In Love?:

Personal, Photos, The Writing Community

#RomanceClass Sundays ♡ April Feels Day + Book cover shoot

April 20, 2022 No Comments

The first two Sundays of April have been fun work days for me and gave me a bit of a boost after what seemed like a very long first quarter of the year. On April 3rd, Mina and I met up with Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates somewhere in Bonifacio Global City to record a couple of readings for the upcoming #RomanceClass April Feels Day.

The Writing Community

#RomanceClass Watch Party!

April 9, 2020 No Comments

Last Saturday (the 4th of April), we had our very first #romanceclass watch party, featuring four of our favorite live readings from past events. This was actually us testing some tech for our upcoming April Feels Day event on the 25th, but we figured, hey—why don’t we make this fun? ^_^ And we did have a lot of fun at the chat room!

If you missed the watch party, here’s an edited version of what we viewed that day. And if you’d like to join us on April Feels Day, simply sign up here. No registration fee required. All you need to do is show up (online!) on the day of the event!

Watch #RomanceClass Watch Party! from RomanceClass on www.twitch.tv

Projects, The Writing Community

A #romanceclass experiment

January 8, 2019 No Comments

First things first: Happy New Year, everybody! <3 Gosh–time flies so fast, doesn’t it? I hope everyone returned from their holiday vacations refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready for the year ahead.

So…fun fact: I had slacked off on writing early November.

(Except that’s not actually a ~fun fact, because it makes me uncomfortable that I was rather unproductive toward the year’s end, but that’s okay, I’ve already forgiven myself since I was able to churn out a couple thousand words AND finished That Thing I Was Supposed To Have Finished in October. HEYYYYYYY! <3)

Fun fact #2: I DID end up creating something else early December. With some really cool people you might already know.

Events, The Writing Community

How to Meet-Cute: a #romanceclass Pop-up Event

June 20, 2018 No Comments

Meet-cute.

You know the drill. Romantic lead meets love interest for the first time. Maybe it’s awkward, maybe they hit it off right away. Maybe it’s a total disaster. Whatever it is, a meet-cute happens when a future romantic couple meets for the first time. It sets tone and expectation for the readers, and is often one of the most memorable scenes in a romance novel or a rom-com.

Do you want to know what makes a meet-cute work? Join us on July 14 as we have an entire discussion about meet-cutes, led by actors Gio Gahol, Gracielle So, and Sam Aquino, using scenes from manuscripts by #romanceclass authors Carla de Guzman, Ines Bautista-Yao, Six de los Reyes, Chi Yu Rodriguez, C.P. Santi, Clare Elisabeth Marquez, and Brigitte Bautista.

To join the discussion from 2-4pm, you need to purchase a book from the selection available at the venue on the day of the event. Snacks are included. ^_^

Book and merch selling happens after 4pm.

Hope to see you there! <3

Personal, The Writing Community

Of Dreams and Then Some

February 4, 2018 No Comments

Dear Tara,

Do you remember when, as a high school senior/college freshman, you would spend afternoons with Ceejay and Macri doing research for the play you were writing at the CCP Library? Do you remember getting library cards (so you could borrow some material, I guess) after coming back so many times?

(Let’s also not forget hanging out at the CCP Cafeteria just so you could catch a glimpse of the Miss Saigon cast during their break. Because hard work deserved some reward, yes?)

Yeah, I figured you would.

Events, The Writing Community

How Do You Prepare For A Feelsplosion?

October 23, 2017 No Comments

Take it from me: You don’t. Or rather, you can’t.

It’s been more than a week since #romanceclass Feels Fest 2017, and I think it’s safe to say those who were able to attend the event are still reeling from everything that’s happened that rainy afternoon at Commune. I know I was/still am. My body couldn’t handle all the feels it felt like it needed to shut down for the entire week that followed so that I could recover. (I seriously slept A LOT.)

Anyway… my Feels Fest 2017 experience didn’t begin on the day of the event, but rather, weeks prior to it. As part of the organizing committee, I helped put together some fun stuff you’ve probably seen on #romanceclass’ Instagram and Facebook accounts. Yeap, if you felt like we flooded your feed with everything #romanceclass, that’s because we wanted to. We had a 30 Days of #romanceclass social media campaign where authors and readers shared their favorite things about the books, the characters, and the community as a whole. I’m a bit embarrassed to say I wasn’t able to complete all 30 days (and I don’t wanna make excuses but the week prior to the event was a doozy), but I know there were those who did and it was always heartwarming to see the responses. Nakakakilig po, thank you.

The Writing Community

NEW PRINT EDITION: Ana Tejano’s Fall Like Rain & Keep The Faith

October 1, 2017 No Comments

To be released this coming October 14 are new print editions of Fall Like Rain and Keep the Faith by Ana Tejano. So what’s so special about these new editions?

Well…

Fall Like Rain
Ana Tejano

Rain De Castro has been in love with her best friend, Mark Velasco, for almost the entire time she has known him, but she’s clearly in the friend zone because he’s happily in a relationship. Or so she thought, until the news of his break-up reaches her. Now that Mark’s single again, she decides that it’s time to get out of the zone. But when her cousin Lissa comes into the picture and sets her eyes on Mark, Rain feels troubled when he gets a little too friendly with her. Rain is determined to fight for what she feels this time, but is it worth the effort if it’s a losing battle from the start? Will she back off to give way for her best friend’s happiness, even if it means losing him to someone else again?

Buy it on Amazon
Add it on Goodreads

Keep the Faith
Ana Tejano

As a community development worker, Faith was quite familiar with heartbreak and recovery after all the time she spent on disaster relief missions. So when her five-year relationship ends right before she left for a mission trip to a typhoon-stricken town in Iloilo, she tries not to make a big deal out of it. How can she be broken up about a breakup when she’s with people who literally lost everything?

But now that she’s back, all Faith wants is for her life to go back to normal and have people stop looking at her with pity. Never mind that she still has a lot of questions about the breakup, or that she feels a tiny ache every time her ex comes up in conversations. She’s okay now, and happily distracted by Nico Tamayo, the attractive new guy at work.

With new possibilities in the horizon, Faith thinks she is well on her way to moving on. But when her past comes calling back to her, will all the good things in her present be enough to keep her on the path? Or will she finally learn that there was more to heartbreak and recovery than what she knows?

Buy it on Amazon
Add it on Goodreads

Get in touch with Ana on Twitter if you want to pre-order the books for #romanceclass #FeelsFest2017! These shiny new covers were designed by none other than Miles Tan. Photography by Chi Yu Rodriguez. Models: Gio Gahol, Rachel Coates, and Gab Pangilinan.

Events, The Writing Community

#RomanceClass is Serving the Feels Again!

September 14, 2017 No Comments

If:

you were at #MIBF2017 and felt sad to know #romanceclass isn’t there this year,
you have missed any (or all! OMGWHY) of the past #romanceclass events, or;
you just can’t wait to attend another #romanceclass event…

Then don’t miss #FeelsFest2017 this coming October 14 (yes, it’s only a month away–EEEEEK!) at the Commune Cafe+Bar in Makati. We opened registration on Monday, and as of this writing, there are only 26 slots left! Imagine that. Don’t miss the fun–REGISTER HERE NOW. The fee is P500, inclusive of snacks, a freebie, and a deluge of feelings!

Projects, The Writing Community, Videos

Relive Summer Crush With Gio and Gab!

July 29, 2017 No Comments

Back in April, Jay, Six, and I released this summer music festival anthology called Summer Crush, something we had a lot of fun putting together. (Exhausting too, but all worth it.) As a special gift to those who bought the book, we also produced live reading videos featuring excerpts from each of our stories, and we got Gio Gahol and Gab Pangilinan to help us out! We made those videos available to our readers last month, and now you can have access to them too!

Relive your Summer Crush feelings over and over again with these short videos, and don’t forget to share the love! We can never get enough of our live readers, anyway, right?

You Only Need Reminding by Jay E. Tria

Almost There by Tara Frejas

Ocean Eyes by Six de los Reyes

Summer Crush is available on Amazon and print-on-demand.

We’d love to hear what you think about our very first collaboration project! Please leave a rating/review of Summer Crush on Amazon and Goodreads when you can–it will be greatly appreciated!

Special thanks once again to Gio Gahol and Gab Pangilinan, who made time for us for this mini project. May this not be the last! <3 We love you!

Fall Like Rain Ana Tejano

Keep the Faith Ana Tejano

You Only Need Reminding by Jay E. Tria

Almost There by Tara Frejas

Ocean Eyes by Six de los Reyes

Fall Like Rain
Ana Tejano

Keep the Faith
Ana Tejano