January Highlights | Bye-bye funemployment!

January Highlights

When January rolled in, I started setting aside a page on my planner for monthly highlights. You know, those moments that really stood out to me and those I’d really love to look back on. Since the first month of the year has already ended, let me share with you the highlights of my January:

  • #ONSMaxie – A one-night stand dedicated to one of my favorite Filipino musicals? GIRL, BRING IT! #ONSMaxie was so, so, soooooo much fun, especially since the original cast members were all there, celebrating music and teasing us with the possibility of a rerun. I mean…
  • New job, hu dis? – Finally, after more than a month of searching, I landed a new job as an Admin Assistant/Virtual Assistant for an Australian-based business school! As of this writing, I’ve already received my first salary from them, and I felt all sorts of relieved…because you know them bills aren’t going to pay for themselves, right?

    The best part? In this job, I get to work with a fellow author from the #romanceclass community! <3 Pretty darn cool.

  • Meet the newest gym rat — ME. – No, I don’t go to the gym every day (because I’m old and my body needs to recover every 2-3 days), but I’ve been going to the new Anytime Fitness facility near my house and enjoying it! I usually take the dance classes at night, or, when I don’t feel like it, just lift some weights and spend time at the treadmill. They also have this Tanita weighing scale which I used to determine my BMI, and it turns out that I still have what they call a Standard body — meaning, I’m not overweight nor undernourished. And my muscle mass is higher than my fat mass, so that’s…pretty good, right?Oh, and yeah. I already lost 2kg so far. *finger snaps*
  • Hello, San Pablo! – The Manila-based #ClingyGirls haven’t been able to go to San Pablo at all last year, so we made sure we started the year right by making a surprise visit at Kushie’s place! Unfortunately, we went during their annual fiesta, which meant most of the streets were closed and we couldn’t get to the restaurants we wanted. We still got siomai from Papu’s…but failed to get mais con hielo from Le Manays, which was just. so. sad.Ah well, nothing a full afternoon of being with good company couldn’t fix. ^_^

    Also I got to huggle this darling boy again, so all is well.

Instagram will load in the frontend.

  • We’re getting an Eraserheads musical, people! THIS IS NOT A DRILL. August 2018, bitches.
  • #StartHere blog tour – I got asked to manage the blog tour for #romanceclass’ newest LGBTQ anthology, and I couldn’t be happier. ^_^ More details on that here.
  • #FeelsSoProm! – #romanceclass + prom = epicness. Everyone came to the event looking beautiful and dashing, and the night was filled with cute, funny, sweet, and touching moments we’re sure we’ll all be talking about for a long, long, long time.

Instagram will load in the frontend.

Aaaand that’s about it for January! February is pretty awesome too, so far…I’ll tell you about that soon. Meanwhile, check out my birthday giveaway here and I hope you can join in! ^_^

Continue Reading

Of Dreams and Then Some

CCP facade

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.

Continue Reading

Start Here: Blog Tour

Gah! It’s been so long since I last updated this space, but good news — I’m back, and with a blog tour for all of you! Check it out:

Start Here Blog Tour

Start Here is an LGBTQ romance anthology that contains ten new stories by ten #romanceclass authors. Edited by authors Ronald Lim and Brigitte Bautista, this anthology promises adorable meet-cutes, a little (or should I say, a lot?) of heat, and happy new beginnings.

The book is now available for pre-order on Amazon for only $1.99 until release day, which is TOMORROW, January 27! Grab the book now, or, if you’re attending #romanceclass’ #FeelsSoProm tomorrow, you may also get your hands on the very first batch of Start Here prints!

Meanwhile, you may join the blog tour in February by signing up here.

Congratulations to the authors and everyone involved in the making of this colorful anthology! <3 Cheers!

Continue Reading

Introducing #romanceclass Flair + You Out of Nowhere Cover Reveal

Flair Teaser

I’m so happy to be part of something new from #romanceclass, this time a new imprint that promises fresh takes on your favorite romance tropes and a lot more heat.

About Flair

FLAIR (or #romanceclassFlair) is a new, ongoing project and it’ll bring you steamy contemporary romance (in English) by Filipino authors. There are four new titles from four different #romanceclass authors about to be released, and these books will be unapologetically sexy. What can you expect from Flair? HEAs, Filipino characters, fresh telling of familiar tropes, lots of heat.

Flair is not a publisher, but there is a single Flair team that is working with the authors on all the books. The team is composed of #romanceclass community authors, readers, editors, designers. Follow Romanceclass Books on FB, romanceclassbooks on IG, and #romanceclass on Twitter to get the updates!

Click on the Continue Reading link below for the cover, synopsis, and character profiles for You Out of Nowhere by Jay E. Tria, the first of the #romanceclass Flair books.

Continue Reading

How Do You Prepare For A Feelsplosion?

#romanceclass FeelsFest 2017

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.

Continue Reading