All's Fair in Blog and War Book review and Giveaway + Author Interview

Hello you guys. Let's all welcome September with a bang and a good book to read via All's Fair in Blog and War by Chrissie Peria. Today marks this book's stop on my blog and so here's a review and an interview with the author. Plus, you'll get a chance to win a copy of this book, too!

Title: All's Fair in Blog in War
Author: Chrissie Peria
Amazon Smashwords

Five Cuevas @5travels Three guesses to where I'm going next. Starts with an M. Ends with a U. Has a lechon named after it. #travel

Twenty-something travel blogger Five thinks she has hit the jackpot when she gets invited to glittering Macau for an all-expense-paid bloggers tour. Think majestic old churches, sparkling casinos, exhilarating bungee jumps, and the world's most unforgettable egg tarts. The trip is practically perfect, except for one little glitch. She gets assigned to be travel buddies with Jesse, the world's most infuriating photo blogger, and it's definitely war at first sight.

Will Five let Jesse turn her dream vacation into a total nightmare? Or will falling in love be on the itinerary? 

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Five Cuevas, alongside other travel bloggers Jesse, Megan and Simon win the chance to go to Macau, experience its sights and sounds--not to mention, the scrumptious food. The only catch is that they have to blog about it--which isn't that hard of a thing to do since as mentioned, they are travel bloggers.

So everything seems to be fine except that Jesse seems to be such a jerk--blame that on a bad, bad first meeting. So Five decides that she'd do anything just to avoid Jesse's company but on her first night at Macau, she sees the fogged-up word "Die" on her bathroom mirror, runs for her life like a scaredy cat, and runs straight into Jesse. And Jesse vows to help her. So starts a wonderful friendship and more.

Five and Jesse experience Macau together--eating Egg tarts, roaming around, visiting the ruins... and Jesse was even able to convince Five to try Bungee Jumping.

And guess what? Even I wanted to go Bungee jumping after I read that part. It's just soooooo kilig and so well-written, it's like you're feeling the characters' emotions.

And so Jesse and Five become closer--and soon enough, they shared their first kiss. And as every couple does, they took loads of photos and well...something happened that made Five think that Jesse was never really serious about her.

A heartbroken Five comes back to Manila and soon finds out that what she thought about Jesse is wrong and that she actually deserves her own beautiful, incomparable love story.

A story of how two opposite poles attract. If you're into blogging, traveling, photography and food, then you HAVE to read this. See how a free trip to Macau can bring two souls together...This book is sooooo "kilig", you'd want more! It's cute, it's light, and so much fun to read! 

Oh, and you can also follow Jesse and Five on Twitter! Cool, huh? 

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An Interview with the Author

1. What's your inspiration for All's Fair in Blog and War?

I have this weird thing where an opening line or a story title comes to me and it never gives up until I sit and commit it to paper. That was the case with All's Fair in Blog and War. Based on the title that just wouldn't give up, I knew it had to be about blogging, so I decided to piece together a story drawing on my own experiences as a blogger, a friend's travel blogging anecdotes, and our combined adventures during a bloggers familiarization trip we took together.

2. Why choose Macau as a setting for your story? 

Macau is a fascinating place to explore. It's full of opposites, one side's all sparkly and shiny with casinos and high-end shopping, the other is a throwback to old churches and ruins. But the thing is, it's not as popular as a tourist destination as Singapore or Hongkong, so I wanted to remedy that.

3. When did you start writing?

I've been writing since forever! The earliest stories I wrote were from high school, but I remember composing rhymes and short verses since first grade. I shudder to remember my first story, a maudlin tale with contrived deaths, but it has since led to a fulfilling relationship between me and my craft.

4. What have you learned best about writing and creating stories?

Don't wait for inspiration to arrive. Draw it to you. Force it to come. Throttle it by the neck until you've written your story. Then pat yourself on the back, celebrate a bit, have a good night's sleep, then revise.

5. Any tips for other writers out there who long to get published?

Biggest tip: Have faith in your work and take the leap. Getting a book out doesn't stop with finishing the book. You need to take the next step. Whether it's pitching your book to a traditional publisher, or getting started with indie publishing, you need to just go and make it happen. It's not going to be easy. Each avenue has its own difficulties, but they can be overcome. It can go as far as you're willing to take it, so, go on. Have faith and take the leap.

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About The Author

Chrissie's first trip to Macau was in the summer of 2010. Like her main character, she fell in love there. Unlike her main character, she didn't fall in love with a guy; she fell in love with egg tarts.

An advertising copywriter in her past life, she now spends most of her time writing, taking photos, cooking and babysitting. She tweets about food and writerly things as @kitchencow. For thoughts longer than 140 characters, she blogs on http://thewriteside.kingdomcow.net. She still plays with dolls and she thinks that bacon is the answer.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Lucky you, for you can win  3 Swag Bags (from Author Katrina Ramos Atienza) containing 1 medium, gray Well Played shirt + 2 Pride & Prejudice Bookmarks + Think Free Bag Tag! and 3 Swag Bags (From Author Chrissie Peria) containing 1 paperback copy of All's Fair in Blog & War, 1 unique trinket, 1 pocket journal, ebook voucher, postcard and bookmarks! Join Below:

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