So...What have I been up to?

I feel like I haven't been updating much because of how crazy life has been and I dunno, I've been feeling out of it, too. Was quite busy with work--freelance jobs aren't for lazy people, contrary to popular belief so yeah that's pretty much taken over my life. BUT I've also read 52 over 100 books this year (at least according to Goodreads so yay for that!)

Two of the last things I read are The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (which I bought at the local bookstore for way below its original price), and which isn't my usual kind of read but which really touched me. It's always good for me to read dark and crazy and beautiful stories such as this.

And then there's Sophie Jordan's "Uninvited". A story about a teenage girl who's way out of place in the world because she has the so-called Kill Gene aka the gene that makes her want to hurt and kill people. It's another one of those Dystopian reads, but I think it was pretty good because of the characterization. Strong characters make stories way better than they are--plus, it's good to read a different kind of Dystopian story so I really enjoyed this one.

AND THERE ARE TWO MORE! (which makes my total amount of books read this year to 54! yay!) I finished Tess Gerritsen's "Girl, Missing" (which was quite cray and then okay...what the hell just happened there?" and Edgar Calabia Samar's "Si Janus Silang at ang Tiyanak ng Tabon" (which I'll talk more about on the 1st of May...also, watch out for my interview with the author here on the 29th! :))

And if you're wondering if it's possible to read that much in just 4 months...The answer is YES, people. I actually know some others who've read more than I have for the same span of time. It's not that I'm not doing anything else with my time, but I really do try to find time to read. And it's basically a part of me already so when I feel like I have nothing to read, I kinda feel stupid and I feel ashamed of myself lol. I usually read late, late at night (because most of the time, that's just the only time when I could) and which really doesn't bother me much because I always find it hard to sleep (and that's why I hate waking up early) so I devote my night-time for reading.

On Writing... Fiction writing has taken a bit of a backseat last year because I basically had no time for it (and I know that's a lame excuse and that's why I'm trying to get back on track again) but I'm happy to say that recently, I finished my contribution for #LunaEast, which is entitled "Something New" and it was really fun to write because of the awesome #TeamBenedicto slash #TeamFish slash #TeamSmile slash #TeamDimaano hahaha. It was my first time writing with a group and it was so much fun because they're all awesome and writing that way gave me the push that I needed. So, yay! I'm planning to write another #LunaEast story soon, and also a new QuiCk fanfic because OTP and yeah why not? I haven't written fanfics in a while and I miss it.

Movies to watch out for: 

So many book to movie adaptations to watch out for! Aside from The Fault in Our Stars, I'm quite excited for If I Stay! The trailer was soooooo good and it's rare for me to feel like crying just for the trailer alone but this one was super heart-wrenching! And then Gone, Girl! OHMYGOD you have to read this book. It's one of those books I'm passionate about because it's soooo good, and really CRAY CRAY CRAY! I just hope the movie will not disappoint.

So there, there. Not talking about anything personal. Why should I, anyway? :))

Something New

"Are you pregnant?" Karen asked Emma, her best friend since kindergarten while at one of the uber-sophisticated, air-conditioned restrooms at Luna East. This one was at the fifth floor of the Arts building though, one that not a lot of students use. Emma immediately got out of the cubicle that she was in as she heard Emma puking yet again. She straightened her skirt and grabbed Emma by the arm before asking the dreaded question.

"Are you effin' pregnant?" She said, with much more strength this time, not minding if anyone would hear.

"Can you shut up?" Emma said, turning off the faucet after splashing some water on her face.

"You're throwing up again."

"I'm not pregnant, K," Emma said, "I just had too much to eat."

"Oh," Karen said, "Okay." She said nonchalantly, as if the fact that Emma just said that she was throwing up because of eating too much is not something to be worried about. At least she's not pregnant, Karen thought, an eating disorder is better. She and Emma then left the restroom.

**

Margot hastily got out of the cubicle as soon as Karen and Emma left. She hated those moments when some girls enter the restroom and go on with their tattletales, and superficial lives.Who would not get worried knowing that her friend has been purging? Margot shook her head.

She hated those moments when she had to stop reading whatever novel she was reading just because of those noisy teenage girls who knew nothing about life. Not that she knew everything, but at least she didn't have to throw up after eating, or worry about getting pregnant before graduating from high school because there's just so much to do.

Like, being part of the arts and crafts club. Or, immersing herself in the newest Maria Semple or David Levithan read. Or listening to The Smiths on her worn out iPod mini, one that she has not given up for around eight years now. What for? It still works, and she just doesn't like those new gadgets. You buy one today and you have to change it again in a few months or so because it's no longer "new". There's a lot of better use for money than that.

She glanced at her watch. It was 2:00 in the afternoon already. She had classes in an hour, and she was getting hungry. Yep, she's one of those girls who actually eats because she likes it and she actually doesn't mind gaining weight. She doesn't though. She's also one of those girls who have very fast metabolism, and that's why people often think that she's on a diet or that she's starving herself. She HATES feeling that way. But then again, what could she do? Damned if you do, damned if you don't, anyway.


She made her way out of the restroom, heavy Polka-dotted bag and a couple of books in hand, and bumped into Ronan. He transferred to Luna East from rival school Preston High just last year, their junior year in High School. He was tall, with Blue eyes, Dark, Chestnut Brown hair and an overwhelming presence because of his Half-Brit heritage. They have never spoken before, but she knew a lot about him. How could she not, when almost every girl in school talks about him like he's a god?

"Margot," He said.

She raised an eyebrow, her defense mechanism for awkward situations like this. "Why do you know my name?" She said as she picked up her books. Ronan bent down to help her, too.

"We were classmates, weren't we? Intro to Interior Design?" Yep, they had classes such as Interior Design because Luna East was an Arts School. And that's why it's awesome.

"Yeah, but--" She said as she placed the books one by one back in her bag.

"I paid attention," Ronan said, "here," he said, handing her Maria Semple's "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" and then getting it back, "Wait, I haven't read this one."

"Go buy one."

"Aren't you willing to lend this to me?"

She took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, "Ronan," she said, "We're not friends."

"Maybe," he said, "but we can be."

"Why would we be?"

"Aren't you willing to try something new?"

"What is it to you?"

"Nothing," he said, "Just being friendly." He smiled and then rummaged through his sling bag, "Tell you what," he said,"I'll lend you this," he handed her a copy of Don Winslow's "Savages", "I know you haven't read that."

"How do you know?"

"I stalk you on Goodreads."

She rolled her eyes again. She barely checks the friend requests on her Goodreads page. "You're insane," she said.

"Maybe," he said, "or maybe I just want to be friends with you."

For some reason, this made her smile lightly, "Fine," she said, accepting the book, "I'll return this to you in three days. Make sure you finish that book, too."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe," she smiled.

He chuckled, "What's your number?"

She shook her head, took a mini notebook from her bag and wrote down her number on a page. She tore the page and gave it to Ronan.

"Thanks," he said, "See you in three days."

"Fine, fine," she said and started to walk away. She opened the first page of the book that Ronan lent her, and saw that something was written on it.

I've been wanting to lend this to you for a while now, but I have no idea how to reach you. So, yeah, I've been keeping this in my bag, in the hopes that I'd have a chance to talk to you each day. Creepy? Sorry.

Hope you're willing to try something new. 

Ronan

She glanced back at him and caught his eye. They shared a smile. Well, it was clearly the start of something new...

___________________________________________________________

Haha! Tried writing a story for Luna East, darlings.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, then check THIS out. 

And join the raffle HERE. 

Luna East Arts Academy: Interview with Addie Lynn Co

Luna East Website: lunaeastacademy.org

Paperback Order Form: bit.ly/lunaeastv1

***

Welcome to Luna East Arts Academy, a place where your teenage fantasies are released, and where you can find yourself—or find people who can help you get to know yourself even more.

Luna East is a collection of short stories from today’s talented bunch of Filipino Authors. It’s a sneak peek about the lives of the students of Luna East Arts Academy, a fictional school where a lot of magic happens.

From childhood sweethearts, to love at first sight; to Cadet Training memories; teenagers trying to go against the Status Quo; to not being sure if the person you like likes you back; to picturing someone naked; getting rid of rumors and being true to yourself; Anime Conventions; Coffee shop talks; and learning to stand for yourself and for the people in your life, this book has it all.

Addie Lynn Co's "The Apple of My Eye" is one of the stories that you'll get to read once you buy Kids These Days: Stories from Luna East Arts Academy Volume 1.

I got the chance to interview her and this was how it went:

1. "You are the Apple of my eye" is the title of your Luna East story.
Did you have your own "apple of your eye" back in school?

Yes, I did have the 'apple of my eye' back in high school, but it was a different kind from my story. I never had the courage to say something about how I felt so I never got to know how he felt and I never got rejected.

2. What were you like back in school?

I was more like a combination of Navi and Fefe but I was never an Anja. I'd like to think of myself as the quiet but honest leader of the group. I try to keep my feelings to myself but when I burst, I say things with all honesty. I had different circle of friends so I don't really belong in just one kind of 'stereotyped' high school clique (i.e. The Popular Kids, The Loser, The Wallflower, etc.) I guess I was an all-around girl. :)

3. You're also releasing your 2nd novel "Forget Me Not" soon (w/c I've
seen previews of in Wattpad, and w/c I loved!). What is your
inspiration for this?

Glad you liked the preview! Am still gathering my courage to release it because I fear that it would not be as good as the other releases from my #romanceclass 'classmates'. But the idea came to me around three years ago when I was walking home back from the post office because I had to send someone a snail mail. And as I was walking home, I thought not everyone sends snail mail anymore. Text message or email would be much faster and you know that you are sending directly to the person. Snail mail has the higher possibility of getting lost or being undelivered. And questions like what if the receiver never gets to read the sender's message? What if it was something important? Maybe an explanation for an offense the person committed and he/she was asking for forgiveness? And so on.

Then, sometimes when life gets tough for me, I have these thoughts of 'what if I can just forget everything and get away from my life' kind of thoughts. I always thought it would be so cool to get away from all my problems and start over again and be a different person than I was.

So I romanticized things and put the two together and out came Forget Me Not.

4. Any message for your fans?

It's okay to be afraid but never let that fear stop you from doing anything. Instead let it be your driving factor to want to know how things will end up. So that one day when you're older, you won't look back in your life and you'd be filled with a lot of 'what if's'. There may be haters but there definitely will be fans who would appreciate your hard work. Just try to pursue your passion and don't let the fear of failure get to you.

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Addie grew up reading Sweet Valley University and Nancy Drew mysteries. She finished a degree in Communication Arts and really wanted to pursue a career in filmmaking, but due to high production costs, she opted to tell her stories through her novels. Being the hopeless romantic that she is, she will stop at nothing to share her passion with everyone and hopes that she could infect others with it. She’s a daydreamer by day and an author by night. She has released her first book Hello: A Trilogy.

***

Got nothing to do on the 8th of February? Then head on over to Ayala Museum and come to the launch of #LunaEast Volume 1! It'll be fun :)

Luna East Arts Academy Volume 1: Kids These Days--Book Review

Hello February, and hello darlings!  Welcome to Luna East Arts Academy Volume 1's stop on my blog!

         

The stories from LUNA EAST ARTS ACADEMY are about love. And also, friends, food, kissing, rumors, mean people, insecurities, birthdays, breakups, making up. We set it in an arts academy because we wanted everyone to have a talent, and know it. Because no one is ordinary, if you know them well enough. 

Who are you, at LUNA EAST? Are you a popular kid, a wallflower, a drama club diva, a debate whiz? Visit lunaeastacademy.org to read more stories from #LUNAEAST, and submit your own. For readers 16 and up.

BOOK LINK:

Luna East Website: lunaeastacademy.org

Paperback Order Form: bit.ly/lunaeastv1

***

Welcome to Luna East Arts Academy, a place where your teenage fantasies are released, and where you can find yourself—or find people who can help you get to know yourself even more.

Luna East is a collection of short stories from today’s talented bunch of Filipino Authors. It’s a sneak peek about the lives of the students of Luna East Arts Academy, a fictional school where a lot of magic happens.

From childhood sweethearts, to love at first sight; to Cadet Training memories; teenagers trying to go against the Status Quo; to not being sure if the person you like likes you back; to picturing someone naked; getting rid of rumors and being true to yourself; Anime Conventions; Coffee shop talks; and learning to stand for yourself and for the people in your life, this book has it all.

What’s great about Luna East is that there is a variation of stories—no story is the same, but they also intertwine in such a way that you can find some of the characters in one story in the other. There’s continuity, for sure, but there is also variety, which makes it good, because as you well may know by now, some readers these days have little or close to zero tolerance for long books. With this one, they can read a lot of stories, and I’m pretty sure that they’ll find their favorites that they can read over and over again. Personally, I enjoyed “Sitting on a Tree” (Chrissie Peria), “Fifty Two Weeks” (Mina Esguerra), “The Rumor About Me” (Khristel Villar), “The Apple of My Eye” (Addie Lynn Co), “Senpai’s Number 1 Fan” (Anne Plaza), and “Picture Me Naked” (DR Lee) the most. They were cute, kilig, and really a delight to read.

Whether you’re in High School, or just want a reminder of what High School used to be like, this book is for you. It’ll make you smile, laugh, root for the characters, be happy and sad and feel some hate about some characters, and maybe even wish for more. After all, it’s High School, and there are all sorts of characters and all sorts of happenings involved. You'll realize that a kid from Luna East is a mirror of the person you used to be. 

The book also features awesome artwork from:

Richard Sy for Stella Torres' "Be Creative"

 Jonalyn Cabigting for Jen Suguitan's "Where do we go from here?"

Robert Wong for Anne Plaza's "Senpai\s #1 Fan"

Looking for a good read this lovely February? Then better check out this first volume of stories from the Academy. 

And, in case you have nothing better to do on February 8th, then why don't you come to the launch of Luna East Arts Academy Volume 1: Kids These Days at the Ayala Museum? It'll be fun and amazing. Plus, it's also the first anniversary of #RomanceClass, and best of all, it's for free! You'll get awesome freebies from Buqo and from Mina V. Esguerra, too! 

AUTHORS’ BIO:

Chrissie Peria is the author of All’s Fair in Blog and War, a contemporary romance novella featuring feuding travel bloggers in Macau. When not writing, she serves her tiny overlord Miffy and Miffy’s poodle/minion, Cooper. She also enjoys cooking, taking photos and playing with dolls. Chrissie is currently working on a contemporary YA romance featuring books and boys who like books.

Mina V. Esguerra writes contemporary romance, young adult, and new adult novellas. Her YA fantasy trilogy Interim Goddess of Love is about gods of Philippine mythology, in college. Through her blog Publishing in Pajamas (minavesguerra.com), she documents her experiments in publishing.

Ronald S. Lim has been writing for a newspaper for almost a decade now, but he’s been writing stories for much longer. He is co-author of the book 60 Minutes: Interview with People Who Inspire. He has more books than he has clothes.

Nurse by profession, educator at heart, Athena Claire Duenas has been a bookworm for as long as she can remember. Her passion for reading started when she “met” Archie Andrews in a store at the airport. Aside from reading, she enjoys writing short stories and reviews at thebookjunkie.weebly.com, playing the keyboard, and just cuddling with her dog, Frou-Frou.

Miles Tan likes inhabiting imaginary worlds, from fantasy books to sci-fi shows to cheeky mysteries to role-playing games. Her contemporary romance novella Finding X is available on Amazon.

M. Protacio-De Guzman works in the field of HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health. His poems and stories have been published in The Philippines Free Press, Sunday Inquirer Magazine, and The Philippines Graphic Magazine. He has also been anthologized in Ladlad 3: An anthology of gay writing in the Philippines edited by J. Neil Garcia and Danton Remoto. He also has ebooks available in Amazon and Smashwords, among others.

Writing has always been Kristel S. Villar’s first love, but it was only in her late 20s when she re-discovered her passion for writing fiction. When she is not busy daydreaming of story plots, she covers sporting events for a national broadsheet and takes care of her husband and son. She is addicted to coffee.

Alyssa Ashley Lucas gets her writing inspiration from the peaceful and beautiful scenery of her beloved hometown down south of the metro. She grew up together with Harry Potter and the Sweet Valley twins. She loves to read YA, detective stories, romance novels, classic novels, or any book that comes her way. She has always dreamed of becoming a writer.

Addie grew up reading Sweet Valley University and Nancy Drew mysteries. She finished a degree in Communication Arts and really wanted to pursue a career in filmmaking, but due to high production costs, she opted to tell her stories through her novels. Being the hopeless romantic that she is, she will stop at nothing to share her passion with everyone and hopes that she could infect others with it. She’s a daydreamer by day and an author by night. She has released her first book Hello: A Trilogy.

Anne Plaza has a degree in Psychology, but has actively pursued a career in writing in her previous work as a reporter and online editor. She currently works in the field of marketing communications and spends most of her time writing fiction (while not on the lookout for the nearest cupcake and cronut store).  Aside from writing, she loves to read contemporary romance, young adult, fantasy, and historical fiction. She also collects stamps and postcards, and loves everything about cats. Anne is based in Quezon City, Philippines. 

Jen C. Suguitan is a PR practitioner by day and a storyteller/ninja by night. Her love affair with words and letters was too strong that not even her differently-wired brain can actually stop her. She has written for different publications including a national broadsheet prior to diving into the PR industry.  When she’s not writing, she’s probably thinking of what to write about next.

D. R. Lee is a law student hailing from the Philippines. Outside of her academic endeavor, she does writing, painting, and a whole lot of reading. On a perfect day, she talks with the people inside her head and tells their stories through printed words. You can reach her by email at: drlee.peacelovebacon@gmail.com.

Jayen San Diego likes to share her imaginary world through writing. She is the author of Just A Little Rain, one of the novels produced during #romanceclass. She is a news archivist by day, fiction writer by night, and a self-confessed fangirl in between. Read about her thoughts about life, love, and writing at jayensandiego.blogspot.com

Stella Torres graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a bachelor’s degree in English literature with a concentration on creative writing. She also worked briefly in public relations and earned her master’s degree in special education before moving back to the Philippines. Stella is currently taking up her PhD in education at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. She writes novels, short stories, and unproduced screenplays when not establishing correlations between test scores.