Spark Books by Anvil Publishing

They're out! We can talk about this!

I'm thrilled to announce that I've entered a new (non-exclusive, for those who need to know) partnership with Anvil Publishing here in the Philippines. The result of that partnership is a new Anvil imprint called Spark Books (FB / Instagram). They will be publishing in print my New Adult books, and distributing them to local bookstores. (Yay!)

They launched their new imprint with three books from me, Welcome to Envy Park, The Harder We Fall and Never Just Friends. How are they different from previous editions you might already have?

Welcome to Envy Park: Has a bonus story, "We Were So Yesterday" originally posted on Wattpad, but in this edition handwritten (yes, written by hand!) by pen enthusiasts Faith Yeo and Chito Limson. You might also see your name in the new acknowledgements page.

The Harder We Fall: Almost identical to the print edition already on Amazon! But a fraction of the price at P185.

Never Just Friends: Exactly the same as the US print edition. I never did a local printing though so this is the only print copy you'll find in the Philippines.

I'm so psyched for this and I hope you understand that you (readers, and random person on the internet) made this all possible.

The other exciting thing about this is, Spark Books will be releasing more titles. By more authors. People you might know, if you've been following the indie romance writing thing we've been doing. I can't wait to see them!

So, here's a favor, if I may ask for yet another: Please read/buy/share/review/give as gifts? If you see the books in a bookstore, please let me know! Send me a pic. Or a pic of you with the books. Tag @minavesguerra in your reactions. I'm sharing all of them on my Twitter and Facebook. Thank you thank you thank you and I hope you enjoy the books!

(PS. I still own copyright and most rights to books I've written and will write. I am still currently working with other publishers, and will continue to, as an author, consultant, editor, and whatever else. I'm not going to expect everyone to be able to keep track of this so if you need me for anything, just ask!)

Sola Musica book launch on Oct 25!

Ines, Marla, Chinggay, and I are launching Sola Musica's paperback edition on Saturday, October 25! And you're invited. 

We will be at O2 Space Solutions in Milelong Bldg, Makati (near Makati Cinema Square) from 10 AM to noon. Those who ordered their paperback at bit.ly/solamusicaprint will be able to pick up their copies there and also have them signed. We'll sign any of our other books that you bring along too!

If you happen to join this giveaway below and win, you'll be able to pick up your prize pack at the launch too! (Or we can ship it to any Philippine address, no problem.)

See you on October 25!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Excerpt: Welcome to Envy Park

When I first met her, during registration day on our first year at college, I thought we'd be at each other's throats. We were both only children, academic achievers from our respective high schools, vying for recognition in the same business management program. Sometimes she got the lucky break, and sometimes I did, but when we met to compare notes I was always happy for her.

But I would just never do some things the way Roxie would. We were just wired differently.

"Your parents haven't been here?" she asked. "I thought they'd be over every weekend, knowing your mom."

"They've been here. Just not a lot. They discovered a social life now that they're sort of in retirement. It doesn't involve me."

"Are you okay with that?"

It was an adjustment, but one I welcomed. "Yeah, for now. I guess I got used to the once-a-year face-to-face thing. It's great when I know I'm here for Christmas, because it's all good stuff. But the rest…"

Roxie nodded. "It's a stage. Your parents want to continue treating you like a kid, but you're not a kid. They'll get it eventually. Or your mom will. But you have to be around to make it happen."

"No, it doesn't work that way with them. I have to prove myself somewhere else."

"I'm not like you," Roxie said. "I stay put. I have roots. I work it out where I am."

"Living in another country is going to open your mind to everything, Roxie. I think everyone should try it."

She was sitting on my living room floor, barefoot, scarf off, drinking her passion fruit margarita from a jam jar, my attempt at being shabby chic. "You don't realize what would happen to my career if I just suddenly took off now. I get out, and I won't be able to just pick up where I left off. I can't afford to Eat Pray Love myself out of this funk."

I was lying flat on the sofa just behind her, and I could see that the pitcher on the coffee table needed refilling. But I didn't move an inch. "Well maybe you don't want to go back to the same career."

"I have a huge payment on the condo coming up. Can't think about that."

"When do you get to move into that by the way?"

"Next month, I think, if I'm lucky."

Roxie and I were an interesting study in parallel lives, if anyone bothered to look. I packed up and left Manila, as so many others did, and at the time it seemed like the only smart thing to do, if you wanted to get ahead. My hometown (if you could call a city of 12 million people "hometown") felt too cramped and crazy. Roxie stayed, because it was her nature to thrive in cramped and crazy.

Five years later, and what did we have?

"Well you have this," Roxie said, waving an arm toward my ceiling.

"And you're getting your own place soon."

"And you helped your parents with expenses and stuff."

"You did too."

"We had that New York trip."

Yes, that was excellent, I agreed.

"We don't have cars," Roxie added.

"We don't drive. But we can afford it if we wanted to."

"We don't have kids."

"Yeah, we don't have that."

"I'd settle for a date on Saturday."

"Well, I've cursed you, so no."

"So let me recap. You left. I stayed. Now, we both have some money, helped out our families, went on a cool trip, bought ourselves apartments. But our social lives are still limited to you and me and a margarita pitcher."

"Huh. It kind of sounds like we're even," I said.

Were we? Maybe it was the tequila buzz, but I really did think that I had come out ahead. Surely the lessons in independence that leaving home provided a person counted for something. Counted for more, at least, in terms of emotional growth, and maturity, because those years were the most difficult and humbling of my life so far.
"No we're not even," Roxie said, giggling. "I have a job. You don't."

She had to refill the margarita pitcher all by herself then, I told her.

Buy Welcome to Envy Park: Amazon  Smashwords  Barnes & Noble  Kobo  Google Play  buqo

New story: We Were So Yesterday

Two things that came together last weekend:
1. I usually have stories planned out for supporting characters in my books.
2. I had to sit and wait for over an hour for something.

Roxie, Moira's best friend in Welcome to Envy Park, has her own story. I hint at what it is in one of the chapters. I don't have time yet to create a whole book about her, but last weekend I had just the right amount of time to start an epistolary-style short story. It's up on Wattpad right now, and ongoing as of right now. (There are probably three chapters to go.)

Love Your Frenemies: New paperback edition! (International)

Hi, everyone! If you don't have a copy of Love Your Frenemies in paperback yet, it's now available internationally, with a new cover:

Yes, Universe, Kimmy Domingo knows that you hate her. But she's a nice person, she really is -- as long as you ignore the stories of people she's bullied, manipulated, and annoyed in the past. She totally gets that you've gotten back at her by having her fiance' dump her a week before their wedding. Soon after, she quit her job, hopped on a plane, and just hid from everyone who knew her.

A year later and she's back in Manila to be maid of honor at a wedding she can't miss. She's home because she's ready to start over, but she also knows that some people at that wedding were responsible for the mess her life turned out to be. The first step to recovery? Cutting off the ones who caused her troubles to begin with: her best friend and her first love.

Love Your Frenemies is part of my Chic Manila series, standalone contemporary romance/chick lit/new adult books set in the Philippines. 

Get the paperback from CreateSpace. (Use code UFPAHLTE to get 20% off.) Links for The Book Depository and Amazon coming soon! Ebook editions here.

Chic Manila series and Spotlight

Embarking on another stage of this writing career, and I thought it was time to re-evaluate and organize. So let me explain.

Chic Manila is not a new thing, really, but it's what I'm calling all my Manila-setting chick lit novellas, as I've now grouped them all together in one series. Some of you have noticed that all the stories exist in the same universe anyway, and I've just made it official, at least on Amazon.

What's coming up for my Chic Manila series? A story called Georgia Lost and Found (Georgia first appeared in That Kind of Guy) which will appear in an anthology with stories from Marla Miniano, Chinggay Labrador, and Ines Bautista Yao.

If you've read a book I released last year called Playing Autumn (it's not available right now, because reasons) then you have an idea what my new series called Spotlight is about. I'm writing the second book now, as well as outlining the third, and a theme is going to emerge. 

No wait, the theme is actually that -- spotlight. It's not that hard to figure out. I can talk about it more when the books are out.

It also looks like I had too much fun at Canva, right? It's the truth.