Guest post by Katrina Ramos Atienza: The story in your head

The story in your head
by Katrina Ramos Atienza

I was talking with a friend recently, an avid reader, and together we discovered -- or maybe articulated is the better term -- a key truth for people who love stories: we tend to view the world in narrative.

I know, I know, hardly earth-shattering. But as my friend and I were talking about this, we realized what this really means is that we tend to force the randomness of reality into the orderliness of a narrative.

Coincidences become plot. Something interesting a friend tells you informs your interactions with others. You pick out the elements of a conversation that fit in the story in your head, and suddenly a theme emerges. You say, oh cool, this week is all about unrequited longing. Or chasing after a dream. Or maybe even something as mundane as "everyone is getting married except for me."

Because a story is easy. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. It has tropes and archetypes and specific character beats. You know that conflict ends in resolution and that a story needs symmetry for balance. Bad things can happen, but you are warned, thanks to foreshadowing.

Real life, however, is hard. It's totally random and unbalanced. Conflicts hang in the air and never get solved. Things hit you without warning. Real life doesn't have a template, and you can't predict how a person will really behave.

How we impose a story on our lives is what You Caught Me On A Good Day deals with. The main character pictures himself in a movie, complete with soundtrack, as he goes about his day (oh God I am so guilty of this). Another character enters the picture, and it seems that his imaginary indie romance finally comes to life. Or does it?

And that's my story: Expectation versus Reality, and all that complications that ensue, in 10,000 words or so. Hope you enjoy it!


(PS: When I first finished this story I wasn't sure what to make of it or where it fit in. It was romance, but not the kilig light-hearted ones that are genre staples. The genre New Adult -- with its themes of exploration and discovery -- seems like a good fit.)

Katrina Ramos Atienza blogs at katrinaramosatienza.com. Read You Caught Me On A Good Day by getting All This Wanting on buqo. (http://bit.ly/ATWbuqo) 

How Bound Came About (Guest Post by Chinggay Labrador)

How Bound Came About 
Chinggay Labrador

I'd been suffering from a too-long bout with writer's block—the last work of fiction I did was in 2012 and has remained unpublished and unreleased. When I came across Mina's post on #buqosteamyreads, I decided to take the challenge and try my hand at fiction again. My previous works have all been PG-13, so I knew I would have to take a leap of faith to work in a genre that is unsettling for me! (I don't even read romance books!)

I tried to come up with a list of ideas, but it proved really difficult for me, even when Mina assigned us specific tropes to work with. The deadline neared and all I had with me were about three half-started stories that I was nowhere near happy with. I told a good friend of mine about how much of a fail my steamy writing challenge ended up, and she told me she'd find a way to help kick me out of my writer's block for good.

My friend, who works as an artist, decided to pull me and another friend for a rope-tying session. She joked that if anyone needed steamy-inspiration, there would be no better way than to jump into some risqué Japanese art. The tutorial turned out to be fun, interesting (to say the least) and we weren't even halfway through learning how to tie ropes on each other before the idea for Bound finally came to me. (Success!)

Funnily enough, my short story wasn't exactly conventionally steamy—but it at least was "adult" enough to get into the NAQR2 anthology. After being so used to writing long books, the short story format piqued my interest because it forced me to stay concise and stick to only the details that really mattered to the whole.

NAQR2 cover by Martina Bautista

I've been on a writing roll since Bound and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to be part of All This Wanting—not only because I know I'm in good company, but because it stoked my creative process again. I can't wait for our next collaboration to come out (soon!) and for the new stories that'll come up (and who knows—maybe more surprising, art adventures too! Haha!).

Read "Bound" by getting All This Wanting on buqo (http://bit.ly/ATWbuqo)

New Adult Quick Reads 1: Say That Things Change (giveaway for buqo and Google Play!)

New Adult is an emerging literature category that focuses on themes of discovery and independence for characters in college to their mid-twenties. Say That Things Change is a new adult romance anthology featuring stories by Filipino authors Jhing Bautista, Jonnalyn Cabigting, Katherine C. Eustaquio-Derla, Leng de Chavez, Rachelle Belaro, Rayne Mariano, and Mina V. Esguerra.

This is the first in a series! More info here at facebook.com/NewAdultQuickReads.

Say That Things Change is available from buqo, Google Play, and Flipreads right now, but if you'd like to try for a free copy...

Leave a comment below and mention:

1. Your first name/nickname
2. Of the 7 authors in NAQR: Say That Things Things Change, whose stories have you read before?
3. Do you want your copy from buqo (requires buqo app) or Google Play (requires Android/Google Books app)?

I will pick two winners on Friday, March 14. Please visit this page again to see if you won!