Join my giveaway! Open to US residents!
Showing posts with label spotlight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spotlight. Show all posts
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Playing Autumn: New edition, new cover, out in March
In 2013, I wrote a romance novella that wasn't set in the Philippines, for the first time ever. It's called Playing Autumn and it was published by Jaded Speck Publishing in an ebook bundle called Rock Gods of Romance.
You know what happens when you leave your comfort zone? Like when you're traveling? You overpack, and take so much of home with you. Just in case. Playing Autumn feels that way. (If I really stopped to think about it, this entire US-setting Spotlight series feels that way.) Houston, Texas, where Haley and Oliver are from, is also where three-fourths of my immediate family live now. There are more places, things, obsessions, and in general things that actually happened in this book than any of my Manila-setting ones.
Maybe in something that's more obviously a fantasy, we can be a little more honest about things?
This is a new edition, because in the past year I spent time exploring what I could do with a longer form of novel than I used to write. Playing Autumn is now over 50,000 words. Someone helped me with this, and I'm grateful for the push. It's always nice to get a little push.
I love the cover. Designed by Tania Arpa.
Haley Reese is going back home to Houston and she's dreading this trip. She volunteers as a mentor to young musicians at an annual festival, and the longer she's been doing it, the more she feels like a fraud. It's been years since the web videos that made her sort-of famous first came out, and she hasn't done anything else to pursue the career in music she's always wanted. Things start looking up when she shares a plane ride with Oliver Cabrera, music prodigy, rock star, and the reason why she picked up an instrument in the first place.
Oliver Cabrera hasn't called any place "home" since he started touring professionally in his teens, but Houston is as close to it as any. He's also nearly broke, his career just about over. When he gets the invitation to mentor at the Breathe Music Festival again, he decides, what the hell, he should finally show up. He meets Haley, Hot Piano Girl herself, and finds her fear of failure might be easier to fix than his own.
Playing Autumn was first released in 2013 in the Rock Gods of Romance ebook anthology. This is a revised, expanded, and steamier edition.
Out in March. Those who bought the limited paperback run of the first edition will get the ebook free.
Buy links: Amazon Smashwords iTunes
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Thursday, February 5, 2015
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!)
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Saturday, November 22, 2014
"Volcano" research: The Harder We Fall and its rugby connection
The first book in my Spotlight New Adult series, The Harder We Fall, features a character who's a rugby player. I'm sure anyone who knows me even a little went What? What do you know about sports? And they would be right.
I like putting little challenges for myself in every book I write though, and psyched myself up for this: write about sports. I wrote this book for flirtsteamyreads and we had agreed to all write a sports-centric romance, so I pretty much got an entire group to leave my comfort zone along with me. I think we enjoyed it though? I hope so!
So, why rugby? Basketball is the big deal here, but that was precisely why I decided not to use it. As we were writing, the World Cup was on, and football was on everyone's minds. Also why I steered clear from it. A few months ago, my friends Kat and Kesh guested on the 5x5podcast and talked about rugby. It's a sport that hasn't gotten as much of a following in this country, and anyone who chooses to play it does so knowing that they're taking on a set of struggles and opportunities.
I took off from that and wrote the book. Along the way, I consulted actual rugby players Jon Morales and Evans Atandi, and the inside info has been just awesome.
Thanks also to my friend Chef Sharwin Tee for letting me tag along when his TV show Curiosity Got the Chef filmed at the training camp of the Philippine Volcanoes, the country's national rugby team. I saw the teams train, got to talk to female players and coaches, checked out what they ate, heard all the yelling. Lots of yelling. And got more help from Lady Volcano Cassie Umali, and the captain of the Volcanoes himself, Jake Letts.
So what did I learn from this? Research is fun. It's worth it to write more about what you don't know, because spending the time knowing it opens up all these possibilities.
It's also a balancing act of sorts, to keep the book focused on what it's supposed to be (a romance) and resist the urge to info dump everything I learned about rugby. Even just the stories they've shared about going on tournaments and training for them, and the lives they have to live in between, those could fill books. I can't write them though. I may have been sworn to secrecy about some things.
But I am writing a second rugby book, because I felt that another character in The Harder We Fall could have his own story. And he will!
Buy links: Amazon Smashwords iTunes Kobo buqo
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Release day! The Harder We Fall and Never Just Friends
If you're watching out for these (yay if you are!), they'll be out on November 18! Please read or buy or share the info. Thank you!
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Excerpt: Never Just Friends
Jacob Berkeley,
famous for his critically-acclaimed television show Rage Eternal, last year’s Hottest Male Ever, this year’s 30 Sexiest
on TV Under 30, was not hers.
Jake Berkeley, on the other hand, was a guy she met in college. Eater of
her sister’s cookies. Playmate of her nephew and niece. The person she sat
beside for three out of the last four Christmas dinners. Semi-annual “All-Clear
Happy Hour” drinking buddy. Potential future Amazing Race partner. And, if that didn't pan out, her zombie
apocalypse buddy.
But he wasn't her best friend,
no. That would be crazy. Calling him that would let them fall into that awful
cliché, and list them among the dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of
platonic male-female “best friends” out there who were really just waiting for
the other to wake up and smell the love already.
No they were not that. She was not that.
Lindsay paused and shook her hair out of the ponytail, catching her
reflection on the window of an idling cab. It was July, and she rarely saw him
in July, come to think of it. Since they both moved away from Fremont in
California, they didn't see each other in the summer, when her hair was a bit
more blond than brown, even when she did nothing new to it. She got the short
end of this stick because she got to see him
all year round. Got to see him buzzed and sweaty in photos of him working out
to get in shape for his show. Got to see him be hot and handsome in the
different time periods that his show’s seasons had been set in. (She didn't
watch the show, though, but the promotional photos were used as billboards, and
she usually had to walk by one when it was that time of the year.) Got to see
him and his perfect black hair, perfectly sculpted stubble, perfect blue eyes
taunting her from magazine covers.
She remembered that the dress she was wearing was a sexy crimson
halter if she shrugged out of her brown knit sweater. So she did that. She
caught her reflection yet again on a car window, and almost smacked the
self-satisfied look on her face with her hand.
What for? Why are
you doing this?
You have Victor.
Maybe.
And he is not
your Jake.
They (she and Jake) might not even be as friendly now as she thought
they were. The last time she saw him was April, over a year ago, and it wasn't
the best time for either of them. He skipped that year’s August happy hour, and
missed Christmas, and she didn't hear from him the following April.
Or any other time in between.
Sometimes she wondered if she should be more worried about him, but
the news didn't report anything serious enough to get her attention. She’d find
out along with everyone else if anything happened to the fifth sexiest guy on
TV “under 30” yes? So she assumed the distance was deliberate on his part.
And then this, having her walk five blocks to see him, on an assistant’s
errand. A contract for him to sign. She'd find out that he was in New York this
way? Because he probably flew in this morning. He liked doing that, flying into
places early. Being up early. Doing things at dawn. She wouldn't have met him,
in fact, if on that day her sister Cordelia didn't take the first flight out,
and Lindsay woke up at five a.m. to help her with something.
And saw him jogging past the house she shared with her sister, her
sister’s husband, and their two kids.
He ran by twice, probably circling the neighborhood, and then that was
it.
Lindsay woke up early every day to check if he would pass by again.
For two days there was no Hot Guy sighting, and then on the third day…
But no. She should be angry. Annoyed. Incensed. She should have put
her foot down right there on the carpet and made Marnie do the welcoming
herself.
It didn't matter if he was successful Jacob Berkeley now who got to act on TV, be on magazine covers, and
take all-expense paid trips to be an environment poster boy. She was important too, damn it. Not in
ways that he’d know unless he read the copyright page of policy papers (and who
did really), but damn it.
Never Just Friends will be out on November 18. Buy here: Amazon iBooks Kobo Smashwords Amazon (Paperback). CreateSpace (Paperback, use code CPWT2BBA to get 10% off).
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Spotlight series: We're growing up a bit
It's time to say a little something about the next few books I'm releasing. I have seven (seven!) book projects all laid out, one after another, and they can all be classified under NA contemporary romance.
What it means: They're going to be hotter. Way hotter. There's always been mention of sex in my chick lit and NA books, but for reasons that would require a long discussion about bigger things, I kept it all "closed-door" and "fade to black."
For reasons that will still require a long discussion about bigger things (and possibly fancy drinks?), I've decided that my next few books will keep the door open, a bit, so to speak.
If this is not your thing, and you still want to read my books, don't worry -- I have at least ten titles that can be considered "sweet," or "non-steamy," with characters and stories set entirely in the Philippines, and you can find them here.
This Spotlight experiment begins with The Harder We Fall, out this month. Thank you for the support you've given me so far! Now let's see if we can have more fun with this thing. :)
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Excerpt and ARC signup: The Harder We Fall
This is an excerpt from a book that I just finished writing. It's the first in my new series Spotlight, and it'll be out in a few months.
Read on for an excerpt! Hope it gets you interested. :)
====
At first it was a simple job. Could I clean him up a bit, use the water and the towel to rub at the places he couldn't reach? Of course. And why not. He straddled a bench, bent over, and only the telltale twitching of those corded muscles let on that this was stinging a bit. I had no experience cleaning up wounds and apologized every time.
His skin felt so warm.
“No one else is concerned about you?” Not that I was complaining, but his buddies didn't even call for a break.
“Nah,” he said. “This happens a lot.”
When the water ran out I pressed the damp towel one last time against the very edge of the injury, already clean, and even he probably figured out that I was stalling. “Do you have bandages or something?”
“How bad is it?”
“You probably don't want it infected.”
“Is it bleeding?”
“No.” The worst of the gashes looked bad, but had started to clot. “But I'm not the expert.”
“There's a first aid kit in the bag. If it'll make you feel better.”
Did he say that with a smirk? I didn't see it but sensed it was there, and threw one of my own toward the back of his head. Indeed there was a small bag in there with Band-Aids that looked tiny and inadequate when held up against the expanse of his back...but as cover-up for the wounds, they'd do.
“I avoided majoring in investigative journalism because of this,” I couldn’t help but say, because the silence was stretching out for too long. “But blood keeps pulling me back in.”
He laughed a little, making his back muscles ripple and I had to pause. “Should I apologize?”
“Oh no, not all. I guess I can’t help it if my destiny is this.”
“You’re doing fine.”
“Am I?”
“You have very talented hands.”
Oh seriously. He couldn’t possibly…
“Good strategy,” I said, “kissing up to the person who has her hands on your blood and guts.”
“I’m not kidding. I bet you’d be a better full-back than Wilson.”
“I’m sorry for Wilson, but thank you.”
“What were you supposed to be doing? Before my injury rudely interrupted you?”
But this wasn’t a rude interruption at all, I thought. If anything it would be my Monday highlight. “I thought I’d be reading up on travel guides to Switzerland, Turkey, maybe Vietnam this week, to be honest. And maybe extra light reading on malnutrition and school food programs.”
“And yet she’s found watching boys chase a ball.”
“I know. But it’s important too, by the way. This is still my ticket to the multi-country trip. I need you boys and your balls.”
He snickered again, and I had to lift my hands up entirely, regrettably breaking contact. But that laugh made me feel good, in other places.
“Your name is?” he said.
“Oh god. Daria. Kramer. Sorry.”
“Just so I can thank you properly, Daria.”
It took three Band-Aids to adequately patch him up, and I applied each one nice and slow. “Do you go here?”
“I used to. Graduated last year. I guess you really don't follow our team then.”
“Yeah but don't take it personally. I stayed away from all kinds of sports.”
Should I have been more into it? Sports attracted guys with gorgeous, strong backs like this one. Without realizing it I had strayed from the injured part of him and pressed my fingertips against his spine. It tensed along with his sudden intake of breath, and I didn’t move them again, higher, until he relaxed. Higher up this bridge that held together this wall of muscle, higher up toward faint marks of other bad days on the field.
He was otherwise clear, no tattoos. I could tell, from the touching. And looking.
“So is everyone banged up like you, or are you just lucky?” I said, close enough to hear the new laugh he suppressed in his throat.
Follow Mina's board Daria and Nicholas on Pinterest.
“So is everyone banged up like you, or are you just lucky?” I said, close enough to hear the new laugh he suppressed in his throat.
The Harder We Fall will be available worldwide in 2014. Sign up to get a digital ARC for review.
Follow Mina's board Daria and Nicholas on Pinterest.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)