Young and Scambitious (A short story)

Young and Scambitious (A short story)

Who is Elizabeth Madrid, exactly? She's Manila's latest It Girl--stylish, staple of the club scene, new best friend of famous-for-being-famous Chrysalis Magnolia. She's also a jewelry clan heiress, a former model, an Ivy Leaguer... except no one actually knew of her until last year. Shouldn't her new society friends be more suspicious? Especially "BFF" Chrysalis, who reportedly already lost an expensive ring to a friend who turned out to be a thief? 

(SHORT STORY/10,500 WORDS/CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE/NEW ADULT/SOME STRONG LANGUAGE)

Get it on Amazon.

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I just did this because it's fun. It's a departure in several ways from the stuff I usually write, and is inspired by a recent Sherlock Holmes/Arsene Lupin reading binge. Because it's another one of those experiments I do every now and then, I wanted to make it as easy as possible for my readers to try it. So I released it free on Amazon Kindle for the first five days, and it will remain at $0.99 until I'm allowed to make it free yet again.

If you choose to get it, thank you! Hope you enjoy it!

#romanceclass talk at UP Diliman

So when Dr. Lorie Santos asked how much time I needed for my presentation, I said, "Twenty minutes." And then I talked nonstop for more than an hour. Whoops!

I talked to her English 198 (Reading the Romance Novel: Critical Approaches) class and said stuff about:

- My books (in order of publication)

- How I wandered into self-publishing and digital publishing

- That annoying thing about being years ahead of a trend or years behind it

- Becoming a "hybrid author" - self published and also traditionally published

- How #romanceclass happened, and what I asked people to do

- Why they shouldn't write arranged marriage/falling for gay best friend/death ending stories (but there are exceptions)

- Short description of each published #romanceclass novel

- Ebooks, how many of them read them, bought them, how much would they pay for them, and why this is important if they plan to be writers/authors

Despite blabbering for over an hour, I forgot to say stuff about:

- My 3 types of love interests in romance

- The different plot structures and tropes (because while I made #romanceclass stick to the monomyth, that's not the only way to go) 

And man oh man I really wanted to blabber on about that. Oh well.

I did get to answer questions though, like:

- Do you think research is important in writing a romance novel? Yes, because it's fun, and also since I've written more than five books, I've run out of careers/locations/other things I've actually done or know well. 

- What about your books has made them sell well internationally? They haven't yet, actually. Even though most of my ebook sales are likely international, I don't think my books have become "mainstream" yet. More work needs to be done.

- How do you get inspiration to write romance novels? Other people. I like to think that I write "RPF." I start with an idea based on something real, but then I write a middle and ending that deviates from canon.

- In dialogue, do you make women more indirect with what they say, and men more direct? No, because I think there are people who speak their minds and people who don't. It's not a sex/gender thing, but a character thing. I've had guy characters who are indirect or in denial, and girl characters who are direct and to the point.

- How do you write "kilig"? I don't know. I have an idea, but sometimes what works for me doesn't work for you.

I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to readers about this. This was a fun afternoon. (Yes this is what is fun for me.) And then I was given cake and a copy of Jane Austen's Emma from Dr. Paolo Manalo! (Who reads my books, he admitted as much right there.) Just awesome. :)

From #loveyourfrenemies

Challenging the writer vs Challenging the reader

I must mention right now, at the beginning, that this isn't really a problem. It's a thing, one of those situations that I am fortunate to ever even encounter. If this post could fit into a tweet, the hashtag would be #somewhatprolificwriterproblems. Which aren't really problems.

But anyway. When my fiction writing career started, I was doing Chick Lit and Contemporary Romance. I wrote five books in that category/genre. Then I thought, I should push myself a bit and experiment -- I'll do a YA-style Fantasy series. And ended up writing the Interim Goddess of Love trilogy for two years.

While that was fun, and rewarding, I realized that not everyone was going to be into that. It's one thing to start writing YA and then grow into older categories over the years, as my readers grow too, but another thing to go from this age to a younger bracket. And then not come up with anything for my main audience for two years, something I was made aware of when someone told me to "write about twenty-somethings again."

So I'm sharing this now, if you're a writer who wound up on this blog. It's something you might hear from your readers too. Do you write the things you want to write that might take you away from your comfort zone (and risk having your readers go "no thanks I'm not into that!")? Do you stay within that comfort zone, when it might mean that your readership never grows beyond what it is now?

Ha! I don't have the answer to that yet. What I do know is that this is what will happen soon:

- At the end of this month, I will release a short story on Amazon (Young and Scambitious), through KDP Select, so it will be free on its first week. I wanted this story to be free because it's yet another experiment, something I did for myself actually, something that appeals to me as a reader.
- Next month (or whenever the cover design and editing powers see fit), I will release Welcome to Envy Park, my new novella. It's contemporary, and chick lit, about twenty-somethings. Again! But I've done it in a slightly different way, and maybe only people who've read all my other stuff will notice the difference. It's something we can talk about when it's finally out. Oh, and this book will be offered FREE to people who are currently in Singapore. Comment or email minavesguerra at gmail if you want it!

Busy year I'm having! It's fun, probably the most fun I've had at work since, well, ever. You should all try it. :)

A different view of the Manila International Book Fair

This wasn't my first time at the Manila International Book Fair as a reader/fan of books/book buyer, but it was my first time as an "author."

At the Summit Media signing booth, Sept 14, 5 to 7 pm.

The signing thing is apparently a low-maintenance gig. You're led to a table, people line up with copies of your book, you sign. And when you're done, you give way to the next person on sked. It was a fun experience that I was glad I could share with my husband and daughter. (This probably means nothing to a toddler, but she got to run around and stare at the people who chatted with me.)

I talk about being an indie publisher a lot but I actually am both -- I digitally publish some of my books, and a traditional publisher has Philippine print rights for most of them. And this is one big (maybe the biggest?) benefit of going with a traditional publisher like Summit. Your book is in so many places, all over the country, and they'll give you time to sign books in the biggest book fair of the year. I feel fortunate, and a bit out of my league, but I'll take it. :)

Talking to the Mariano sisters at the National Book Store booth. (via NBS on Facebook)

At the last minute I offered a freebie to people who showed up at my signings -- free digital copies of Welcome to Envy Park, my next chick lit book, when it comes out this year. I ended up getting more than fifty email addresses to send the book to. Not bad!

For perspective: Signing line for international authors Melissa Dela Cruz, Alyson Noel, and Margaret Stohl. One day maybe!

Thank you again (and again and again) to Summit Media, National Book Store, and everyone who showed up and said hi. Freebies soon! :)

My signing skeds at the Manila International Book Fair

I will be at the Manila International Book Fair (SMX Mall of Asia) on September 14, Saturday. Drop by the Summit Media booth at 5 to 7 pm, and the National Book Store booth at 7 to 8 pm.

 

You can have any of my books signed. :) Also!

The first to say "I'm Team Robbie" gets a gift from me.
Everyone who visits the booth for signing (and leaves their contact info) will get a free ebook edition of my next chick lit novel, Welcome to Envy Park.

See you at the book fair!

[Vintage Love] Excerpt Reveal + Giveaway

 

Welcome to my Vintage Love stop in the Hello+Vintage Love blog tour (organized by Book Junkie Blog Tours)! In case anything about Vintage Love looks familiar, it's because I've featured Agay Llanera's book before -- as one of the novellas completed during #romanceclass! 

 

26-year-old Crissy Lopez’s life is in dire need of a makeover. Her wardrobe revolves around ratty shirts and beat-up sneaks; her grueling schedule as a TV Executive leaves no room for a social life; and worst of all, she’s still hung up on the Evil Ex who left her five years ago.

When her fashionable grand-aunt passes away and leaves behind a roomful of vintage stuff, the Shy Stylista inside Crissy gradually resurfaces. Soon, she feels like she's making progress -- with a budding lovelife to boot! But the grim ghost of her past catches up with her, threatening to push her back into depression. To finally move on, Crissy learns that walking away is not enough. This time, she needs to take a leap of faith.

Buy: Amazon  Smashwords
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Here's an excerpt -- read on and join the giveaway after!

For the first time, after a really long time, I took a long, hard look at my full-length reflection.  Underneath the hair awkwardly growing out of a year-old layered bob, dark circles under the eyes, and stubborn flab that had accumulated in the middle area, I tried tracing my old self five years and ten pounds ago.

Who was I before all this happened?

I remembered taking pride in how I looked, scouring department stores to regularly update my wardrobe and blowing off my allowance on occasional shopping sprees in designer stores.

I remembered regular visits to the neighborhood salon for my regular trims and nail care.
I was never a gym rat like Bea, but I did enjoy working up a sweat—whether it was a quick round of volleyball, swimming, or badminton. I even joined 5K runs just for the fun of it.

Mama Maring used to tell me that taking pains with your appearance is a form of public service. “You give people something nice to look at—at the same time, you feel good about yourself!”

Seeing all those people fawning over her clothes and accessories at the rummage sale made me realize that Mama’s fashion investments were still paying off—they were still nice to look at, and those who bought them felt good about their purchases. I wanted to feel the same way, so I had gathered all the leftover accessories and brought them home. I vowed to wear a piece of Mama’s history every day.

But I had also brought one more item with me from the rummage sale. I looked across the room, where Mama’s polka-dot dress stared back at me, as if contemplating its new owner. I unhooked it from its hanger, and held it up to my body. Like I said, it was a thin-dress. It would take a while for my figure to catch up.

Leo constantly told me that, in order to succeed, you had to visualize success. You had to “claim those goals” before they could truly be yours. So in the process of reclaiming myself, I would start with this dress—claiming that it would eventually look good on me.

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About Agay Llanera

Agay Llanera is a freelance writer for television and video, and a published writer of children’s books. She is a member of KUTING, a private, non-stock, non-profit organization, which aims to be the Philippines’ foremost writers’ organization for children. Email her at agay.llanera@gmail.com.


Buy: Amazon  Smashwords
Follow: Twitter  Author Website