Fall Like Rain – tinamats.com

#RomanceClass Podcast #1: Fall Like Rain

December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 Tina 1 Comment

So this went live last Saturday:

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And thisÂ was my reaction when I first saw this was up: OMG eeeee. â™¥Â *flails* (Note that I just woke up from a nap, and was running late for a party that evening so my feels were all over the place when I first listened to this.)

In case you missed it, I wrote a book. I released it in 2014 (and I know, the next book is severely overdue, but I’m working on it!), self-published and I’ve been getting used to being known as an “author” along with my other hats. Because of all this writing thing, I’m now a part of the #romanceclass community, a community of writers and readers of romance in English written by Filipino authors. They’re such lovely people who give me “pleasant” distractions on Twitter everyday. :P

Last September, Mina called for a #romanceclass meet-up.Â I think we were all pretty high from the MIBF and all the other bookish things that happened in the previous weeks so there was a lot of us during the meet-up, which was awesome because of the surprise: Mina had two theater actors, Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates, read from some of our books.

It’s one of my favorite nights last September because it was a night full of unexpectedÂ feels.Â Hindi ako halaman!Â And it was also a night when awesome ideas were born, or if they have been around for a while, then it was the time when some of these ideas were thought about again. :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/8RiT0XOsK5/

SoÂ we wanted to share the experience of hearing romance books read aloud by actors! So there was another reading at the Filipino ReaderCon:

Haha â¤ï¸ via @storiestotell @theatrachel @giogahol @romanceclassbooks

A photo posted by Mina V. Esguerra (@minavesguerra) on Nov 28, 2015 at 10:05pm PST

The one where Chase/Gio reaches out to Regina/Rachel, and says, “Come on. Let’s go home.” Everyone was like this when this happened:

They were reading from Dawn Lanuza’sÂ The Boyfriend Backtrack in this scene, btw. :D

But because we wanted more feels, and we want to share it with even more people…soÂ we now have aÂ #romanceclass podcast! :D These are audio recordings of excerpts from #romanceclass booksÂ read by Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates. There are 10 episodes for this season, and take our word for it: it’s ten whole episodes of major feelings. â™¥

Episode 1 is a reading from Fall Like Rain! Hee.Â â™¥ And here are some thoughts:

This excerptÂ they read from was one of the few chapters that was still in the original outline. This was one of my favorite parts, and also one of the easiest ones to write because I had the entire scene laid out in my head when I started writing the book. :)
The food they mentioned here (mojos, pesto rice) exist, and I had them when I was still in DLSU. And yes, even thatÂ steak place that we go to after PE class. :D
I love how Rachel got Rain’s overthinking part. Loooove. :)
I wished I had written more Mark lines here because that meant more Gio time, but even if there wasn’t a lot, I liked how his lines here were on point. Especially the last part. Come on, let’s go for a walk before we go home.Â *imagines Gio holding out his hand to Rachel*
Hearing the part read taught me a bit on how I want my other books to be read out loud, if they get to have that chance. Like maybe, more dialogue, less exposition. Â And also, like what we have been talking about before, having our works read out loud gives us a chance to be more conscious of what words to use, and what sounds natural and realistic. Stuff to think about for the next book!
On my first listen, there was a part of me that felt a little self-conscious, which was weird because I was listening to this alone. And then later I felt that this wasn’t good, that what I wrote lacked something, or that it wasn’t as fun or as exciting than what others have. After I had scolded myself, I listened to it again – this time as a podcast listener and not as the author of the story — and I realized that it really was a sweet scene (and I’m glad the actors thought so, too!). I really have to stop being so hard on myself. ^^;

You can purchase an ebook copy of Fall Like Rain on Amazon, or order a print copy from meÂ (available while supplies last).Â You can subscribe to the podcast through our Youtube channel, or via iTunes (or your iOS app). New episodes will be uploaded every week (9 more, so yay!), and you can follow the show notes on the #romanceclass blog, or Mina’s Wattpad. The #romanceclass podcast is produced by Tania Arpa and Mina V. Esguerra, recorded at The Study by Enderun, Podium Mall, Ortigas Center.

But wait, there’s more!

Join the giveaways below and win awesome prizes from #romanceclass :) MP3 recordings, passes to the next live reading (!!!), print books and ebooks galore!Â â™¥

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All These Things (9): Slow Down, it’s Advent

December 7, 2015December 16, 2015 Tina Leave a comment

It took me a while to realize that November has gone by and I wasn’t able to post anything that month.Â Darn it. I was hoping to at least blog once a month this year, when I realized that I won’t be able to post as much as I used to. Not just because of life, which always gets in the way, but also because I feel like there isn’t much to write about. Here, anyway. I write a lot of emails and stuff for work, and I still struggle with my fiction writing, but writing here has been a bit slow compared to the previous years. In a way, it’s good because that means a lot of my angst (aka #hugot)Â has passed, but I also really miss writing and ruminating about life, here.

But look, it’s December. I was a little bit in denial about it last week when it finally rolled around, but I couldn’t deny that the lights were brighter and the air is cooler (my poor lungs) and my weekends are slowly being filled with parties from different groups of people. Whoa, Christmas, you’re almost here. And whoa, 2016, you’re also almost here.

Last Friday, I was at the last CFC gathering for the year and Kuya Bubi showed a video about slowing down for Christmas. How Christmas is always a stressful time for everyone because of the holiday rush, but really, Christmas – or Advent,Â rather – is a time when we shouldÂ slow down.Â Slow down so we’d have a chance to observe and participate in life. Slow down to have time with the people we love. Slow down, because Advent isn’t about rushing, and Christmas isn’t about making sure everyone has presents.Â Slow down.

My Advent last year was crazy because of work, but I remember excitedly going home so I could spend some time with my nephew, who was just two months back then. I remember finally letting my thoughts stop when I get home, as I go to their room and sit by this little boy, and listen as my breath slows down as I watch him sleep. Slow down, because grace isn’t a burden, and God comes as a babyÂ because grace is weightless.

I like that thought:Â grace is weightless.Â :)

* * *

Right Here, Right Now.

Reading

Janus Silang at ang Tiyanak ng Tabon by Edgar Calabia Samar. Friends have been raving about this, and I finally got copies at the last book fair because the books were on sale and the author was having a signing. The first time I tried reading this, I had a hard time with the Filipino, but now it’s not so hard. (Kind of funny how it’s a bit hard to read in my native language, huh.) I am enjoying this so far, and there was this one part that kind of creeped me out last night that I was almost hesitant to venture out of the bedroom to get something from the other room. Heh.

Writing

This blog post. Other than this, I have two short stories in progress and that novel. I writeÂ when I can, which isn’t much yet because I want to get all the work stuff out of the way until my vacation. 11 calendar days left!

Listening

IÂ have a Christmas playlist up on Spotify, and that’s been on repeat since December rolled around. Today, I discovered the Pentatonix’s version ofÂ Mary, Did You Know?Â and I got the chills. So good.

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Thinking

That it’s not so easy to do portion control over food again after months of…well, of not doing it. I signed up for Pickle Food Co this week, and it’s just the first day of the meal plan and part of me is already trying to distract myself from hunger. Haha! And there was this little birthday celebration at work today so I kind of cheated already. Oops. But to be fair, the food they provide is pretty filling — the containers are heavy and full of food. I’m planning to do this for 2 weeks for now because Christmas to try it out, then go back to it again by January. :)

Smelling

This essential oil of sorts that I bought from Rockwell last weekend. I forgot the name of the store, but it’s near Fully Booked. :D It’s calledÂ Breathe, which is supposed to be good for respiratory problems, like asthma. It smells very clean, and it has this little menthol kick. I think it’s helping, and I really hope it’s working because I don’t want to take too much Salbutamol for this slight wheezing I had early today.

Wishing

That vacation would come soon? Haha. To finish all the work stuff that I need to finish before vacation rolls around, really. And that my lungs would behave for the rest of the holiday season.

Wearing

And old YFC shirt and jammies, because this lola is so ready to go to bed.

Loving

That I have time again, especially after the whirlwind that is October and November! I’ll probably just write about these things in my year-end recap, but October and November were mostly for school, and Filipino ReaderCon. Now I have time again, and there are still so many exciting things that are yet to happen, like this:

We have some theater actors read excerpts from our books! Coming soon at romancepodcast.com! Subscribe, please? :) Fall Like Rain is the pilot episode. :)

Wanting

For my internet to stop acting up. It’s been weird the past weeks, and it’s starting to get annoying.

Needing

A decent author profile photo. The profile photos I use were from years ago, and this is the second time that I have to provide a high-resolution photo and I have nothing. Need to take this branding thing seriously now.

Feeling

Calm, which is saying a lot after all the stress of the past months. There’s still stuff I have to do and people to talk to and meet-ups I have to schedule. Perhaps making the decision to slow down is already the first step to, well, slow down?

14 (Joyful) Things About 2014

December 31, 2014December 31, 2014 Tina Leave a comment

Sometime around end of November, I tried to recall what had happened to my 2014 when I was hit with a realization:Â whoa, a lot of things happened this year.Â No kidding.

I think the thing about 2014 for me, is how a huge chunk of the year seemed to go by in a blur. The obvious culprit for this feeling this is work, as it really ate a lot of my time, but I think other than that, there were really so many things that happened this year that it was almost overwhelming.

When 2014 started, I tried to make it a habit of tweeting at least three joyful things that happened to me in that day, using my 2014 hashtag, #takedelight. I think I lasted doing that daily up until April, where I stopped, and then started somewhere else again, and then stopped again. It was an attempt to remember and be grateful everyday, which was a fun and hard exercise. I wished I had kept at it, but even if I didn’t get to do it everyday for the year, thinking about it reminds me of what my 2014 was supposed to be: a year of delight.

And this is why I like year-end recaps, because it gives me a chance to go through the year one more time. I suppose writing this would have been easier if I had managed to keep at the daily #takedelight things, but even if things weren’t documented, it didn’t mean it didn’t happen. To me, anyway.

This 2014 recap is a lot less…I don’t know, emotional (or heartbroken, really), than 2013, but like I said, there’s a lot in 2014 that happened that I didn’t really expect. And in the spirit of that daily project I never got to finish, I’m calling this 2014 recap 14 Joyful Things About 2014. :)

I think the biggest and most important joyful thing that happened to me this year is doing the 33-Day Consecration to Jesus through Mary retreat.
I heard about this through a friend last year, but because I wasn’t really a Marian devotee back then, I didn’t think about it much. Then came January and my friend encouraged us all to do it. I ordered the book, thinking it would take a month to arrive, but it arrived in 2 weeks, just in time to start the retreat on the next suggested date. This led to my first consecration date on March 25, which was a pretty significant date before but because of this consecration, is now significant in a different way. Then I did it again with our community, and I finished on December 8, which, again was another significant date for me in 2013. I don’t think these are coincidences, really, but a way of Mama Mary telling me that she’s got me, and she has me under her care, so I need not be afraid. My friend said that to prepare for miracles when we do this consecration, and you know what? She’s right. :) Ave Maria.
Travel, as always. I think there was one time early this year when I realized that I seemed to be going places almost every month. That kind of stopped around May, but there were still a lot of places I went to, near and far, this year. There’s Cagayan de Oro in February (that I never got to blog about!), then Calaguas in March for my birthday, a part of Quezon that I haven’t been to in April, and then Pangasinan in September. On the international front, I went to Japan in May, and Thailand and Cambodia (will blog about Siem Reap soon!) in October. I almost went to Sagada this December but we scrapped it because of some changes that was happening in our lives, but that just meant I’ll probably go there next year. Here’s to more places in 2015!
I released my first book. Wohoo. As my thesismate told me last night: you are now an AUTHOR. Sometimes, it still feels a bit surreal. :) I’ve always been so scared to send the things I write for editing, and releasing them out into the wild because they’re my babies, you know? But I realized that there’s really nothing to be afraid of, and it’s actually fun. And this is a fulfillment of all those dreams since I was a kid. :) I realized that this thing is something that I wouldn’t mind doing for my entire life, on top of speaking about books, and just doing wordy stuff.Â Because man, I really love words. Read More