Contemplating Life Choices

I've always loved writing and reading ever since I was a kid, but there was a time (in college) when I thought writing wasn't for me. Back then, I felt there were a lot of better writers in my university, and that my skills weren't up to par. During senior year, I took a photography class, and because of my teacher's encouraging comments, I toyed with the idea of becoming a photographer.

I didn't like having to set up lights, and the photo projects I enjoyed most were the ones done outdoors, photographing people in candid settings. My dad used to be really into photography, so I read his photography books and used his Nikkon F4. After poring over the gorgeous photos in my dad's hardbound copy of LIFE, I had a eureka moment. Photojournalism, that was what I wanted.

My first job involved writing. After less than a year on the job, I began feeling I was in the wrong place. Office work wasn't for me. I quit my job to take photography classes at Mowelfund, but sadly, that plan fell through.

I landed in television, which wasn't so bad. I remembered declaring during my college years that if I were to work for TV, I only wanted to work in this children's show--which actually came true! How cool was that?

When I started to earn more money, I spent my savings on nothing else but travel. Never mind if I didn't have new clothes or gadgets. As long as I traveled, I felt fulfilled. When I left the children's show, I started taking on freelance projects, which allowed me to visit different parts of the country. The videos I wrote for usually involved development work, which meant immersing in communities.

I don't know why I'm talking about this now, but I guess it's the usual What if? thinking. I chanced upon an article on Hannah Reyes Morales and though I've heard of her before, her words suddenly took me back to the past, and to the future I could've been living now if I'd chosen differently. It was as if I recognized my past self in her, making me dig up old photos of what I called then my soul projects.

I thought of sharing some of them with you.

                                         Hokkaido, Japan (2006)

Guian Island, Eastern Samar (2006)

                                          Marrakech, Morocco (2006)

                                         Ouarzazate, Morocco (2006)

                                         Ouarzazate, Morocco (2006)

                                          Miarayon, Bukidnon (2008)

                                                   Miarayon, Bukidnon (2008)


I don't know where my other travel photos have gone, but those were of the more touristy variety. Probably that was the time when I had let go of the photojournalism dream.

But who knows? I might take this up again when my kids are grown up and I have more time (and hopefully, the funds) to travel.

In the meantime, I write novels. And I'm forever grateful to #romanceclass for leading me to this path, which I very much enjoy and find fulfillment in.

Writing Mango Summer

I began writing Mango Summer during the latter part of 2016. At that time, I was caring for a newborn, and battling exhaustion. I felt out of touch with myself, which was why I decided to start a book. I needed to do something that empowered me and made me feel something more than a source of income and breast milk.

Three drafts, loads of sleepless hours and two years later, I finally finished it. Here's a timeline of the process with some snippets from my journal:

March 28, 2017: I've been using Mango Summer as an escape--which is fine, but not at the expense of real life. Writing books is a wonderful thing, but it is not the most important thing for now. I need to declutter and take care of myself before I begin a new chapter--in more ways than one. 

May 9, 2017: I read Chris's (Mariano) WIP, which sustained me while writing two chapters. Then I read what I wrote and it was crap. Reading Ines's (Bautista) now, which is wonderful, joyful. I think I need to force myself not to work on my WIP. It doesn't deserve to be written this way. I MUST LET GO OF THIS. The tighter my grip is on these words and ideas, the faster they slip away.

June 9, 2017: I feel that yes, it's a transition piece, but an all important one because it defines me after having a 2nd child. Will this book be better than before? Will it suck? I'm trying to finish a chapter a week. Then I sponsored a Gab and Gio photo shoot for the cover. Hope my pumped milk will be enough because I also want to attend the shoot.

July 20, 2017: Finished The Scorpio Races (Maggie Stiefvater) and it was wonderful. Such beautiful writing. So much pain, so much beauty--the way life is. And because of it, I've decided to inject a fantasy element in Mango Summer. I'm thinking of how I can do it. Not grandiose. A quiet hometown feel to it like with Sarah Addison Allen's books. Alternate POV, with an achy prologue. Lots of truth and pain and love and joy and beauty. 

April 5, 2018: I've finished the draft (yayyyyy), and now I feel so tired from writing. I need to revise, which I don't have energy for since this will involve some rewrites. I'm on a writing ban this week as I gather words (now reading More than This by Patrick Ness). I love Mango Summer too much to tackle it weak and hungry. I need to replenish first before I can give it my best. I will make YOU my best yet, Mango Summer. This, I promise you.

June 6, 2018: Revised Chapter 17 yesterday. Onward to 18. Read Mina's (Esguerra) What Kind of Day, and I'm bowled over. I think her books are getting smarter, the dialogues snappier. It makes me want to write better, to think more out of the box. And that's always a good thing.

June 25, 2018: An inspiration: Paul McCartney in Carpool Karaoke with James Corben. For him to have created all those beautiful songs, and to still be making music at his age--GRABE LANG. I think I wanna do that--writing for as long as I live. Thank goodness for romanceclass and self publishing.

July 27, 2018: Okay, Iggy (Katrina Atienza) messaged me that she's started reading the book. Ayun, I'm agonizing over the fact if it's as OK as I thought? What if the story sucks? What if Iggy doesn't want to read any more of my stories after this? All these things. 

July 31, 2018: Okay, I will tell you because it is my ray of hope. Jay (Tria) said she loved my words--I'm hoping she'll like the story too--but it's a start. She also said I get better with each book. This makes me so happy especially since I admire her work. Thank you, Jay. Thank you, God.

September 21, 2018: I did the cover reveal for Mango Summer last Tuesday and it was well-received. Thank you, Miles (Tan)! Chachic volunteered to beta read it before release. Basta October, keri na! Gathering strength from the community's support.

October 16, 2018: Discovered people found out about the Amazon link before I announced it. That version still had typos. I'm sorry guys, huhuhu. But the support has been overwhelming. And vain that I am, I bought myself a copy to check the popular highlights. Anyway, Chachic conditioned people to like it, hehe. She promoted it so much; I'm forever grateful. Inhale, exhale. We did it. Thank you, God. Thank you so much for letting me finish this. For letting me create something I can be proud of. Producing this book involved a lot of people and divine aid. It's not just all me. THANK YOU.

If you want to read Mango Summer, you can purchase both e-book and paperback on Amazon. Local print version will be available soon!

How I ended up writing a coming out story

I'm ashamed to admit it, but initially I decided to write Another Word for Happy not because I wanted to further public awareness on the struggles of coming out, but because I wanted to be different.


Okay, let me backtrack a little. The seed of this story came from wanting to write my second Young Adult novella with a side plot on spoken word. At that time, my social media feed was being flooded by spoken word performances and I thought, hey, this seemed to be a hit among the young ones so maybe I should touch on it. I also thought it would be fun to inject a bit of poetry in that story, to make it fun for me as a writer.

So, okay. My last YA thing was about a sixteen-year-old who was struggling with her weight. To make this one different, I would veer the conflict away from physical appearance to emotional turmoil. I thought about this while I walked to the grocery, while I played with my son, and soon, I had a lightbulb moment! Instead of a girl, my main character would be a boy struggling with his sexual orientation. 

I read coming out stories online but they came mostly from the States. So I messaged a friend whom I haven't talked to in a long time. His name is Jigs Mayuga, an LGBT rights advocate. I met him when he was a host on the country's first LGBT reality show (OUT on GMA 7) because the main person behind the show, as well as his co-host, were good friends of mine. We met for lunch, told him about my project, and he said he'd be happy to tell me his story. I sat across him for an about an hour, riveted by his tale. I tried taking down notes, but most of the time I was just gazing at him, feeling all the emotions he was sharing. After we parted ways, my intention changed. No longer was I going to do this just to be different. I was doing this for that gay teen who's afraid to be himself, afraid that there was something wrong about him.

I also interviewed Gio Gahol, who became my peg for the love interest. Later on, Gio would play a pivotal role in bringing the book to life.

Little did I know that when I'd been interviewing Jigs, I was already a few weeks pregnant with my second child. With my worsening morning sickness and fatigue, writing for something other than my day job was unthinkable. The project was pushed back several months. During that time, the doubts came. Why was I going to write this? It felt like I had no right to write about it. I decided to ditch it and instead, focus on writing one of my ideas that had been on the back burner.

But somehow, I kept coming back to my YA story. After about four false starts, I finally wrote chapter one. And then I stopped again. Maybe it was pregnancy hormones, but suddenly, I found myself wondering if I would be the type of parent who'd accept a gay son. I felt that I couldn't write the story effectively unless I knew in my heart of hearts that having a gay son would not be a problem. I struggled with this for a month, and when I could finally tell myself that yes, I would be okay with it, I moved on with the story.

Halfway through the writing, I went to my friend's house for their wedding dinner. My friend is a girl, and she had just married to her long-time girlfriend (20 years, yo!) in the States. Since their friends couldn't all attend the wedding, they decided to host a thanksgiving dinner here in the PH. While watching their wedding video, I found myself tearing up because I realized that in all those years of being their friend, I'd never seen them kiss! They'd been so very careful about public displays of affection, but after the ceremony, I finally saw them kiss. How heartbreaking it was that something so ordinary for other couples had to done in private for them. My friend told me that just before the wedding, she kept kissing her fiancee, who kept admonishing her for the public display. And my friend just laughed, saying, "We're in the States. Nobody cares!' I decided to include their story in the book.

Ron Lim, who's also part of #romanceclass, has written a short but sweet M/M story entitled "Yours Is The First Face That I Saw" included in Kids These Days: Stories from the Luna East Arts Academy published by Anvil. I messaged him to ask if he could beta read the story even if I hadn't finished it. I knew his experience, sensitivities and knowledge were the only things that mattered before I decided to publish the e-book. If he thought it was crap, I would junk the story all together. 

Thankfully, Ron liked the book, but not before educating me on the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. Chris Mariano, one of my favorite #romanceclass writers, edited it and gave me a lot of food for thought. She prepared me for the possible reactions on the book, and sent me articles on LGBT writing. Fellow #romanceclass authors Jay Tria and Ines Bautista-Yao proofread the thing, and C.P. Santi made the cover.

Then I hit "publish".

Last Sunday, at the #romanceclass event, April Feels Day, Gio Gahol read the part of Franco, while Fred Lo read Caleb's part. (Video by Tania Arpa)

While #romanceclass founder Mina V. Esguerra thanked the authors for tackling such topics, I couldn't help feeling a bit uncomfortable. I don't want you to think I'm noble for having written this, because really, I was just telling someone else's story. I originally wrote it to be different and to be noticed, but now I feel embarrassed for having felt that way. I think all I want for anyone who has read Another Word for Happy is to feel something, and to maybe write their own story about something that isn't often discussed in a mainstream environment. Something they care about. Representation matters. We all help each other out.

Last November, a month after the book was released, I gave birth. And yes, my child was another boy. <3

My feels from the Feels for Sale

I went to the MIBF on the first day, my only free day to go the event, for a few hours in the morning. I had to leave right away after lunch because Quezon City felt like a separate province from Pasay, and I didn't want to contend with the late afternoon traffic.

In the few hours I spent there, I was again reminded why I write, and why I have chosen to continue to write.

photo by Mina

We care about each other.

The first stall that greeted me when I entered the venue was the huge NBS setup, and right beside it was (surprise, surprise) . . . the #romanceclass booth manned by Six (A Beginner's Guide: Love and Other Chemical Reactions) and Pach (The Bye-Bye Bouquet). Six welcomed me with a hug and Pach immediately offered me her seat, and I just thought how nice it was to be part of writing community made up of nice people. These two writers have landed book deals with one of the country's biggest publishing companies, and I'm so very proud of them for doing what they do.

Later on, I saw Tara (Paper Planes Back Home), ever smiling and supportive of other authors. I watched her in action as she patiently explained the plot of another author's book (Jay's Songs of Our Breakup) to a customer, who eventually bought said book. Tara's own book was sold out on the first day, and I think that this has a lot to do, not only with her writing skills, but also her positive aura. It makes people want to read her stories because if they're as likeable as the author, then they're must-buys!

photo by Gette's friend

Gette (Classified) was also there from Dumaguete to make chika to customers and write out the receipts. Later on, she was interviewed by a news program, and I think she put it best when she said that what makes romance sell is the desire for a "happy ever after." April (binibini.net), book blogger extraordinaire and #romanceclass' all-around PR person was also there to cheer everyone on. I bumped into Chrissie (The Kitchen When It Sizzles), one of my first ever friends in #romanceclass, who was with her family.

All these people created an atmosphere of fun, passion and positivity that made people want to linger in the booth.

People actually read our books!

I do wonder sometimes if people actually read my work since my books' Amazon pages aren't exactly overflowing with ratings. But there is a silent force out there, moving stealthily among bookstore aisles, tweets, blogs, and FB posts, looking for the next kilig read. And they care that you're working on your next book. They care about the characters you've created. They care about supporting indie writers. These people matter, even if we don't know them, even if they don't make themselves known.

photo by Mina

For every book you create, there's a market out there that's just waiting to be tapped. When someone from the UP Diliman faculty approached us, wanting to buy ALL the titles (one of each) in the #romanceclass catalogue, our jaws dropped. Someone wanted our books in the UP Library! And that person was pleasantly surprised to find out that #romanceclass didn't just sell romance--we also offered fantasy, mystery, crime, and YA fare that will be read soon by college students of our country's premier university!

We're all in this together.

Personally, I write to escape. If I just went through the routines of being a mother, employee, wife, daughter, sister, and other roles that I play, life would still be pretty much okay. But there's always that elusive something we long for--that extra spice, that extra kick to keep us going day after day. And I'm blessed to discover that my poison of choice is writing.

The readers who pick up our books, I'm sure, are also doing so to make their lives richer, more exciting. We all need our own private sanctuaries to retreat into. A happy, sacred place that no one else can touch. It's almost a spiritual thing, to give yourself wholly (in moments) to something outside yourself. To immerse in something that feeds your soul and makes it easier to go through life's not-so-smooth patches.

In all corners of the MIBF, I felt that sense of magic of being with kindred spirits. We were all paying tribute to the wonders of the written word, unabashedly waxing poetic over hoarded books that speak of love, life, death and everything in between. It's a world we can't fully understand, but are all very grateful for.

So to everyone who's with us on this journey, and to Mina, who sparked the whole thing and continues to spark other things, THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Thank you for teaching us to make room for joy in our lives.

photo by Mina

Giving Love a Second Chance

One the most generous writers I know, C.P. Santi, has a new romance book out!

Maybe This Time: Stories of Love and Second Chances  contains three heart-warming stories of love and second chances. 

Check out the story blurbs:

In Sweeter by the Second, when paintings conservator Rina David arrives for the Arts Festival in the heritage town of Jimenez, she’s reunited with Tony, the guy she once loved and lost. Now vice-mayor of Jimenez, Tony wants Rina back in his life and will do everything he can to convince her that they belong together.

Pamela Quiroz hatches a plot to get her parents back together in Exorcising my Ex. But will a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner succeed in reconciling Geno and Viv? After all, it’s been more than fifteen years since they first got together and they aren’t the hormone-driven teenagers they once were. Will wine and cheese balls still do the trick?

Torch, meet hand. Arne Weichmann has been waiting twenty-one years for Bea. Is it finally the right time to make his move and convince her that they are Meant to Be? He hopes so. Because he doesn't think he’ll survive losing the one person who brought warmth and sunshine to his life. 

To know more about the book and the author herself, C.P. answered a few of my questions:

What made you decide to write an anthology this time?

It all started when I wrote Sweeter by the Second, a short story for #TalesFromTheMetro. The 5k word restriction was both a challenge and a blessing. I didn't think I'd be able to do it---I'm often overly verbose---so to have finished a story within a couple of weeks gave me a real rush. The story got good reviews and that inspired me to write more. When Ines Bautista-Yao published a collection of shorts, I thought it was a great idea, and so I emulated (read: copied) her example :-) Plus, it seemed a great idea to (finally) do something about some of the plot bunnies hopping in my head.

Among the three stories, which one did you find the most challenging to write? Why?

That would be Exorcising my Ex, because it featured an unconventional (albeit very real) situation. In the story, Viv and Geno---both on the cusp of adulthood---have a baby together. I examine their choices----how they cope with the responsibility of caring for their daughter and how they go about achieving their dreams. From the onset, I didn't want to assign right/wrong or good/bad roles. The gray area in between was a bit hard to figure out, but it was fun. I explored how a young couple could drift apart, and how, as adults, they try to recover what they lost. And in the end, I think that was what made Viv and Geno(and sPammy)'s ending really satisfying for me.  :-)

How do you find the time to write?

I usually sneak in a couple of paragraphs when my kids are napping / watching Frozen or Lion King or while I'm cooking in the kitchen. I perch my laptop on my breadmaker so it's easily accessible (and unreachable by my kids). Sometimes I write or dictate conversations or ideas on my phone. At least, that was how I wrote the first two stories. The last story was written---almost entirely in longhand---in less than a week, while I was waiting for my son at summer school. That was my most productive period ever. Can't wait for school to start again. Hahaha!

If your writing style is a color, what would it be? Why?

Wooow! I love this question! I think it'd be yellow, which incidentally is also my favorite color :-) Yellow (at least to me) is bright, sunshiny, and happy. It can be loud and quirky, but it can also have mellow undertones. Basically, I love reading fluffy, funny, happy romances with a dash of weird thrown in, and so I try to write more of the same.

Any other books in the pipeline?

I just finished the first draft of Dare To Love Dangerously, a contemporary novella about a single mom who finds love again :-) Gia, the main character, is an architect involved in the conservation and restoration of cultural properties (a topic very close to my heart). It also features a hot, inked anthropology professor, a couple of cool priests, a lot of travel (Laguna, Ilocos, and Bohol), and a wacky, drunken, open-yourself-to-love crystal healing session. I hope to release it in October, just in time for the anniversary of the Bohol earthquake (which sort of features in the story). 

To give you a taste of her book, here's an excerpt from the story she found most challenging to write:

Exorcising my Ex

I glanced at my watch just to make sure—my efficient, punctual daughter was officially ten minutes late. Smirking, I thought of all the mileage I’d get from teasing her about it. Pam got riled almost as easily as her mother did.

Just as if I had conjured her from thin air, a tall brunette appeared in the doorway. Her long hair was perfectly styled, and her sleeveless shift fit lovingly over her trim curves. Large eyes, framed by the longest eyelashes I’d ever seen, slowly scanned the room. The moment they met mine, they flared in surprise before narrowing.

I rose to greet her. “Viv. This is a surprise.” I bussed her cheek, lingering a moment longer than necessary.

She drew back, but not before I heard her sharp intake of breath. Glancing around, she asked, “Where’s Pam?”

“On her way, I suppose.” I helped her into a seat. “Didn't know you’d be here today, Viv.”

“I didn't know you’d be here either.”

“Hmm. I wonder if—” I broke off as both our phones vibrated.

Sure enough, it was a lengthy message from Pam:

Pam: Hi, Mom and Dad!

Yes, I’m with Tita Joy and I’ll be sleeping over at their place with her and Kesha tonight.

Yes, this is a setup. Happy anniversary! :-) Yeah, I know you never married, but when you were together, this was your anniversary (it was in mom’s scrapbook). This was also probably the day I was conceived fourteen years ago, so Happy Conception Day to me, too *\(ˆoˆ)⁄*

Anyway, I just thought that now Mom is back in town again it would be nice if you could catch up with each other.

I already paid for dinner. This took quite a chunk out of my med school nest egg, so you guys better sit and enjoy it.

I love you both!

P.S. I really, really don’t want to be grounded forever. I love you!

I shook my head. My girl was devious. Just like her Dad.

Pre-order this book on Amazon and rate in on Goodreads.

About C.P. Santi

C. P. Santi is a Filipina author based in Tokyo, Japan. She is a wife to an engineer / indie songwriter and a full-time mom to two energetic boys. She loves cooking and baking, and enjoys feeding people, gorging on chocolate, watching J-doramas, belting it out in the karaoke box, and running around the house playing tickle tag. She also loves dreaming up stories about the people she meets.

In another life, she is also an architect and academic.

Social Media links:

Blog: http://thejapayukichronicles.blogspot.jp

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arkiCpsanti

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CPsantiauthor?ref=hl

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/cpsanti

Instagram: https://instagram.com/arkicpsanti/

Grateful

Someone (Mina) commented that it had been a great year for me, and it was only then I realized that Yes, you're right. Sometimes I get caught up in the requirements of day-to-day living, and I forget to pause and take stock of recent events--and forget to be grateful for them.

So, this year, I'd like to give a shout-out to the universe, and announce that I'm grateful for the following writerly things:

Releasing two novellas this year. I have to confess; writing This Side of Sunny felt like I was pulling teeth most of the time. But I really wanted to be done with it, and release it to the world ASAP. Never mind if it wasn't the best work that I've done--especially after so many people told me how much they liked my previous thing (Choco Chip Hips). But like Liz Gilbert said in Big Magic, SO WHAT? The world is not holding its breath for my next release. The world won't stop turning if I create something that people won't rave about. What matters is that I continue to write because I enjoy doing it.

Being traditionally published. Someone once said (I can't remember who) that the worst and best thing that can happen to a writer is being published. I get why it's great. It's always been my dream to be picked up by a publisher, to see my book in all NBS nationwide, and attend book signings. Also, I've gained readers, who are more into print books than the e-books that I usually release. But I must remind myself that though this is a constant goal (I'd love for all my books to be picked up by publishers), it is not my end goal. And for this, I am forever grateful for self-publication because people will still be able to read my work even if the trad way doesn't happen.

Gaining bookish friends. When you're writing in your own little cave, and barely go out of the house to socialize (like me), being part of a community of writers, readers and bloggers is a great way to de-stress. A simple retweet, FB msg, review or post like can go a long way in giving you that writing boost that you need. Also, since I'm foremost a reader, reading my fellow writers' work inspires me and pushes me to do better. But the best part about this is being read by people who care about the same things that I do.

So, thank you, dudes and dudettes (apologies for the 90s reference--I seem to have gotten stuck in that era) for making this year an awesome one. On to the next year (and works-in-progress)!

Just a Little Bit of Love

My first Ines Bautista-Yao read was One Crazy Summer, which I thoroughly enjoyed. So after that, I was quick to pick up her other novella, Only a Kiss, which was a finalist at the recently-concluded 2014 Filipino Conference Reader's Choice Awards for the Best Romance in English category.

And now, her followers are in for a treat because she recently published an anthology of short stories set in the world of Only a Kiss.

Just a Little Bit of Love has three short stories about three young girls: Anita, Ina, and Carla. Each one finding their lives disrupted by a boy. Maybe it’s because he wanders into the coffee shop where she works after school every Tuesday. Maybe it’s because he won’t leave her alone even if she has made it clear that she is crushing on his football teammate. Or maybe it’s because she’s spent one unforgettable afternoon with him—despite being oh-so-forgetful. Three small doses of love that serve up a whole lot of feels. 

Ines was gracious enough to answer a few questions I had about her writing style:

1. How do you make your characters authentic?
I try to get to know my characters as well as I can. I wish I could say I followed the rules and wrote down stuff like backgrounds, maybe even have them fill out a little slam book type questionnaire but I don't. What I do takes place in my head -- and I guess you could say where my emotions live inside me. Is that my heart? Hypothalamus? Haha!

I try my darnedest to feel what my characters are feeling. If someone is nervous about approaching a boy she likes for the first time, I put myself in her shoes, feel the acid in my tummy swish around, feel my palms dampen, and feel my breath come in uneven spurts. It can drive you a bit crazy. I also talk to people who have experienced things I haven't so I can get an even better handle on it.

When it comes to taking a boy's point of view, I feel like I go into a trance because I make myself think and feel like a boy. But afterwards, I ask my husband if I got the boy's thoughts and actions right. Authenticity is very important to me because that's what I look for when I read too. I just hope it comes across in my writing.

2. If your writing style is a color, what would it be and why?

This is the hardest question I've had so far! At first, I wanted to say pink but that's just because my covers have that color in common and it's girly and romantic. But the question is about my writing style, not what I like to write about :) And after studying the colors in the Crayola box, I know what color my writing style is. It's orange.

My writing style is a mix of both simple yet bold where I go straight to the point, straight to the feels - which is red. But it also will always have a positive undercurrent, which is represented by yellow. This light, fun color symbolizes the general happy and easy feel of my writing. Mix them together and you get a bright, eye-catching color that's easy to pair with anything you've got going on in your life (or your closet!).

3. Any books in the pipeline?

Yes! I'm working on the love story between Katie's cousin Regina and her fiancé Ben. They come out in the first chapter of Only A Kiss. I've been writing this story since last year but so many other things get in the way. I hope to finally finish it!

The rest of my WIPs are short stories because that seems to be all my insane mommy-duty-filled life can handle right now!

Thanks, Ines! Go grab a copy of Just a Little Bit of Love on Amazon for only$0.99!

Ines Bautista-Yao is the author of One Crazy Summer, What’s in your Heart, and Only a Kiss. She has also written two short stories, “Flashbacks and Echoes,” which is part of a compilation called All This Wanting and “A Captured Dream,” one of the four short stories in Sola Musica: Love Notes from a Festival.

She is the former editor-in-chief of Candy and K-Zone magazines and a former high school and college English and Literature teacher. She is also a wife and mom and blogs about the many challenges and joys of motherhood at theeverydayprojectblog.com. The Author Project, a section in her current blog, is devoted to the stories in her head.

Where to find Ines:

Twitter and Instagram: @inesbyao

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inesbautistayao/

Website: http://theeverydayprojectblog.com/inesbyao-author-project/