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/

Bookish Wish

I'm celebrating National Children's Book Day with a wish!

The question I was asked to answer was: Which Filipino books for kids do you want to get published?

I've always been a big YA (Young Adult) fan even when I stopped being the target reader for the genre.  One of my first jobs was being a segment producer for the now-defunct tween show called 5 and Up. There, I discovered kindred spirits who were just as badly hung up on YA as I was.

My co-producers and I had an informal book club, exchanging our YA books by Jerry Spinelli, S.E. Hinton, E.L. Konigsburg, and Robert Cormier, among others. September was the highlight of our bookish lives; we all hied off to Megamall for the book fair, where we scored discounted YA books. These books were sort of a shared property--we made sure we didn't buy the same book twice (if we didn't have enough cash) since we'd borrow each other's stuff anyway.

MY POINT IS...there weren't enough local YA books at that time. That's why we gorged on those foreign books with characters that were blonde and blue-eyed, stories that mentioned snow, spring break, and other foreign concepts. But the themes were varied, and they kept us coming back for more.

That's why Janus Silang is such a breakthrough--at least in my opinion.

Here's a fresh, new YA book that wasn't thin, with enough words to make it a full-fledged novel. And it was unabashedly Pinoy, its theme revolving around our supernatural culture. The best part about it was that it was written in Tagalog!

I felt that this book changed mindsets. It's cool to read something in Tagalog, in a language that we use to converse with our friends. It involved blood, gore, and gaming addiction--issues that are sometimes side stepped in local books for kids.

Kids want something more sophisticated. Something that won't talk down to them. Something that showed them that they're in this cool stage of their lives, and that being Pinoy is something to be celebrated.

So such is my book wish: please--more local YA reads that tackle a host of subjects that will make us feel that being Pinoy is the coolest thing in the world.

The Children's Book Illustrator I Want to Date

I'm celebrating National Children's Book Day with this somewhat unconventional question:
Which children's book writer or illustrator would you like to date for a day?

Well, I'm going to cheat a bit because the person I would like to spend a day with is a good friend of mine, who happens to be one of the founding members of INK (Ilustrador ng Kabataan).

Presenting (drumroll, please) . . . the supertalented ROBERT ALEJANDRO!

He illustrated "Chief Flower Girl" by Marivi Soliven-Blanco, a children's book released in 1998. I trawled the net but I couldn't find the book cover. But if you're curious about his work, just click on his website or enter any Papemelroti store, which houses his designs, along with his sisters'.

Robert and I bonded when we worked in the children's show, Art is-Kool, which aired on GMA 7 from 2003-2004. It may have been a short-lived show, but it was highly successful. I remember helping organize our free art workshops in the mall, and there would be this DELUGE of participants which we weren't prepared for. We also got a lot of fan mail, and the ratings weren't bad for a morning show.

(me, Kuya Robert, and Aldrin)

Including Robert (and excluding the camera crew), our production team consisted of three. While Robert brainstormed his weekly projects (sometimes, minutes before we filmed), my colleague (first it was Marj then it was Aldrin) and I wrote on-the-spot spiels, directed the shots, edited the episode, and helped the network with marketing (Art is-Kool was produced by Probe Productions, Inc., an independent production company) week after week. It was exhausting work--one that people inevitably bonded over.

Now, Robert is constantly busy, and I would very much like to chat with him again. Aside from being one of the most talented people I know, he is also one of the nicest. I think the reason why Art is-Kool was a success was that Robert genuinely loved kids, and recognized the artist in everyone. He insisted on using recycled materials--none of those fancy-shmancy art materials NOT every kid could afford. From these simple things, he created coin banks, puppets, toy cars and other beautiful objects, which I think, are reflections of his kind heart.

So Robert, if you're reading this, mag-date naman tayo!

My Favorite Pinoy Children's Books

I'm celebrating National Children's Book Day with a post!

I've always loved working for/with children, so I guess it's only natural that even as an adut, I gather inspiration from children's books. And I don't mean just the popular ones from Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss or Sandra Boyton. The local scene is just overflowing with children's books that have touched me in a special way.

Here are some examples (in no particular order)--some of which are my son's favorites as well:


Ang Unang Baboy sa Langit
Author: Rene Villanueva

Illustrator: Ibarra Crisostomo
How can you resist a tongue-in-cheek story about a pig who sacrificed his life by being the first ever lechon? Complete with a reference to Nora Aunor's blockbuster movie, this story is a hit among, not only children, but also adults.

Alamat ng Ampalaya
Author: Augie Rivera
Illustrator: Kora Albano
My son still doesn't like ampalaya, but he loves this book. Through this imaginative tale, we find out how the bitter gourd got its name--and disposition.

Salamat Po!
Author: Russel Molina
Illustrator: Tokwa Peñaflorida
I'm a sucker for children's books that use words sparingly, and this is one of them. I love the authenticity of the young character's voice, and how the story reads like a prayer.

Gusto ko nang lumaki!
Author: Liwliwa Malabed
Illustrator: Domz Agsaway
My son also loves this book; both the illustrations and story were so wacky! I don't think I'll ever get to read the phrase Barbie na nagiging sitaw in another book in this lifetime.

The Girl in a Box
Author: Dang Bagas
Illustrator: Aldy Aguirre
Somber and musical, the tone of the narrative, coupled with the whimsical drawings, packs a punch. No wonder it was chosen as one of 2014's Best Reads at the National Children's Book Awards.

Papel de Liha
Author: Ompong Remigio
Illustrator: Beth Parrocha-Doctolero
Such a simple story with a lot of heart. I read this for the first time when I was an adult, in a bookstore, from cover to cover. After reading it, I bought it, wanting the words to echo within me.