Aby Yap's "Sweeter than Bukayo, Cheesier than Keso"

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Thank you Aby Yap for the heads up on the article "SWEETER THAN BUKAYO, CHEESIER THAN KESO" originally published at Illustrado Magazine.

Excerpt:

Tessa’s emphasis has always been respect for the readers. The challenge to the writer, she states, is to make the novels just as accessible, understandable, and enjoyable to a high school graduate as to a doctorate degree holder.

“Very few of our people read literary books. It’s a reality that there are more readers of Filipino romance novels,” she argues. “If all good writers stick to high literature, what’s left to the mass market readers but junk? We writers owe it to the readers to write for them and give them choices.”

More Maia Jose Novels Free Online: Paraiso Series

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(UPDATE: The novels are no longer available for free reading online.)

I just stumbled upon three of my Maia Jose romance novels being published for free online at the Philippine Online Chronicles' (POC) Pinoy Romansa section. It was a pleasant surprise indeed.

The three novels on the site are Paraiso: Angela, Paraiso: Mikael and Paraiso: Gabriel. They are three of my four Paraiso novels published in 2006 by Golden Books & Publications of Vibal Publishing. The fourth novel in the series is Paraiso: Rafael.

Readers who have read my earlier Abakada ng Pag-Ibig series from Valentine Romances may remember the fictional town of Paraiso that was the setting of several of the novels. It had become a favorite of mine and starting a new series with the same romantic location seemed but natural.

It seems that Philippine Online Chronicles (POC) is publishing the novels in parts, with chapters being put out weekly. All chapters of Angela and Mikael are already online while Gabriel is on its 3rd chapter.

Each of the four books can stand alone but the timeline of the novels run from Angela to Gabriel, Mikael then Rafael.

I have a few complaints on the layout. Nothing major but you may want to take note.

The novels actually start on the last page of the section and you go backwards toward page 1 for newer installments.

The top of some chapters shows a line, sometimes in italics. In the hard copy, this is supposed to be a teaser for the chapter but online it can look like the first line of the chapter. If read like that, it does not make sense. Problem is, some chapters have the teaser as the first line while other chapters don't. It can be quite confusing.

The spacing that separates a change in POV within chapters is also not seen online.

Oh well, I hope online readers forgive these minor flaws.

So for all my readers who may not have had a chance to get a hard copy of these books, happy online reading! =D

My Digital Visual Journal: Because I'm at a Loss for Words

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My brain feels swollen. Fatigued.

The right words elude me.

At such times, art feeds my soul. My art. No rules. Just whatever feels like the moment.

Altered digital photographs and images, layered, collaged.
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Fiction Friday Challenge

I just discovered Fiction Friday. Yes, I must be the only writer online who hasn't heard of it before. Well, I've actually seen the phrase here and there in the blogs I've surfed but I never really stopped to investigate further. Until now.

It looks like an interesting challenge. Prompts are given in advance in the Fiction Friday site for specific Fridays. You can write anything related to the prompt and post it to your blog before the Friday deadline specified. You then post a link to your blog on the site.

The prompt for next Friday is this:

"On the way home from work your character stops into a music store and purchases an unusual musical instrument that they’ve always wanted to learn to learn to play. Why today?"

Will I rise up to the challenge? We'll see. I'm not promising anything. It all depends on my workload and whether or not my muses are in the right mood in whatever free time I can spare between now and the 17th.

It's good to have something to strive for though.