Winning Over Love and Writing: An Interview with Author Ana Tejano

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by Inah Peralta When a favorite romance author tweets about a new novel, you take heed and action. I know I did! Here, I talk to Ana Tejano about her upcoming book Win Meah Over, plus her writing process and favorite characters. Happy month of love and romance! Win Meah Over, Mar 2019 (not gonna make it to 2018, oops)– She's hopeless romantic + everyone's friend + event manager– He used to be a playboy + loves dogs– They hooked up 3 yrs ago and she'd rather forget it– he gets assigned to her event, surprise!– Enemies to lovers~ — Ana Tejano (@itstimeana)…

Falling for Romance: An Interview with Author Ines Bautista-Yao

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by KB Meniado Ines Bautista-Yao knows a lot about love—she’s a daughter, a wife, a mother, a teacher, and… an author and editor of romance fiction! To open the month of love ;), here she talks about writing kilig, learning from aspirations and living one’s passion. Ines Bautista-Yao is the author of young adult and contemporary, sweet romance books and short stories. Her first book, One Crazy Summer, was published in the Philippines by Summit Books in 2011. 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…

For His Love of Mother Tongue: Jerome Herrera on Translating ‘The Little Prince’ into Chavacano

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by Nove Patangan I spent most of my teenage years back in my hometown in Dipolog City in Zamboanga. There, I met different people who spoke different languages, of which Chavacano is one. Although I can only speak a few Chavacano words, this language speaks to me a volume of the people’s culture and identity. So when I came across of a news about the newly-released Chavacano-translated version of The Little Prince, a 1943 novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, I was curious of the man behind this endeavor. Jerome Herrera is a Chavacano enthusiast from Zamboanga City, Philippines. He translated…

12 Days of Bookbed Recs: ‘Rizal Without The Overcoat’ by Ambeth Ocampo

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by Bryan Meniado Many of us learned about Rizal from our history classes in school and we assume we already know him. After all, he is one of our national heroes and, maybe, the most documented and venerated among them. But how much do we really know him? Ambeth Ocampo offers a different view of Rizal from what we learned from textbooks. He seeks to put Rizal down from the pedestal and revered statues, and know him as who he really was without the overcoat: a human being. Rizal Without The Overcoat, winner of National Book Award, revisits history as…

12 Days of Bookbed Recs: ‘Make My Wish Come True’ by #romanceclass

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by KB Meniado A good read anytime of the year, this anthology is 💯 made for and therefore perfect this season of love and giving. There’s a feast in every story, and not just for gastronomical purposes but, of course I dare say, romantic needs as well. Familiar tropes are aplenty, and they’re sweeter and more fun because re-imagined in Filipino Christmas style. If you ever need a solid holiday go-to, I suggest gifting a copy of this to yourself. Enjoy! ☁️ We’re recommending books for 12 days this holiday season! Share your fave holiday reads with #12DaysofBookbedRecs 🎁

All Reading Aloud: ‘You Are Here’ by Dawn Lanuza

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Welcome to All Reading Aloud, in which we read excerpts out loud. For our first book, we feature You Are Here by Dawn Lanuza, to be released February 2019. Similar to the author’s earlier work The Last Time I’ll Write About You, this one is also a collection of poetry and prose.  Watch the video below to listen to a few poems from the ARC, which you can request for and read on Net Galley. If you enjoyed this, let us know. We also welcome requests so feel free to send titles our way! ☁ This post is not sponsored.

Poetry Submission: ‘Pagtanggap’

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by Michelle Tatoy Sila’y mga tao din, dumarami’t kumakalat. Inaakala ng nakararami ito’y karamdaman— pinangdirian at kinamuhian, pinagkaitan ng kalayaan, pinagtulakan at tinapakan, luha’y naging basehan ng katapangan. Pinairal ng lipunan: Makikitid na pag unawa’y naging boses ng mamamayan Basehan na ba ng katapangan ang panlalamang? Sila’y bahagi rin nitong perlas ng silanganan Buksan ang pinto ng pagunawa’t awa ‘Wag pagkaitan ng pagtanggap. Tuparin ang kahilingan, makabagwis ang isipan ituring na bahagi nitong ating lipunan. ☁ Some parts have been revised in this version with permission from the writer. Want to submit your poetry, fiction, comics or art? Click here…

12 Days of Bookbed Recs: F. Sionil Jose, Alexander Dumas and Oscar Wilde

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by Glory Moralidad I love these books because they’re a compilation of awesome Filipino stories and essays. My annual holiday reads (December 20 to January 7) consist primarily of Filipino literature from well-known authors like F. Sionil Jose (Feet of Juan Bacnang), Dean Francis Alfar and more. After each day, I end up my reading with that of Jose Rizal’s toast to Luna and Hidalgo. Always. If I get to rest and read foreign books, I always read Alexander Dumas’s Count of Monte Cristo, Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray and anything by Neil Gaiman. And I end every foreign reads with…

#BookbedFictory Year 2 Winners

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Here, we announce the winner and the crowd fave (we’ll get in touch!). Thanks to the writers, beta readers and judges that have all been part of this year’s fic fest—we hope you enjoyed getting spooked! Congratulations! Garnered an average of 3.5 out of 5 stars / Click here to read. About the writer: Si Joel Donato Jacob ay isang mountaineer, volunteer emergency medical search and rescue respondent, at community-based HIV screening motivator. Kasalukuyan siyang nag-aaral ng Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Kolehiyo ng Arte at Panitikan sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas sa Diliman. [Joel Donato Jacob is a mountaineer, volunteer emergency medical search…

Creating A Metropolis of Art and Memories: An Interview with Jay Pillerva

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by KB Meniado She makes art, she writes stories, she puts them together, she self-publishes her first book. Meet 21-year-old Jay Pillerva, or better known as @jaaychaan online, and learn about how she began creating and how she made her first illustrated novel Quinn and the Metropolis happen. Jay Pillerva is an independent illustrator, novelist and animator from the Philippines who has been writing and drawing her whole life. She aspires to contribute professionally to the creative industry with her stories and illustrations. The Metropolis Series has been her passion project for years. It is a loose account of her teenage years and her overall…