Wordplay # 3: Resolutions

Oh, this is a favorite! I used a prompt for this, from a blog called Write Anything, for their Fiction Friday activity: Take a favorite character you have created. Pick a New Year’s Resolution that they truly intended to keep. Now, why did they break it within 24 hours? Because I started writing the first version of Ruth and Ian’s story in 2008, they were the characters I knew well at that time and the easiest to write. I also maybe relate to Ruth a little too much, and some parts of the premise in this piece were from real-life… Read More »Wordplay # 3: Resolutions

Wordplay # 2: Daggers

And it’s time for another Wordplay entry from 2009. And this one is…interesting, haha! So the first incomplete draft of Fall Like Rain was written in November 2006, for NaNoWriMo. A lot has changed from that, of course, but in the first version, Camilla/Cams was Rain’s rival because she was the ex (and by then she still didn’t know that they already broke up), and Francis was still a genuinely nice guy. I can’t remember the prompt I used for this piece except I wanted to write from Camilla’s POV. Also, Rain is way friendlier in this version. That said,… Read More »Wordplay # 2: Daggers

What I’ve been reading lately

I used to be able to read over 100 books a year. Back when I was still book blogging, I was never without a book (or two) in my bag. I’d easily finish a book in three days, two if I stay up too late to finish reading it. And then I’d actually sit down, compose a review on a blog and on Goodreads and then talk about the book with people.

Where did I ever find the time to do all of that back then?

Anyway, as years passed the total number of books I read every year started going down, down, down, until I stopped setting reading goals because it didn’t seem like a goal I’m interested to reach anymore. Maybe it’s because I’ve stopped impulsively buying books, or because through those 100+ book years I’ve refined what I like reading more and stuck to that, and lost some patience slogging through books that I find hard to read/end up not liking anyway? And maybe because there’s also just so much more things happening in life + I need more sleep so reading now takes a backseat.

I do miss getting lost in a very good book, though. So now when I find a book that pulls me in and makes me want to read every free second I have, I hold onto it and cherish the time I have with it because it’s such a rarity to find something to hold my attention nowadays.

So I don’t know if this will be a blog series too, or whatever, but I thought I’d share some of the books I’ve read this year that gave me that feeling again — that can’t-put-this-down, I-have-to-read-more, why-is-it-over-too-soon reading feeling that all readers are looking for. And hopefully, you get to pick up one of these books, too, and tell me what you think about it when you read it?

Like Never Before by Melissa Tagg

Buy from Amazon / Read it on Scribd

Aka Logan Walker is my new book boyfriend! I have seen Melissa Tagg’s books on Scribd before but only started reading her when I got my new Kindle and found a bunch of her books on Kindle Unlimited. I started with her Christmas collection and just fell in love. Small town romance, quirky characters, all the good swoony moments and not-preachy discussions on faith? SOLD.

Like Never Before is the second book on her Walker family series, and it’s funny because I think I liked Logan already even while I was reading From the Start, the first book that featured his sister Kate. This book isn’t on Kindle Unlimited but it’s on Scribd and I am so glad it is there because oh my gosh, swoon? I love everything about Logan – a doting single dad, a strict but caring Kuya (older brother) and his romance with Amelia the town newspaper editor? *chef’s kiss* Needless to say I’m always on the lookout for Kuya Logan in all the next Maple Valley books. Thank goodness the author is also in love with this character, heehee.

 

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Wordplay # 1: Fireworks

Back in 2009, I had this goal of writing a piece of fiction every day for a year. Just short things, to practice writing and all that. I called it Wordplay, and I ended up writing 78 pieces for 2009. I think I knew I wasn’t going to finish the challenge by March because you know, there’s work and I started going to the gym and then Ondoy happened and well, there. It eventually became my dumping ground for pieces that I got to write until 2013 and I never got back to it because in 2014 I took the writing thing seriously and published Fall Like Rain.

Anyway, so while I was thinking of what goes into this blog now that I’m trying to revive it, I thought, why not post the pieces here? Partly to delete that WordPress instance in my old domain and it might be fun. Plus my marketing brain is telling me that’s reusable content (or “evergreen”, as my manager liked to call it).

So here we go — a new, bi-monthly series on this blog called Wordplay, where I will repost all those things from 2009-2013, in all its unedited glory, and some thoughts on why I wrote it back then. There are cut scenes from the NaNoWriMo versions of Fall Like Rain, Keep the Faith, and Ruth and Ian’s untitled novel, so this should be fun–or nostalgic, at least. 😉

The first story is called FIREWORKS, posted on 1st January 2009. It’s romance, for sure, and reading through this, I remember that I wrote this after watching New Year’s fireworks from my brother’s place, thinking two friends watching it together. Of course they had feelings for each other and they weren’t there yet–will the new year change things?

I distinctly remember someone lighting a fountain across the building that night and that’s what made me include that.

Fun fact: there was supposed to be a scene in Fall Like Rain that was set in the same rooftop. 😉

Fireworks

They stood at the rooftop of the building, standing on the ledge, leaning over the railing watching as the skies filled with smoke from all the firecrackers and fireworks being lit at the ground. Earlier that night, they had dinner, and had been talking about their past year and their plans. When the first set of fireworks were lit up at the distance, all conversations were forgotten. Around them, there was a quiet murmur of other people standing all around the rooftop, sharing food, drinks and waiting for the final minutes of the year to tick by.

Different colored lights lit up the sky on the left, and the siblings beside her tried to guess where it was. He knew she was careful not to look down as she was afraid of heights; he was careful not to touch her as he was afraid of what would happen when he does.

After this year ends, what would happen to us? He thought, looking at her upturned face as she watched the fireworks display from another place.

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Some kind of restart

It’s officially the middle of 2020, and it seems like a good day to revive this blog! Hello there! I wanted to say that “I meant to blog here” but I realize that’s kind of a lie. I never really meant to blog anything in the past months after my last post. I thought about it, but let’s be honest: it’s easier to write Instagram posts and tweets, and long-form seems like a lost art in some way? *looks at my long-dormant mailing list* The main reason behind this is I have been so busy writing. Unfortunately, it’s not fiction–all… Read More »Some kind of restart