So this went live last Saturday:
And this was my reaction when I first saw this was up: OMG eeeee. ♥ *flails* (Note that I just woke up from a nap, and was running late for a party that evening so my feels were all over the place when I first listened to this.)
In case you missed it, I wrote a book. I released it in 2014 (and I know, the next book is severely overdue, but I’m working on it!), self-published and I’ve been getting used to being known as an “author” along with my other hats. Because of all this writing thing, I’m now a part of the #romanceclass community, a community of writers and readers of romance in English written by Filipino authors. They’re such lovely people who give me “pleasant” distractions on Twitter everyday. :P
Last September, Mina called for a #romanceclass meet-up. I think we were all pretty high from the MIBF and all the other bookish things that happened in the previous weeks so there was a lot of us during the meet-up, which was awesome because of the surprise: Mina had two theater actors, Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates, read from some of our books.
It’s one of my favorite nights last September because it was a night full of unexpected feels. Hindi ako halaman! And it was also a night when awesome ideas were born, or if they have been around for a while, then it was the time when some of these ideas were thought about again. :)
https://www.instagram.com/p/8RiT0XOsK5/
So we wanted to share the experience of hearing romance books read aloud by actors! So there was another reading at the Filipino ReaderCon:
The one where Chase/Gio reaches out to Regina/Rachel, and says, “Come on. Let’s go home.” Everyone was like this when this happened:
They were reading from Dawn Lanuza’s The Boyfriend Backtrack in this scene, btw. :D
But because we wanted more feels, and we want to share it with even more people…so we now have a #romanceclass podcast! :D These are audio recordings of excerpts from #romanceclass books read by Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates. There are 10 episodes for this season, and take our word for it: it’s ten whole episodes of major feelings. ♥
Episode 1 is a reading from Fall Like Rain! Hee. ♥ And here are some thoughts:
- This excerpt they read from was one of the few chapters that was still in the original outline. This was one of my favorite parts, and also one of the easiest ones to write because I had the entire scene laid out in my head when I started writing the book. :)
- The food they mentioned here (mojos, pesto rice) exist, and I had them when I was still in DLSU. And yes, even that steak place that we go to after PE class. :D
- I love how Rachel got Rain’s overthinking part. Loooove. :)
- I wished I had written more Mark lines here because that meant more Gio time, but even if there wasn’t a lot, I liked how his lines here were on point. Especially the last part. Come on, let’s go for a walk before we go home. *imagines Gio holding out his hand to Rachel*
- Hearing the part read taught me a bit on how I want my other books to be read out loud, if they get to have that chance. Like maybe, more dialogue, less exposition. Â And also, like what we have been talking about before, having our works read out loud gives us a chance to be more conscious of what words to use, and what sounds natural and realistic. Stuff to think about for the next book!
- On my first listen, there was a part of me that felt a little self-conscious, which was weird because I was listening to this alone. And then later I felt that this wasn’t good, that what I wrote lacked something, or that it wasn’t as fun or as exciting than what others have. After I had scolded myself, I listened to it again – this time as a podcast listener and not as the author of the story — and I realized that it really was a sweet scene (and I’m glad the actors thought so, too!). I really have to stop being so hard on myself. ^^;
You can purchase an ebook copy of Fall Like Rain on Amazon, or order a print copy from me (available while supplies last). You can subscribe to the podcast through our Youtube channel, or via iTunes (or your iOS app). New episodes will be uploaded every week (9 more, so yay!), and you can follow the show notes on the #romanceclass blog, or Mina’s Wattpad. The #romanceclass podcast is produced by Tania Arpa and Mina V. Esguerra, recorded at The Study by Enderun, Podium Mall, Ortigas Center.
But wait, there’s more!
Join the giveaways below and win awesome prizes from #romanceclass :) MP3 recordings, passes to the next live reading (!!!), print books and ebooks galore! ♥
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