Happy April Feels!

I was feeling too lazy to get out of bed this morning. I was still tired from the major event we had last Thursday, the extreme heat and humidity were not helping, and San Juan is too faaar. But I just couldn't let this pass me by. Also, waffles. So instead of spending the day lounging in bed, I spent it feeling the feels and celebrating Filipino romance books with fellow Filipino romance lovers through an event organized by #romanceclass – April Feels Day!

And what a wise decision it was. ♡

For only P200 entrance fee, I got a free book, unlimited waffles by Pegi Waffles, and a tarot card reading by Caryn Paredes-Santillan and experienced hearing live readings of choice romance class books for the first time.

I was supposed to prepare and sell print copies of my story Once Upon a Sticky Note but things got crazy busy at work that I rarely had any energy left for other things when I get home from the office. Being an adult is so hard. (‘﹏*๑) The cover is already done though and I just need to find the time to prepare the inside pages. I promise to finish this soon because seeing people buying books earlier was the drive I needed.

Instead of having books to sell, I gave away free Krissyfied Makes postcards instead.

I brought 30 pieces chosen randomly because I turned 30 this month. Heh.

A LOT of people came and it was so nice to see friendly, smiling, and kilig faces.

The wonderful voice talents who gave another dimension to the characters of the chosen romance class books and the authors who first breathed life into them

I uploaded videos of some of the live readings online via Facebook Live. You can see them here: Salve Villarosa and Hervin Alvarez reading Choco Chip Hips by Agay Llanera-Reyes; Rachel Coates and Jef Flores reading That Kind of Guy by Mina Esguerra; and Rachel and Gio Gahol reading All's Fair in Blog and War by Chrissie Peria. Note the very warm reception of the audience.

I also got a tarot card reading care of Caryn, whose words rang so true it's almost creepy! In a good way, mind you.

With Mina Esguerra, the Mother of Romance Class. Thank you so much for you and all that you do, Mina!

With fellow (yiheee) authors Pierra Calasanz-Labrador, Justine Camacho-Tajonera, and Ines Bautista-Yao ♡ 

With fellow authors Chi Yu Rodriguez, Six de los Reyes, Tara Frejas, and Jay E. Tria

With fellow author Ana Tejano

With our lovely book guardians, @somemidnights and @krissyfied. Great spread! #AprilFeelsDay #romanceclass

A photo posted by Tara (@twostepflight) on Apr 17, 2016 at 1:19am PDT

What a fun, productive, feels-filled day! Sure my wallet is bleeding (as I have spent nearly P4,000 this month on books alone, HAHAHA) and I would most probably have to bring packed lunch until the next payday, but who cares, right? Will work for books.

My April Feels Day loot: Romance Class shirt from WearDPT, Cities by Carla de Guzman, Beginner's Guide by Six de los Reyes, The Bye-Bye Bouquet by Chi Yu Rodriguez, and Finding X by Miles Tan. I also got free stickers from Tara and Chrissie and a button pin from Caryn. I got Blast from Two Pasts from Kristel Villar as a freebie when I registered and paid the admission fee. Kismet: it's actually on my to-buy list.

All titles are listed in the Romance Class website where you can also see how to get copies in different format (ebooks or print) of each. I'm a little sad that Loveless. Childless. Clueless. by Miren Flores was not available for sale, though. But I guess I could always contact her and buy online, yes?

I wear my heart on my sleeve

Congratulations to the organizers and volunteers for a hugely successful event! If anything, I hope this inspires us to churn out more books so that we can do this regularly and release more [romance books] out into the wild. What a beautiful and supportive community this is. Visit the #AprilFeelsDay hashtag to see photos. I can't wait to attend more #romanceclass events!

♥