The Kitchen When It Sizzles Blog Tour + Giveaway

Title: The Kitchen When It Sizzles
Author: Chrissie Peria
Date of Publication: August 16, 2014

About the Book:
Olivia Nadal is an almost perfect girl with an almost perfect life. She has stunning good looks, an exciting job that pays well, men lining up to date her, and a homey little condo she calls her own. The only thing keeping her from perfection is her utter inability to cook.

Enter Nate Olivarez, a hotshot chef who's filling in for Olivia's cooking instructor. Sparks fly when they meet, but a fling with the visiting hottie is the last thing Olivia needs. But as things keep heating up in the kitchen, she can't help but wonder. Can things work out between her and Nate? Or is the sizzle all set to fizzle?

You can purchase the book through any of the following links:
• Amazon
• Smashwords
• The Book Depsitory

Today, we've asked Chrissie herself to talk more about her latest novella. Little did we know that after she released her indie novella All's Fair in Blog and War last year, she would take on a steamier piece!

What prompted you to write a more mature story?
The Kitchen When It Sizzles started as a short story for Mina Esguerra's #steamyreads writing class. It was outside of my comfort zone, but it sounded like a fun challenge to take on, so I signed up. Then the 5,000 word short story exploded and the next thing I knew, I had a full novella. I find it funny that the short story ended up longer than my first book which was intentionally written as a novella. I lay the blame on Nate and his food.

Do you have pegs for your characters?
Yes! Olivia is a compendium of a lot of the AEs I've worked with during the advertising days. Miss Julia is a bit of Julia Child and a lot of Nora Daza (a woman who mesmerized my generation with her cooking show). And Nate---Nate is Adam Levine in chef's whites. Or rather, out of them. I am a fangirl, hear me roar.

How different was your writing process for The Kitchen When It Sizzles compared to writing your first novella?
The main difference between writing The Kitchen When It Sizzles and All's Fair in Blog and War was not having a deadline, other than my self-imposed ones. I allowed myself a little more leeway with editing Kitchen Sizzles. I had time to do more rewrites. And coming from my first novella, I learned to be less attached and more ruthless when it came to revising, trashing whole chapters without batting an eyelash. Whole characters, even. But I'm happy with how it turned out.

What should readers expect from your third book?
I have a couple of projects simmering in the backburner, so I'm not quite sure what will come out next. I'm heavily leaning towards another sweet contemporary romance, but a YA project and a steamy story are struggling to convince me otherwise. They all have romance angles though, so the one thing sure in the third book will be a whole lot of kilig. I hope everyone looks forward to it!

About the Author:
When not obsessing over fictional people doing fictional things, Chrissie obsesses about food: the eating, the cooking, and the procuring of it.

An advertising copywriter in her past life, she now spends most of her time writing, taking photos, cooking, and babysitting a tiny human and a curly-haired dog. She still plays with dolls and she thinks that bacon is the answer. Her first book, All's Fair in Blog and War, is a finalist in the 2014 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards.

Contact Info:
• Blog: http://www.chrissieperia.com
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/peria.chrissie
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrissieperia
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/chrissieperia

Now show her some love by joining in this awesome giveaway! You can get a chance to win the following prizes, which I bet are all Nate-approved.

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Dressing for the Heat

Because Hot Like This takes place at a commercial shoot with a tropical resort and casino in the backdrop, we got excited over planning the dresses and outfits that the female characters would wear. Think of it as packing for a trip -- but without having to worry about whether a dress will fit us or not!

When planning our collaborations, Chrissie, Miles, and I usually set up a Google spreadsheet that contains all the info we need. Think of it as our working encyclopedia. It usually contains character info: ages, families, backgrounds. Even when they end up not being used, we usually have details like this stored away. For Hot Like This, we even had pegs for the resort, and more importantly, for the characters' clothes.

We felt clothes were important here because 1) they added detail to a characters' actions and thoughts; 2) they played a crucial role to Elaine's transformationl and 3) we had to work out certain mechanics for certain steamy scenes. So it was very important that all three of us had a clear picture of what we were writing about. We picked the clothes based on what was required of the scene and what felt natural to the character.

The Cover Dress
Our primary requirement is that the back should be striking. A backless dress similar to what Ginny wore in All I Want for Christmas wasn't going to work for Elaine's manang personality, but we tried to push the envelope as much as we could. It also needed to be something that fits the beach scene. We're glad we found this: it keeps Elaine covered up but it's not really that conservative. It's sexy and flirty, perfect for her first date with Luis. Miles did a good job of tweaking the dress (like straightening the hemline and adding more fabric to the bodice.) We loved the color -- it's cool to the eyes and it captures the summer vibe we were going for.

The Maxi Dress
Elaine is a fan of maxi dresses, and if she had her way, these are all she'd wear at the beach! Don't get us wrong; we don't have anything against maxi dresses. :) We ended up picking this floral bohemian dress. It has a nice, fun print that Elaine would go for. We may not have described it fully in the story, but we all had this in our heads.

The Cocktail Dress
For the makeover and casino scene, we picked a dress which Miles found on Pinterest (but one we could never identify). We liked it because it hugged her body in just the right way, something that Elaine's other outfits didn't quite do. We thought it was elegant enough for the finale. Or, as Bern would say, "Joseph Gordon-LoveIt!"

Dia's Bikini
We wanted something sexy but still classic for Dia's commercial shoot. Chrissie and I both worked in advertising before and we've had our fair share of selecting swimsuits for various shoots. Real estate? Check. Alcohol? Check. We knew we wanted something that was sexy and high-end but didn't scream gold-digger. So we ended up with Lanvin! Expensive enough, right?

What do you think of their dresses? Were they similar to what you had in mind while reading the story? Let us know what you think!

Scribbled: Hot Like This

Late last year, when my friends and co-#romanceclass authors Chrissie Peria and Miles Tan and I wrote a holiday short story called All I Want for Christmas, we already knew that we'd be writing a follow-up featuring the other characters. We initially planned a May release for Hot Like This but with scheduling things, we ended up releasing last June 21. Hey, it's still summer in the US and the heat in Manila still hasn't let up! If you've read All I Want, then you're already familiar with our next pair.

Synopsis:
Ma•nang |má•naŋ| noun. origin: Filipino

1. older sister
2. conservative woman
3. Elaine Antonio

Self-proclaimed manang Elaine Antonio is restrained, cautious, and used to taking care of people. Gorgeous Brazilian-Japanese model Luis Inoue is laid-back, impulsive, and totally out of her league. But when they're thrown together at the same island resort one summer weekend, things unexpectedly heat up.

Elaine knows that once the vacation is over, they'll be returning to their two very different worlds. Is this destined to be just a summer fling? Or will she finally learn how to take a risk for love?

Hot Like This is longer than our first collaboration, but we still did it in the same style. We each took a character and wrote from that person's perspective, then we went around tightening the narration and dialogue up after we had the basics down. It's exclusive to Kindle for the next three months, but All I Want for Christmas will be free elsewhere. Expect to see it on other sites (even our own blogs) soon!

We couldn't have done Hot Like This without the help and support of Mina E, Tania A, Gail D, Osing B, and Dia P. (Dia, by the way, won a 5x5 Podcast promo run by Tania and Mina, and we ended up naming one of our characters after her!) We're also very grateful to everyone who has liked, shared, retweeted, reblogged, downloaded, and reviewed our short story.

Scribbled: All I Want for Christmas

My good friends and fellow #romanceclass authors Chrissie Peria and Miles Tan joined me in writing a short holiday story called All I Want for Christmas. It's free for a limited time as a thank you to our readers, mentors, fellow authors, and friends -- anyone and everyone who's helped us on our writing journey. It's also a way for us to end the year on a high note. Even if it's quite short (around 7,000-8,000 words), we still hope that you will like it.

Synopsis:
This holiday season, Ginny wants nothing less than hot model du jour Luis Inoue. That's why when her best friend Issa invites both of them to a small sit-down dinner, she jumps at the chance to show Luis she can be naughty and nice. Will everything go according to plan? Or will Issa's brother Marco's interference keep her single all the way?

It was crazy trying to write round-robin (more on that on later blog posts), but it's still something I'd do again. I really enjoyed writing this story and sharing the experience with my friends. There were many things that I learned from the experience. I really appreciated seeing things from different perspectives; often there would be an incident that the three of us would approach differently, and then we'd all end up talking about what would be the best course to take. It also gave the three of us a first-hand view of the KDP Select system.

We didn't get to mention our specific thank you's on the e-book, so please indulge me as I include my shout-outs here:

• to Chrissie and Miles for sharing this journey with me;
• to Mina for inspiring us and helping us with #romanceclass (and no, I won't tire of saying this);
• to our #romanceclass classmates Dia, Ron, Anne, Stella, Agay, Kesh, Kristel, Tina, Jayen, to name a few, who really made 2013 a great year to be a Pinoy romance writer;
• to book bloggers like Chachic, Tina, Lynai, Monique, Cassandra, Sol, Freine... there are so many that I can't remember all of you at the moment but please know that your support means so much to us;
• to Reev, for the self-publishing help, whether print or digital; and
• to our readers (my special TY to Cassandra, Jin, and Grelyn), for the heart-warming support. You took a chance on me especially -- your bravery must be commended! :) Whenever I feel that all this is unreal, I just look at your reviews and tweets and messages of encouragement. I am very blessed that I can do this, thanks to readers like you.
Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat.

So there you are, dear reader. I hope that you can download a copy of All I Want for Christmas now while it's still free -- and that it makes you smile at the end of your day. Happy holidays to you!

All's Fair in Blog and War Blog Tour + Giveaway

I've had this blog for close to seven years, but this is the first time that I've actually participated in a blog tour. That's why I'm so glad that the first to be featured through it is my good friend Chrissie Peria and her contemporary novella All's Fair in Blog and War.

About the Book:
Five Cuevas @5travels Three guesses to where I'm going next. Starts with an M. Ends with a U. Has a lechon named after it. #travel

Twenty-something travel blogger Five thinks she has hit the jackpot when she gets invited to glittering Macau for an all-expense-paid bloggers tour. Think majestic old churches, sparkling casinos, exhilarating bungee jumps, and the world's most unforgettable egg tarts. The trip is practically perfect, except for one little glitch. She gets assigned to be travel buddies with Jesse, the world's most infuriating photo blogger, and it's definitely war at first sight.

Will Five let Jesse turn her dream vacation into a total nightmare? Or will falling in love be on the itinerary?

You can purchase the book through any of the following links:
• Amazon
• Smashwords

Even if All's Fair in Blog and War is about blogging and travel, food also played an important role in the book. That's why I wanted to ask Ms Peria how this came about. Did she expect readers' strong reaction to egg tarts?

It's always nice to hear from readers. They make you realize things you didn't realize about your book. In my case, I found it surprising that most everyone was reacting to egg tarts. All's Fair in Blog and War is set in Macau, a land most known for casinos. It's Asia's Las Vegas. In fact, a lot of the big Vegas hotel and casino chains have set up shop here.

A trip to Macau made me realize that the place is more than just a mini Las Vegas. It has a rich culture drawing from a shared Portuguese and Chinese heritage. A lot of UNESCO Heritage sites make its home here. So steeped is it in its past that even the McDonalds and Starbucks branches are dressed up traditionally, ensuring that they don't stick out like sore thumbs amidst the architecture. We spent the days walking the usual tourist attractions and the narrow, dimly-lit side streets at night. We hopped from fancy hotel dinners to hole-in-the-wall eateries where food was brought in from street carts. It was a Macau that was more than just Casinoland.

When the time came to write the book, I drew heavily upon my personal experiences in Macau to bring the setting to life. Unfortunately, I am also a food blogger, so food is heavily entrenched in all my travels. Macau was no exception: bacalhau, bakkwa, almond cookies, Phoenix egg rolls, peri-peri chicken, serradura, street side noodles---I ate it all. The star of the trip, and subsequent trips as well, were the egg tarts from Margaret's. I was not a fan of eggy confections, but for this particular treat, it was love at first bite. Eggy, flaky, with just the right amount of sweetness. It's so good, that I always bring home boxes of it. But it was only after people pointed it out did I realize that my love for egg tarts made it to the book, and to people's imaginations as well.

If you're one of the readers who suffered from egg tart cravings while reading All's Fair in Blog and War, please accept my apologies. If you haven't read the book, consider yourself warned: Do not read on an empty stomach.

What's nice about Ms Peria is that she even thought of making social media links for her characters. Five and Jesse are bloggers after all! Talk about leaving no stone unturned!
• Instagram: @fivetravels
• Twitter - Five: @5travels
• Twitter - Jesse: @wanderingcamera

About the Author:

Chrissie's first trip to Macau was in the summer of 2010. Like her main character, she fell in love there. Unlike her main character, she didn't fall in love with a guy; she fell in love with egg tarts.

An advertising copywriter in her past life, she now spends most of her time writing, taking photos, cooking and babysitting. She tweets about food and writerly things as @kitchencow. For thoughts longer than 140 characters, she blogs on http://thewriteside.kingdomcow.net. She still plays with dolls and she thinks that bacon is the answer.

This is her first novella.

Contact Info:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kitchencow
• Blog: http://thewriteside.kingdomcow.net
• Instagram: @kaoko25

Giveaway time! Get the chance to win one of three swag bags (containing 1 medium,gray Well Played shirt + 2 Pride & Prejudice Bookmarks + Think Free Bag Tag) from Katrina Ramos Atienza or one of three swag bags (containing 1 paperback copy of All's Fair in Blog & War, 1 unique trinket, 1 pocket journal, ebook voucher, postcard and bookmarks) from Chrissie Peria.

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Contemporary Quickies: Pinoy Romance Novellas

Filipino readers have never been really short on romance. The National Book Development Board (NBDB) 2012 Readership survey cites that 25% of their respondents read this genre (second only to the Bible). Bookstore shelves are overflowing with foreign and local titles. The country's biggest mass-paperback romance line dominates the market with a variety of series. Yuppies and millennials turn to Summit paperbacks for their own kind of kilig.

Add to that mix these new Filipino contemporary romance novellas. They're all published digitally and independently, making romances even more accessible to a larger market.

First is Katrina Ramos Atienza's Well Played, a re-telling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice set in UP Los Baños. Los Baños is a town in Laguna, and is home to hot springs, science and research centers, and a university at the foot of mystical Mt Makiling. It's definitely a unique setting for a teen/NA read.

In the story, Patrice is a varsity football player who gets caught up in a little boarding house drama. Her best friend Dia is hitting it off with the campus hottie. Their younger friend Deenie is determined to break into social circles. To top it off, Patrice has to deal with winning soccer matches while matching wits with her cold and arrogant classmate Neil. I found myself matching the characters with their Pride and Prejudice counterparts (some were easier than others) and also familiarizing myself with some college/frat terms. I really appreciated the glossary because of it! All in all, it's a tightly-packed read for someone looking for more than the usual teen romance.

Next is Agay Llanera's Vintage Love. Crissy's beloved Mama Maring passes away, leaving Crissy to find new homes for her grand-aunt's fashionable clothes and other vintage finds. It's not easy to let go of something, especially since Crissy herself is still dealing with a failed long-term romance. Enter Vince, vintage shop owner and all-around nice guy, who manages to catches Crissy's eye.

Reading this book made me wish that the local contemporary romances I had read in my twenties were as sweet. Props to the author's writing style; I liked how urban the situations felt, yet still brimming with charm and sweetness. I didn't feel that it had to try too hard to be current. Crissy and Vince were both believable, complementing each other's personalities and really making the romance between them (and their conflict) highly probable. It has the most 'conventional' premise among these three novellas, but I thought it avoided the genre's pitfalls quite well.

Last but not the least is Chrissie Peria's All's Fair in Blog and War. Travel bloggers Five and Jesse are opposites, but that doesn't stop the Macau Tourism Board from matching them up as tour buddies during a familiarization trip to Macau. Sparks fly as soon as they meet, but the two of them gradually transition to something more.

Even though the author blogs about food and not travel IRL, she does an excellent job in turning the setting into an important element of the story. It makes a great backdrop for all the kilig moments that Five and Jesse find themselves in. The novella is also a perfect travel companion itself, a fast-paced and enjoyable story that you can read during a plane ride. Despite the foreign setting, it's peppered with lots of interesting Pinoy tidbits -- Pinoy naming conventions and the local blog culture, among others -- reminding the reader of where its heart truly lies.


All three books bring something different to the romance table. They each have their own flavor and strengths. One day, you might find yourself in a Cubao X vintage shopper mood; the next, you might feel some boarding house nostalgia. And even if you aren't a Filipino reader, you may find yourself interested on how we live and love on this side of the world! You won't regret trying these out. You can get your digital copies of these titles through Amazon and Smashwords -- just follow the links.


--
It should also be noted that author Mina V. Esguerra is a vocal supporter of Filipino chick lit and self-publishing. In fact, both Ms Llanera and Ms Peria's novellas were products of Mina's online romance writing class (full disclosure: I took that class, too). So congratulations to the authors and to Ms Esguerra. It's truly an exciting time to be a Filipino romance author -- and reader.

Giveaway: Digital Copy of All's Fair in Blog and War

Lately, I've been going on and on about my recent writing endeavors. It was an exciting learning experience for those of us who participated. Well, thanks to that same romance class, my classmate and good friend Chrissie Peria has published her own novella called All's Fair in Blog and War! It's a light and fun read that's got travel, blogging, and of course, romance.

Book Description:

Five Cuevas @5travels
Three guesses to where I’m going next. Starts with an M. Ends with a U. Has a lechon named after it. #travel

Travel blogger Five thinks she has hit the jackpot when the Macau Tourism Board invites her over for an all-expense-paid blogger tour in exchange for blogging about Macau. But while she happily signs up for the trip, she didn’t sign up to be travel buddies with the infuriating Jesse. Will her dream vacation turn into a nightmare junket? Or will falling in love be on the itinerary?

Interested? Head over to Smashwords to buy her novella! Or you could simply share with me what you think is the most romantic location in the world. The first three people to comment on this post (see mechanics below) will get a Smashwords coupon.

Mechanics:

1. Answer the following question:

What do you think is the most romantic place in the world?

2. IMPORTANT: Leave your email address so that in case you win, I can email you the code.

3. You may only enter (and win) the contest once. Multiple posts/comments will only count as one entry.

4. The first three commenters will get a Smashwords coupon that will allow them to download a copy of Ms Peria's All's Fair in Blog and War.

5. The coupons are only redeemable until August 15, 2013.

6. This contest is open to all readers.

7. Giveaway ends once all three slots have been filled.

EDITED: All three codes have been claimed! Thanks to Rachelle, BenJ, and Bliss! Giveaway is officially over, but don't let that stop you from enjoying All's Fair in Blog and War. :)