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!