You have reached the second part of my #FeelsFest2018 recap. If you missed the first one, click here. ❤

In the first part of my recap, you can read about the pre-event and join my giveaway for the upcoming titles of #romanceclass by posting a comment mentioning the titles you’re excited for. It’s like placing a pre-order for a giveaway prize. ❤

Event Proper

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After eating lunch, Eliana and I went back to the event venue to prepare for the contests I want to participate in.

I took pictures of my book haul for the #BonggangBookstagram contest. Click the photos below to see them up close!

I really had fun at the #besfluencers table because there were so many bookstagram props to choose from! To Ate April, Kuya Bentch, and Ms. Chachic, thank you so much for sharing your props with us! ❤

Shortly after I’ve finished taking pictures for the #BonggangBookstagram contest, the live readers arrived.

Which meant it was time to have the photoshoot for the #romanceclassCoverGirl contest.

I was determined to win this one, so I literally made myself an MC and posted a cover for my “hypothetical” #romanceclass novel – Call It What You Want.

Prior to the event, I already talked to one of the live readers to ask permission for this photoshoot to happen. (Thank you for granting my request, Kuya JP!)

I would also like to thank my sister Eliana for taking the photos! (There are more on my Twitter account, I just can’t post all of them here. 😂)

Meet the live readers for this year’s Feels Fest! ❤

I was really excited to watch the live readings because I’ve read most of the titles included in the program.

Heartstruck, What Kind of Day, and Ghost of a Feeling received the infinity symbol rating (∞), while Love at First Run and You Out of Nowhere received 5 stars from me.

Below are some photos:

Ate Sam and Kuya Jef as Kris and Ringo from You Out Of Nowhere by Jay E. Tria

Ate Salve and Kuya Gio reading from One Night in the Streets of Makati by Bianca Mori

Ate Graie and Kuya Fred as Jett and Adrian from Feels Like Summer by Six de los Reyes

Kuya Fred and Kuya Gio reading from Shipping Included (part of the Start Here anthology) by Danice Sison

Ate Graie and Kuya JP as Alexa and Theo from Heartstruck by Angeli E. Dumatol

Ate Salve and Kuya JP as Diana and Joshua from Love at First Run by Angel C. Aquino

Ate Sam and Kuya Fred reading from Like Nobody’s Watching by Tara Frejas

Kuya Gio and Ate Rachel as Emilio (Nathan) and Cris from Ghost of a Feeling by Celestine Trinidad

Ate Graie and Kuya Gio reading from What Kind of Day by Mina V. Esguerra

The live readings have always left me so happy and full of energy, but for the first time, a live reading made me cry.

Ghost of a Feeling is one of the most special #romanceclass books to me. I love it so much that (aside from giving it my ∞ rating) I sang a bookish song for it and I even wrote a Filipino version of my book review.

Quoting from the English version of my book review:

Ghost of a Feeling is a powerful story of moving forward by remembering what makes you feel alive. It’s a story that will stay in my heart, and it deserves all the love it can get.

Watch the live reading below:

Halfway through the program, Kuya Jef and Ate Vanya sang for us.

Ate Vanya sang first. I have always loved her voice and she easily became one of my favorite singers. (Watch more of her covers here!)

Then she called Kuya Jef to join her and they sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” – OHMYGOSH THIS SONG – and my heart just felt all the butterflies come together because I never knew I needed this duet in my life.

Watch the full video below:

I hope the song numbers become a permanent thing at #romanceclass events because I’d really love to hear more live readers sing. ❤

Feels Fest 2018 will forever be in my heart because this is the event that reminded me why I keep doing my best to attend all the #romanceclass events I can go to.

One word: HOPE.

I think that’s why I cried during the live reading for Ghost of a Feeling. I felt the scene too much – I got reminded of the things I had to go through and how I survived them. I got reminded of the people who were there for me.

I’ve always thought of #romanceclass as a nurturing family and I’ll always be thankful for the friends I already have in the community and the friends I haven’t met yet.

Thank you for being cheerleaders, supporters, and people who truly care.

#romanceclass is home to my heart, and I hope I never have to be away from you for too long. ❤

I haven’t been able to write a recap for April Feels Day 2018 because of my hiatus (hello, thesis!) so I really wanted to write a recap for this year’s Feels Fest.

If you’ve been following me for some time now, my love for #romanceclass is no secret to you. But if it’s the first time you’ve heard of #romanceclass, let me share some screenshots from the media kit that you can download here.

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Two major public events have become annual traditions for #romanceclass – the Feels Day every April and Feels Fest every October.

#MCYourself2018

This year’s Feels Fest has a theme – to MC yourself. (MC= Main Character)

Guests were encouraged to dress up as their favorite main fictional character or to come as the best version of themselves.

“You are scored on my heart, Clark. You were from the first day you walked in, with your ridiculous clothes and your complete inability to ever hide a single thing you felt.” -Will Traynor, Me Before You

I chose to dress up as Louisa Clark from Me Before You and I went to the event with my sister Eliana who dressed up as Stella (from the movie 100 Tula Para Kay Stella).

Pre-event: Author Meet & Greet

Bloggers were invited to an Author Meet & Greet where Ms. Mina V. Esguerra showed us her presentation for IASPR 2018 (International Association for the Study of Popular Romance) and authors talked about their new and upcoming releases.

The IASPR presentation

There were data on ~relevant stuff, like where #romanceclass books are read all over the world and who among the live readers were crowd favorites (names were not dropped). But my most important takeaway from the presentation is the current state of romance (as a genre) in the Philippines.

Romance in the PH ≠ HEA

“Romance” stories in the Philippines do not guarantee the genre requirement which is the happily-ever-after (HEA). I think it’s because most Filipinos have this mindset that all love stories are romances. I had that mindset before, but thanks to #romanceclass (and Romancelandia in general), I was made aware of my erroneous belief.

When I started writing my thesis, I was able to read more about the romance genre and one of my favorite articles can be found on Book Riot.

Below are some points from the article that I reaaaally love:

Not all love stories are romances. Something can be a great love story and still not fit in the romance genre. If your love story doesn’t have a happy ending, you have literally every other genre to play in.

Me:

No one asks for mysteries to not have a crime, or historicals to take place in the future, or fantasies to ditch all magical/mystical elements, or horrors to be bright and happy. Why is it okay to ask romance to remove the one thing expected of the genre, an HEA? (Spoiler: it’s not okay.)

Me:

If romances don’t require happy endings, what is even the point of having genres? A genre label exists to give the reader an idea of what to expect. You can’t just change those expectations because you want to or because you feel like reading/writing “something different.”

Me:

(Read the full article by Sarah Nicolas here.)

I decided to create a Twitter thread of excerpts from my thesis because I wanted to share my love for romance by spreading the word about what I’ve learned. (If you’d like to read my entire paper, you may send a message with your email address so I can send it to you.)

https://twitter.com/faynotfaye/status/1047110851746979840

Basically, Ms. Mina’s presentation included some of the reasons why I’ve chosen to study #romanceclass books for my thesis and why I intend to keep choosing #romanceclass relevant topics for the academic papers I’ll write in the future.

I always want to give back to the community that is home to my heart. ❤

New Releases

        Ms. Tara Frejas launched the repackaged edition of the first book in her Backstage Pass series.

She also did a (public) cover reveal of the next book in the series, Play It by Ear (see cover below!).

Upcoming Releases

Angeli E. Dumatol – How to Write a Novel in 7 Days

Carla de Guzman – the second book in the Cincamarre series

Six de los Reyes – #tinapahanfic

          Ana Tejano – Win Meah Over (there’s a mock cover!)

Tara Frejas – Play It by Ear + #ProjectDatu

Chi Yu Rodriguez – No Two Ways (click the photo above to read the blurb!)

COLLABORATIONS

High Society Landian Anthology – Carla de Guzman, Bianca Mori, Suzette de Borja

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Save the Date (Fake Wedding Date Anthology) – Carla de Guzman, Six de los Reyes, Mina V. Esguerra, Tara Frejas, Ana Tejano, Jay E. Tria

#GaleWatchCon (also #gamebae) – Miles Tan, Six de los Reyes

Me after all the previews:

And that’s it for the first part of my #FeelsFest2018 recap! Which among the upcoming #romanceclass titles are you excited about? Comment your answer below and you might just get the book you’ve been eyeing once it gets released! Consider it a gift from me. ❤