Giveaway + Author Interview: Clare Elisabeth Marquez
9:52 AMIt's been a week since the complete line-up of new #SparkNA books were released in the wild. To celebrate, Clare Elisabeth Marquez, author of Simply Joei, joins us in an interview and a giveaway. YAAAAY!
It was an indescribable feeling of happiness and achievement. I had hoped and prayed for it and it was an answered prayer. I may have shed a tear when I got the unofficial news from Mina. It was exhilarating when I got the official confirmation from Anvil.
Give us an insight into your main character. What does she do that is so special?
Josephine - Joei - is someone who knows how to survive and make something of her life. She had a rough childhood, being orphaned at a young age, but it did not deter her from making something out of her passion - her art - and finding her place in this world. She may seem timid, a little reserved but she is a strong woman. Her true beauty is her strength in heart, her passion in life, her friendship with Kate and the love she knows she needs to fight for - Jake.
What was the scene that you found most difficult to write?
The love scene at the Inn was not easy to write only because it was my first time to write one! I wanted it to be intimate and passionate but not too explicit. I wanted it to be tasteful. I wanted to depict an intense lure, a powerful, consuming desire by two people strongly attracted to each other. I want that compelling feeling of want and need combined in the scene. I remember writing that at Starbucks in Eastwood - on my birthday in 2015! It was good solid hours of writing which I felt happy about. It may have been the most difficult, but it was also the most rewarding.
Do you read much? If yes,who are your favorite authors?
YES. I am an absolute voracious reader. I remember when I was young, I read just about anything I can get my hands on - yes, even the labels at the back of grocery items, I read! I am a kid who grew up following Niknok of Funny Comics, The Fabulous Five by Betsy Haynes in my middle school years, Sweet Dreams in high school, Mills and Boons in college. I love Kristen Ashley. I LOVE HER. She writes about love and life and redemption, some passionate, steamy love scenes - her genre is in the 30s, 40s cap! But it was the feelings she evoke from her written words that makes me love her and admire so much. I love Renee Carlino and Colleen Hoover. I love how they create these seemingly ordinary characters and create them into this amazing interwoven complexity called life. I think we have a great pool of local authors too. Who doesn't love Mina Esguerra? I do! She is the queen! I don't think she can ever write anything badly. Her stories are of strong characters, smartly written, super kilig. I just recently discovered Six De Los Reyes. That kid can write! I also read an unfinished short story from Tara Frejas and I was so hooked I have hounded her several times already to tell her to finish it. I think I will continue to do so until she gives me the finished novel. I wish to discover more local authors because I think we have an amazing pool of talent in the country. I plan to read more books by Filipino authors this year. That's one of my goals in 2017!
If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
I love Tillie Cole's A Thousand Boy Kisses. It has a certain innocence that just gets to me. I think it was beautifully written! It made me cry, made me laugh, made me fall in love. It made my heart bled. It was hopeful and sad but it was, for me, a happy-ever-after story. A classic, if you ask me!
What does literary success look like to you?
What was the scene that you found most difficult to write?
The love scene at the Inn was not easy to write only because it was my first time to write one! I wanted it to be intimate and passionate but not too explicit. I wanted it to be tasteful. I wanted to depict an intense lure, a powerful, consuming desire by two people strongly attracted to each other. I want that compelling feeling of want and need combined in the scene. I remember writing that at Starbucks in Eastwood - on my birthday in 2015! It was good solid hours of writing which I felt happy about. It may have been the most difficult, but it was also the most rewarding.
Do you read much? If yes,who are your favorite authors?
YES. I am an absolute voracious reader. I remember when I was young, I read just about anything I can get my hands on - yes, even the labels at the back of grocery items, I read! I am a kid who grew up following Niknok of Funny Comics, The Fabulous Five by Betsy Haynes in my middle school years, Sweet Dreams in high school, Mills and Boons in college. I love Kristen Ashley. I LOVE HER. She writes about love and life and redemption, some passionate, steamy love scenes - her genre is in the 30s, 40s cap! But it was the feelings she evoke from her written words that makes me love her and admire so much. I love Renee Carlino and Colleen Hoover. I love how they create these seemingly ordinary characters and create them into this amazing interwoven complexity called life. I think we have a great pool of local authors too. Who doesn't love Mina Esguerra? I do! She is the queen! I don't think she can ever write anything badly. Her stories are of strong characters, smartly written, super kilig. I just recently discovered Six De Los Reyes. That kid can write! I also read an unfinished short story from Tara Frejas and I was so hooked I have hounded her several times already to tell her to finish it. I think I will continue to do so until she gives me the finished novel. I wish to discover more local authors because I think we have an amazing pool of talent in the country. I plan to read more books by Filipino authors this year. That's one of my goals in 2017!
If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
I love Tillie Cole's A Thousand Boy Kisses. It has a certain innocence that just gets to me. I think it was beautifully written! It made me cry, made me laugh, made me fall in love. It made my heart bled. It was hopeful and sad but it was, for me, a happy-ever-after story. A classic, if you ask me!
What does literary success look like to you?
I love writing. I have since I was ten! I just love to write and create my own bida, my prince charming, their side-kicks, the kontrabidas, and put them in a complicated world where endings are always, ALWAYS happy.
Truth is, I never dreamed of being a published author. It was never in my vision, really. I never write with a publishing offer in mind because,I guess, that part of me is the artist, the writer, who fears the audience will not like what they will see or hear or in my case, read. So I never tried to submit anything to any publishing firm or self-publish my own work. I truly just write for the pleasure of it.
But that being said, when I was fortunate enough to get an offer from a legit publishing firm, I realized I can share these stories I make to those who may give them a chance. There may be some audience who will like it and appreciate them. If there is one (maybe that's you, my friend Veronica!) - or twenty -who will tell me they liked what I wrote, that they feel happy or sad or kilig or hopeful, I think that makes my written words worthy. It might not achieve world peace or cure cancer but if it would have made one person smile or sigh or take a moment in reflection, it places some sort of value to it. That for me is success. My worth as a writer is the value that my audience put on my written work. If my stories reach far and wide and read by as many people possible - and liked it! - then that for me is good.
I say literary success is more than the money it can earn but the respect and value your audience
will put into your work. The money will come later, I reckon. If they like your work, they will buy it, right? If my stories can earn as much as JK Rowling's or Erika James's novels, that too, is not a bad meaning of success, right? It would get me a massive writer's desk in a cabin where I can enjoy my coffee and the beauty of the snow-capped mountains I've always dreamed of.
Any upcoming projects we should look forward to?
I have finished writing my second full-length novel with a working title "She's A Basket Kate". If you have read Simply Joei, you would have met Joei's lunatic best friend Kate and Jake's equally crazy clown best friend Kiko. Those two are nemesis. Worse than cats and dogs! They have their own story to tell and just like with Jake and Joei, fate had its way of aligning their stars for a chance in love. This is a romantic - comedy because the characters are simply unhinged. But I love them and how they have found to be together despite the odds presented to them in life. I have two other stories in mind and the characters in them have had appearances in the other stories I made/ am making. They sort of live in the same universe, but don't we all do?
Connect with the author:
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
GIVEAWAY
I'm hosting my first giveaway here in the blog so I'm excited! Join the raffle below to get a chance to win a paperback signed copy of Simply Joei + a romanceclass ebook of your choice. Will pick two winners on Valentine's Day! Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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