21st Century Literature (Philippines): CHICK LIT

Romance: Because I Can, And I Should, And Why Not (2016)

Presented at the 55th UP National Writers Workshop, 2016.

My name is Mina V. Esguerra, and I write books with kissing.

That line was my bio on my social media profiles for some time, before I changed it to "author of romance novels." It does remain the most accurate description of what I write, even though I've taken up several causes over the years, and have used my books to explore them.

My first book "with kissing" was published in 2009. It's called My Imaginary Ex, and it was acquired and released by Summit Books under their chick lit line. "Chick Lit," strictly speaking, is a different category of contemporary fiction, and is not necessarily romance. Chick Lit is associated with: first person POV, awkwardly adorable main characters, career trouble, hijinks, sudden travel, shopping sprees, margaritas with friends. Romance is associated with: third person POV, alternating hero/heroine chapters, two to three sex scenes, a big breakup, then happily ever after. The particular brand of romance that I write has been formed by what the Philippine publishing industry needed at the time. The accessibility and heart of chick lit's unsure and flawed main characters in first person POV, but the grand gestures and swoony heroes of romance. All this, and in English, too.

I write romance because this is what I read. In 2015, a typical reading year for me, I read 98 books, over 80 of them easily romance. I am also a publisher of my own romance novels. I started doing that in 2010, when I finished my second book, and it was something I willingly tried after discovering I could sell my work on Amazon, and have it be easily downloaded and purchased by anyone with the means to do so. By that time I had already been published once, worked nearly ten years in corporate communications and online media, and earned a master's degree in development communication. I knew the operations side of publishing. I knew it required hiring an editor, a cover designer, and learning the business of publishing. I did all of that, in stages. A year, and thousands of downloads both free and paid later, I decided that I would keep doing it this way. My presence in Philippine bookstores is the result of a partnership with Anvil Publishing. I've been active on the Wattpad writer community for several years, and was tapped by Wattpad HQ in Canada to act as a mentor and answer their questions related to writing and publishing.

Romance, as it turns out, is huge, and global, and dynamic. A lot of books being written and published; over a hundred new releases, worldwide, per week. There are a lot of readers. Millions, by some estimates, and they are buying and reading books at a "power reader" level. Romance readers can read one book a week, easy, and buy even more. There are a lot of subgenres within romance. The competition, while fierce, is spread out, and there's a lot of room for authors to shine, and for readers to find new favorites.

When I entered this market six years ago with an English-language romance novel about Filipinos in the Philippines, I found the readers welcoming. I haven't felt ignored or shut out because I'm a Filipino author. But to have a career as a romance author you need repeat readers, those who will buy your next book whatever it happens to be about. I realized that I might have been a novelty read for some–a book they picked up because they wanted to learn about the Philippines. I decided that it wasn't enough for me. I first wanted to be a romance author, period, and not the romance author they chose when they wanted to "challenge themselves."

So I began writing romance novels set in the United States. So far, those books have sold more than my books set in the Philippines. It's an ongoing experiment, interesting to say the least given the discussion on diversity in publishing. For now I'm doing both, and learning to find the balance, which elements make a romance novel more accessible to certain audiences. I also posted some of my books free and complete on Wattpad, and because of that I get the most reliable analytics about reader engagement and demographics.

I am not the only Filipino romance writer doing this. We have a community on Facebook, over a hundred members right now, and many of us are authors who are trying to find the "global" path that works for us. Many of us are trying to transition into career authors, authors who can earn day-job-level income from romance writing. We're actively publishing our work because for the first time the environment has all the elements in place so we can do this. We write and publish because we can, and why not.

My UPNWW application submission is the first two and a half chapters of my 24th book. Iris After the Incident is a romance novel. Twenty-something girl has a "meet cute" with a twenty-something guy in a modern condominium complex in Metro Manila, when they're stuck in an elevator together during a routine test of the electrical system. They discover that they're neighbors; he lives in Tower 3 Unit 9J, she lives in Tower 3 Unit 9M. They're both attractive, they check each other out. After they survive that particular rom-com contrivance, he decides to ask her out, and she accepts. But they don't trade names, and they refuse to do so even on their first date. Because when you have someone's name you can Google them, and when you both have "scandalous" and sexual photos and videos on the Internet, it might make dating more complicated.

I've said that writing stories set in the US got me more readers. I've written five of those, and had them published, and now they're doing the work of introducing me to new readers, while I get to work now on what I really want to see from Filipino romance in English. What I want to see from Filipino romance is actually what I like reading in romance, period. I want to see women get what they want. I want to read about the lives of women who freely want things, and go get them.

So this is what I write. Filipino women, getting what they want. My books are safe spaces for women to want things. Higher pay, better jobs, nice clothes, safe streets, genuine friendships, healthy relationships.

Since 2011 I've been giving classes, most of them free, to authors who want to publish and write in the manner that I've chosen to do so. We usually have an average of over 50 active students per class. As of my writing this, over 120 new titles have been published by the participants of the various classes. You can probably imagine the kinds of interactions I have with young and new writers every day, every time I open a class, or when someone asks me a question on social media. Romance by Filipino authors could be critiqued more, yes. We readers should and are asking our authors to be more responsible about what we write. My heart breaks a little every time I encounter romance stories by young Filipino authors that involve relationships that involve coercion and abuse. Young Filipino authors are writing thousands of these stories, about loving the person who was chosen for them, or abducted them, bullied them, abused them.

I know that it's a common romance trope, and it isn't confined to our country. I know that it has societal and cultural roots in many countries. I know that this particular trope has many readers, and I emphasize that I also believe that people are free to read and enjoy what they want. Whatever floats your boat.

I'm not a psychologist, a therapist, or a teacher in the conventional sense. I am not your mother; I will not tell you what to do. I enjoy steamy romance novels myself, and read books that push the envelope and challenge even the accepted romance conventions. But as an author, and a woman, what I want to do is write about people who can admit that they want things and want each other.

I write always about women who kiss, and want to be kissed. I write how good people can want sex, career advancement, ice cream, and still be good people. I write about people who can be the deceitful and evil even as they remain sexually "pure." I write about men who will respect a woman's decision to wait. I write about men who decide to wait. I write about men who want to give a woman pleasure. All these people exist, in real life. It's how I was able to write over twenty romance novels without feeling that I was telling the same old story.

Romance novels get a lot of flak for supposedly portraying an unrealistic, shiny view of life. They're fairy tales, they can't be real. In my first 23 books with kissing, I've presented a world where our main character can kiss and be kissed all she wants. In this, my 24th book, I challenge my character a little by having her wake up to a world where she is shamed for being that kind of person. That kind of girl. This world exists, and we live in it. But don't worry–I will get her through this. She'll find love. She'll find her strength. No one wants to read a romance novel where romance and love don't prevail.

I write romance, because this is what I read. This is what I want to read. And I will, because I can, and I should, and why not.