Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's Fundamentals of Creative Writing is a marvelous textbook that combines useful technical advice on craft with beautiful practical examples in her own stories. Brainard's treatments of writerly voice and left brain/right brain theory as it connects to writing are among the best available in today's writing textbooks. Her story examples cover a variety of story types, techniques, points of view, and historical as well as contemporary topics and themes. This book will indeed help writing students write strong stories and improve their craft. Brava, Ms. Brainard. Copyright by Cecilia Brainard. All rights reserved.

College sophomore Hannah Maquiling doesn't know why everyone tells her their love problems. She's never even had a boyfriend, but that doesn't stop people from spilling their guts to her, and asking for advice. So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise when the cutest guy in school tells her that she's going to have to take on this responsibility -- but for all humanity. The Goddess of Love has gone AWOL. It's a problem, because her job is to keep in check this world's obsession with love (and lack of it). The God of the Sun, for now an impossibly handsome senior at an exclusive college just outside of Metro Manila, thinks Hannah has what it takes to (temporarily) do the job. While she's learning to do this goddess thing, she practices on the love troubles of shy Kathy, who's got a secret admirer on campus. Hannah's mission, should she choose to accept it, is to make sure that he's not a creepy stalker and they find their happily ever after -- or at least something that'll last until next semester. (As if she could refuse! The Sun God asked so nicely. And he's so, well, hot.)

Sampler of poems by Paolo Manalo from the collections E is for Epal (2018), Happily Ever Ek-ek (2019), and Jolography Retconned (2020).

Lola Sensia is a wizard in the kitchen - transforming the most ordinary of ingredients into the most sumptuous of dishes. But is she really who she is?

A young man discovers love, both beautiful and painful, as he travels through old towns in the Philippines.

Jonathan "Tantan" (17) is stubborn about love. He believes he's too young for it and doesn't want it. But one day a new boy named Ben (17) arrives in their town with an undeniable charisma and mystery. Tantan along with his friends Justine (16), Paloma (17) and Akihiro (17) are drawn to him. They reach a consensus. Anyone who gets close to Ben and makes him fall in love will acquire the money they got from a random man at the funfair . This propels Tantan to get to know Ben realizing he's not too young to fall in love and that first love changes everyone.

Rain De Castro has been in love with her best friend, Mark Velasco, for almost the entire time she has known him, but she's clearly in the friend zone because he's happily in a relationship. Or so she thought, until the news of his break-up reaches her. Now that Mark's single again, she decides that it's time to get out of the zone. But when her cousin Lissa comes into the picture and sets her eyes on Mark, Rain feels troubled when he gets a little too friendly with her. Rain is determined to fight for what she feels this time, but is it worth the effort if it's a losing battle from the start? Will she back off to give way for her best friend's happiness, even if it means losing him to someone else again?