Important Note: No text or graphics of this story (skeletal plot and all drafts/ revisions) have been generated by AI.

Why did I start this story?

The 2023 Christmas morning became so inspirational that I wrote over 6,000 words of a completed skeletal plot for A Book Nerd's Guide to Falling in Love.

It isn't like my other story ideas that make it to my idea notebook and sit there for a long time until I'm ready to start planning and writing. For this one, I had not intended to, I just let the words flow out, and here it is.

I started publishing on New Year's Day and completed the first draft in early June 2024 at almost 50K words. I plan to complete the second draft by the end of July 2024 at a little over 60K words.

Maybe you're thinking, what is an SFF writer doing with a contemporary genre? Well, some of my favorite authors have varied portfolios. V.E. Schwab and Brandon Sanderson write for all ages—middle grade, young adult, and adult. Marissa Meyer writes Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Magical Realism. I've wanted to do something different too. I want to expand my portfolio without deviating far from my true genre—Fantasy.

A Book Nerd's Guide to Falling in Love is comparable to Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer. It's something cozy and lovable and, in some instances, hilarious. It's a Contemporary YA Romance Magical Realism.

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What's the inspiration?

When I was in high school, I used to skip classes to go to the library. I know I'm such a nerd. But that is how much I love to read. I was a bit of a rebel then, but I still got good grades despite not attending several lessons. I guess I was in an era in my country where I was lucky enough to get away with rule-breaking once or twice, or maybe a couple of times more.

I share this story about myself because I thought it was a fun remembrance, at least for me—a fond memory of my days in the public library. I do not in any way encourage students to skip school.

You are about to read the story, A Book Nerd's Guide to Falling in Love, which reflects my passion for books. It is inspired by the recollection of my not-so-typical high school rebellious days.

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Where's Littleton, New Hampshire?

The setting of this story is a real town on the east coast of the United States. I wanted a small community feel with only one public library for the location of my story. I found Littleton on the map, having about 5,000 in population and a single public library. When I saw (on Google Images) the statue of Pollyanna at the front of Littleton Public Library, I knew it was perfect.

I hadn't been to Littleton, but I visited New Hampshire several times while I was in the States. I think it's a Filipino thing to go shopping in outlet malls where there's no sales tax, which was in New Hampshire. I've been there mostly during the fall seasons, which I loved. I thought it was a magical time of year, and I still remember picking up a fallen maple leaf and taking pictures with it. That's why I used autumn for the timeline of A Book Nerd's Guide to Falling in Love.

Important Note: All depictions of Littleton's culture, community, governance, history, etc. are fiction of my imagination with the exemption of physical location as seen on Google maps and physical descriptions of structures such as buildings and statues as seen on reliable internet sources.

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Who are the character/s?

Alice "Elsy" Watson, the narrator of A Book Nerd's Guide to Falling in Love, is the main character. She is a half-Filipino half-American book nerd, who tells her experiences with her identity, living with the only Filipino descent family in their small town, and among a modern generation. She is also a minority in their school for being a book nerd and shares her struggles of sometimes being misunderstood.

You will meet several other characters like Finn, Lotty, Cathy, and Dave. That will be all I'll share for now to avoid spoilers.

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What's the title and who created the cover?

The title, A Book Nerd's Guide to Falling in Love, came from the idea of a main character (a book nerd) trying to save the public library from closing permanently by making people fall in love with reading to get more patrons to go to the library. Without intending to, she also discovers her guide to falling in love.

As for the cover, I drew both using the Procreate app and the layout is done using Canva. This first one came out a little too dark for me with a clashing combination of colors. So, I had to redraw it using inspiration from the original drawing. I still feel the shading, especially on Elsy's (she's the girl on the cover) clothes, look a bit dirty, and I'll likely go back to clean it up, but I'm satisfied with the current cover for now.

Here's something shocking. When I drew the cover and chose the title (originally A Bookworm's Guide to Falling in Love), I didn't know there was a published book so similar to it—A Bookworm's Guide to Dating by Emma Hart. The cover of the published novel is also a girl holding a book up to hide the lower half of her face with only the top part exposed. I was shocked because it was so similar but it was purely coincidence. And that's as far as the similarities go. I have not read her novel, but the blurb paints a different plot than mine.

I then changed my title and used Book Nerd, which I discovered is, by description, more appropriate for my main character. Book Nerd gives a deeper and more enthusiastic meaning to a person who loves to read. It portrays someone passionate about books, which is what Elsy (the main character of this story) is.

I know that, after changing the title, there's not much difference and the similarities are still obvious, but I want to keep the original concept of both the cover and title because it fits the plot of this story perfectly.

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AWARDS

🥇 First Place for Best Book Blurb in Hidden Gems Awards

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆  I am so in love with this new plot of yours! It will be interesting to read how a cute non reader is trying to help Elsy!

🥇 First Place for Best Female Protagonist in The Wildest Dreams Awards 2024

3rd place Elpida awards for Teen-FiC for A Book Nerd's Guide to Falling in Love

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