Hi everyone! My name is Ysa! I am a romance and fantasy author both published indie and traditionally. My novels are not for the faint of heart. I write stuff with heavy drama, complicated plots and mind blowing twists but a story with a heart and life lessons. Always. My female leads are funny, sweet and badass paired with hot and raunchy lead interests. They've been so much fun to write. I can't wait for you all to get to know them on this post!

For the Filipino edition of the Wattpad Block Party, I've prepared for you an excerpt from my WIP. This excerpt features Trix and Stan from Burn with the Flames.  It is set in the Philippines. My MC and lead interest are both Filipinos. I thought of writing a Firefighter novel because well...I haven't read any local firefighter novel from our local authors.

I was once told that we do not have firefighters with magazine-worthy six-pack abs, so why write one?
Well...why set the bar lower, right? Some readers want realism in the story. I say reality is too depressing. Reading is all about escaping this world and leaving all your cares behind and just for a little while go on a journey that make us giggle, smile and happy for a while.

A huge thanks to everyone for all their hard work, for making this epic event happen and for including me!

Here's the excerpt I hope you'll enjoy reading! 

Excerpt from Burn with the Flames:

Trix seated at a two-seater table at the corner near the window overlooking a coy pond.

Jeramae's is a bar-and-restaurant in one, this Paris-inspired spot is perfect for a first date with a live band playing at the background.

Trix glanced at her watch for what felt like a hundredth times before the door opened and Stan stepped in.
He mused, smiling as he walked over to her.  She felt a surge of pride as his eyes examined her face.

"You know you don't get a second chance at first impression," Trix pointed out and looked at her watch, and then crossing her arms against her chest.

"Just so you know, I'm a firefighter. I'm not a psychic." Stan took his seat.

"You look good, by the way."  

Her cheeks seemed to be in a permanent blush with shame and embarrassment.

They sat across from each other, and Trix quietly flipped through the menu. Once they were seated and settled in, a waiter came to take their orders.

Trix opted for something more substantial than the puny salad. She ordered a pesto pasta with grilled chicken and Stan went for a steak and fries combo.

"So..." Stan began hesitantly, clearing his throat. "Tell me about yourself." 

Trix burst out laughing.

"What so funny?" Stan asked, laughing with her. 

"Is this what people normally talk about on a date?" Trix asked, as she quietly sipped her drink that the waiter placed before her.

"I haven't done this before, alright? I haven't dated since...my ex."
Stan shrugged.

"I..." He trailed off. "I had never dated anyone formally before too, just slept with a few. I haven't thought of someone specifically in that sense until now," he admitted.

Trix blushed profusely and took another sip of her ice-cold tea, looking at him over the rim of her glass. 

The waiter arrived with their food and they began eating.

"Well you know, there are so many important things I don't know about you. How about we start from there."

Trix looked up at him and nodded.

"All right. Fire away, Hot Mess Fireboy."

Stan smiled. "Okay let me see...favorite color?"

"How is this something important?"

"Just go with me here," Stan sighed.

"Okay." She paused to think. "Black. What's yours?"

"White." 

Trix eyes lit up and she even sat up straight.

"Favorite animal?" again Stan asked. 

"Panda."

"Favorite song?"

"As Long As You Love Me." 

They both smiled at that.

"Favorite ice-cream flavor?"

"Chocolate Chip."

"Favorite cake?'

"Sansrival. Wait," Trix groaned and put down her fork.

"What's this? Slam note or something?" 

Stan did laugh at that, as much as he tried to hold it in.

"Yes. Something like that."

Trix chuckled in response and the slam note questions continued.

They ate in comfortable silence, peppered with occasional small talk that came easily after their first stumble.

Conversation with Stan was easy; Trix never found herself struggling for words or any awkward pauses between them.

This must be what it feels like to 'click' with someone, she thought.

"I have five siblings. My dad is a retired police officer and mom is a plain housewife. They are now running a game fowl farm in our small town," said Stan.

"Where?" Trix asked.

"Somewhere south." Stan smiled sheepishly.

"Hmm...mysterious effect," Trix said, her tone light and playful. 

Her face was beaming as she talked about her family, her colleagues and friends she had known for years.

"So some of your colleagues are also your old time friends from high school?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "When I graduated college, I was offered a position at Suarez. After a year, I got promoted and so I recommended my best friends. Given how much we work, it'd be unfortunate for colleagues to be anything but someone you say hello to as you grab your morning coffee, 'di ba? Having friends at work is more fun."

"Who doesn't love hanging out with their friends all day, right?"

"Exactly." She beamed and her eyes sparkled.

"So, what's your deepest darkest secret?" Stan asked.

"I don't know. I don't have any those." Trix shook her head, laughing. "Well, maybe I do but it's not really a deepest darkest secret."  Her smile slowly faded and she suddenly stopped laughing.

"I have dyslexia. We found out when I was five. It made me look stupid in the class when we did reading aloud. I have trouble reading words while other times the letters just get mixed up. My class laughing at my errors and me feeling completely humiliated. My friends got my back though. They always defend me against the bullies. I still have it but managed to live with it." Trix smiled weakly and continued eating her food.

"So?" Stan shrugged. "Everyone got quirks."

"Oooookay." Trix nodded, smiling.

"Trixie Dyslexie," Stan muttered softly.

"Sorry, did you just call me names?" 

There's only one person I know who calls me that way.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I just thought your name rhymes with the word. I'm really sorry. "

"It's...it's okay. It just that..." she trailed off.

"Never mind." She shook her head to get rid of the thought. "How about you? Any deepest darkest secret?"

"Well..." Stan sat up straight. "I was once classified as either geek, nerd, dork or normie. Back in high school I was just a normal person. Nobody pay attention to me. Some called me geek who has taken the time to learn physics in sixth grade. Some looked at me as a nerd who can built a tesla coil and also, a dork who was always forced to do mindless activities. A social outcast."

Trix burst out laughing. "I don't believe you. You?" She raised an eyebrow, looking intently at Stan.

"Yeah, me. That's true." Stan nodded, laughing with her.

"So, aside from being the Chief Inspector of San Isidro Fire Station, putting out fire, inspecting buildings and conducting trainings, what's keeping you busy?"

"Well, I'm also a game developer. I design and program games for PC, game consoles, online games, arcade games, mobile phones and any hand held devices."

"No way!" Trix's mouth was hanging open, her eyes wide. "That's so cool. You must be earning a lot."

Stan chuckled. "Enough to pay my bills, help my parents and send my siblings to college, live in a nice place, drive a car, eat well, and enjoy life. Success comes and goes in waves. At the moment, our latest game isn't performing as well as it should be and it can be stressful as hell, but I guess it's in my blood to be tenacious because I just keep going."

The two kept up a steady stream of conversation from their biggest achievements to biggest fears.

"So, how about the biggest regret in your life?" Stan asked.

"That's tough. Um...I think that was when I turned my back on a friend." Trix looked down at her food.

"Really?" Stan asked, his eyes widening a little.

"Back in high school, I was another crazy teenage girl for her boyfriend. I used to have a friend named Eugene. He was the typical nerd who was disliked by cool kids," Trix said.

"What do you mean? A dorky nerd boy with pimples scattered all over his face. Who wore thick framed reading glasses, had braces on his teeth and his hair resembled the 70's?" Stan presumed.

"I never described him as someone like that." Trix wasn't amused from what she heard and her smile turned into frown.

"I just assumed he is somewhat, somebody who looks like that," Stan reasoned out but sounded apologetic.

"It's okay," Trix gave him a weak smile.

"So, what happened?" Stan pressed on.

"You know they say, love truly is blind, and judgments are often clouded by your emotions. I came to believe that it's true," Trix began.

"Raffy framed Eugene up for burning the boys' comfort room of our school. I know the entire truth but I kept my mouth shut because of fear of losing Raffy. Eugene was expelled by my mom, who was the principal of our school that time and I never saw him since then," Trix continued in a soft, melancholy voice.

"What did he do to deserve it?" Stan shook his head.

"I don't know. Maybe because Raffy caught us kissing," Trix shrugged. "I was manning the kissing booth during Foundation Day. Eugene came for a kiss and I kissed him," Trix defended herself.

"It was a kissing booth, obviously you'll get kissed," Stan remarked.

"Well it depends on the kiss..." Trix let the words hanging . "I must admit I was the one who kissed him on the lips," she confessed.

Stan faltered with his fork mid-way to his mouth; some beef fell back onto his plate. He gave Trix a wary glance "Really? Did...did you like the kiss?" 

Trix slowly nodded.

"Why did you do it?"

"I have no idea." Trix shook her head and took a sip on her tea. "Maybe I had hidden feelings for him back then." Stan suddenly coughed out.

"You, okay?" Trix stood from her seat and patted his back. "Here, drink some water."

Stan took the glass of water and drunk from it. "Thank you. You were saying?"

"Well, as I said, maybe I had feelings for Eugene but during that time, what I may have felt about him never had the chance to grow. We were separated by the crowd and the people that surrounded us." 

Stan nodded and filled his mouth with food.

"Raffy was—I don't know exactly—insecure, challenged or he just hated Eugene for being himself. I hated myself for not telling the truth and for turning my back on him."

"You never heard from him since he was expelled?"

"I heard his dad punished him and that he was sent to his Aunt. Aside from that, nothing." Trix twirled the pasta around her fork and took a spoonful into her mouth. "How about you? What's your biggest regret?" 

"Me?" Stan stared at Trix. "I regret not fighting harder to get the girl when I had the chance."

Trix felt a little awkward due to the way Stan stared at her.

"I think we all have regrets. We all have things we wished we had done differently," Trix said.

"No one gets everything right all the time," Stan agreed.

Trix smiled, setting her fork down next to her empty plate. Stan had scarfed down his steak. Her stomach dropped as she realized that the end of the meal meant the end of the date, her suspicions confirmed as Stan asked for the bill.

The waiter came with their bill and Stan picked it up before Trix could grab it, giving her a look.

"I can pay." His tone left no room for argument, Trix had no choice to slump back and watch as he pulled cash out of his wallet, placing it on top of the receipt.

"Let's go?"  

Neither said a word as they stood up, Trix smoothing her dress and gathering her purse before following Stan to the door.

"Where did you park?" Stan asked, looking around.

"I'm coding today. I just took a cab."

"Me, too," Stan smiled.  

Having both taken a taxi to the restaurant, Trix and Stan opted to share one heading back to their respective places. 

The taxi stopped when they reached Trix's condo.

'Thank you for dinner, Stan." Trix smiled.

"Thank you for the second first date, Trix." His smile was wider. "C-can I walk you up to your unit?"

"Y-yeah, sure." Trix's face was flushed.

They walked inside the building and the guard greeted them as they sauntered to the elevator.

Trix tried to hide her nerves. She took a deep breath and watched the numbers showing the elevator climbed.  All too soon the elevator dinged, indicating they had reached Trix's floor.

They stopped on her door and stood facing each other.

"Won't you...come inside?" Trix offered. "For...coffee?"

Damn what am I saying?

He laughed involuntarily, and turned to face Trix, kissing her square on the lips.

It only took a second, Trix unresponsive and shocked under his mouth, for him to realize what he'd done. He pulled back as if Trix were on fire and muttered stammering apologies, his eyes never leaving the floor.

Trix put his fingers to her lips and blinked quickly: once, twice, three times.

Stan began another attempt at an apology, but the look in Trix's eyes shut him up. "...do that again, would you?" Her request came with wide eyes and a trembling lower lip.

He bent down as his hands slid around her waist and wrapped her tight around him, lifting her up to level with him as they kissed.

She rose on her toes as she tilted his head down, pulling his lips to her. And with all the pain she had felt in the last months combined with all the lament of those lost years with Rafael, she kissed him.

Finally resting his head on hers, their eyes still closed, she exhaled, as if exhausted from trying to stop time.

"I...I think I better go," Stan whispered against her mouth. "I'll see you again?"

"Y-yeah...I think so." Trix nodded.

After months of dull cadence, her heart started beating in that fast rhythm again.