Author Spotlight: Just a Little Bit of Love ~ Ines Bautista-Yao

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just a little bit of love

Just a Little Bit of Love

 

Three short stories about three young girls: Anita, Ina, and Carla. Each one finding their lives disrupted by a boy. Maybe it’s because he wanders into the coffee shop where she works after school every Tuesday. Maybe it’s because he won’t leave her alone even if she has made it clear that she is crushing on his football teammate. Or maybe it’s because she’s spent one unforgettable afternoon with him—despite being oh-so-forgetful. Three small doses of love that serve up a whole lot of feels.

Ines Bautista Yao

 

AUTHOR BIO

 

Ines Bautista-Yao is the author of One Crazy Summer, What’s in your Heart, and Only a Kiss. She has also written two short stories, “Flashbacks and Echoes,” which is part of a compilation called All This Wanting and “A Captured Dream,” one of the four short stories in Sola Musica: Love Notes from a Festival.

 

She is the former editor-in-chief of Candy and K-Zone magazines and a former high school and college English and Literature teacher. She is also a wife and mom and blogs about the many challenges and joys of motherhood at theeverydayprojectblog.com. She has recently launched The Author Project, a section in her current blog devoted to the stories in her head.

 

 

Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?

 

Hi, Kari! Thank you for having me on your blog. It means so much to me 🙂

 

My name is Ines Bautista-Yao. I live in the Philippines and I am a wife and mom of two girls, a shy seven-year-old and a tornado of a two-year-old. I used to teach English but was lured into publishing, so I edited a teen magazine called Candy and a kids’ magazine called K-Zone. It was a really fun stint. I met wonderful people, I learned a lot, and I got loads of freebies haha! But I wanted to go back to teaching. The problem was, I got pregnant so I stopped teaching (although I did go back for a few months till pregnancy complications made me stop) and I decided to edit and write freelance so I could take care of my family.

 

It was while my eldest daughter (then an only child) was napping for three hours that I wrote my first book. Now, it’s harder to write because I have two girls, but I try to squeeze it in every chance I get. In fact, the second story I wrote in Just A Little Bit of Love, I wrote on my smart phone because my toddler pushes the screen of my laptop closed when she sees me writing!

 

How long have you been writing?

 

I think ever since I started reading Nancy Drew in the second grade, I wanted to write. I took a notebook and pen and haven’t stopped writing stories since. It took a different form when I got older, I started writing essays, feature articles, and academic papers (shudder), but now that I’m back writing fiction, I’m so happy!

 

What inspired you to start writing?

 

I’m pretty sure it started with a love of reading then a need to come up with my own tales as well. I think it’s that way for almost all writers. I’ve yet to meet a writer who doesn’t love to read. Then when I got into the habit of bringing a notebook and pen around with me wherever I went, the stories and the ideas just kept coming! I hope they don’t ever stop.

 

 

Tell me about your latest book.

 

Just A Little Bit Of Love is a compilation of three (very) short stories set in the world of another book of mine, Only A Kiss. Each story stands on its own and you can appreciate it even if you haven’t read Only A Kiss.

 

The first story is about a girl called Anita who just watches everything and doesn’t really participate in life—till something (or should I say, someone) shakes her out of it. The second is about a girl called Ina who has been obsessed with this football player for like, ever but is suddenly faced with his teammate who is convinced he and Ina are meant for each other. The last one is about Carla who is so forgetful, but she can’t seem to forget one afternoon she spent getting to know a guy named Jacob.

 

 

Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?

Don’t give up. There will be times when you’ll feel like you’re the worst writer in the world or that no one will ever read your books, but if you keep at it long enough and hard enough, and work on improving your craft every single day, the readers will come. But at the same time, don’t quit your day job just yet 🙂

 

Where can we find you and your book?

My book is on Amazon here: Just a Little Bit of Love

 

and you can find me here:

 

Twitter and Instagram: @inesbyao

Facebook: Facebook

Website: The Everyday Project

Thank you so much for joining me Ines! I look forward to reading your book!

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