#RomanceClass NomCom: A foodie romance anthology for charity
#RomanceClass is a community of Filipino authors of romance in English. This anthology features all-new romance short stories from 14 #RomanceClass authors. Each author was assigned a trope and a shared setting {the fictional Nomnom Commons Food Park in Ortigas, Metro Manila).
All proceeds will be donated to charity*. If you’ve purchased this anthology, you will receive an update on the donation in your email through Gumroad. Pre-order at gum.co/nomcom!
Alternatively you can purchase via Paypal, Gcash (QR here) and Paymaya (QR here) and BPI (QR here), by sending a minimum of P350 and emailing minavesguerra@gmail.com with the subject line “NOMCOM” and a copy of the transfer notification.
Available for $7 (or the price that you set), in EPUB and MOBI, only until April 14, 2022.
*We are donating the proceeds to For Our Farmers, a youth-led non-profit organization that helps farmers in the Philippines. Visit their Instagram.
I wrote one story in this anthology (“See You Under the Counter”) and the introduction. Sharing the intro here:
This is the third year that we’ve bundled our work for a cause. In September 2021, we met to talk about releasing a new anthology in 2022, and (easily) agreed on a food theme. If you’ve read any of our books, you might have noticed that we mention food a lot. It’s never required, but always present. It makes sense! To us, food is history and culture. It’s home and where we’ve traveled. Food can be the catalyst for character reveals and plot shenanigans. We thought we’d make it easier for everyone and set our stories in a food park—the perfect place to hang out, eat the best food, and find HEA.
“Nomnom Commons” (named by Brigitte Bautista) is our fictional food park, located somewhere in Ortigas, minutes away from St. Tropez, the condo complex that was the setting for Tropetastic #1. Some stories describe the food park and its various dining, performance, and employee areas in detail thanks to the complete floor plan and schematics from architect/novelist C.P. Santi, who…designed our food park. Each author picked a stall or two and decided what kind of food it sold, and readers will see how these stalls and food items appear and re-appear as needed (craved?) in different stories.
There’s also a lot of music in this, a natural pairing when a Philippine food park is the main setting…and you have authors who are into musicians. [insert eye emoji] Some songs are originally created by the authors, or part of established fictional discographies. Some are real songs and artists we love (sometimes not-so-love), from our past and present. We’ll put together a playlist, maybe.
There are 14 stories in this anthology, and I’ve divided it into three volumes (“Combo Meal A, B, and C”). You can choose to read this by author, by trope, heat level, or by “combo meal.” I hope you discover a new author to love!
All proceeds from the sale of this anthology will be donated to a youth-led non-profit organization called For Our Farmers. They were established at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and continue to support Filipino farmers and their families. Visit their website: forourfarmers.com.
We do not mention Covid-19 in the stories, but the way Nomnom Commons was designed, it will be allowed to re-open and the businesses we wrote about can continue to operate at present, with the utmost care and consideration for employees and customers. In-person Open Mic and Acoustic Nights are on pause…but I’m not surprised if virtual events became a thing.
This project was organized by Ansela Corsino and Mina V. Esguerra.
