*In Bokuto’s voice” Hey, hey, hey! (Did I already use that to open a blog once? I’d have to check.) Hello there! I hope everyone is doing fine and well despite the world going up in flames (sometimes literally) around us. Kapit lang. We’ll make it.
Anyway, I would like to apologize (again) for missing two months (again) of what I told myself should be a monthly thing (blogging). I’ve vacillated between being busy and being anxious so my energy have been divided between that.
On to the news stuff. And I’d apologize in advance because this is a long, unedited rambling of epic proportions of someone who hasn’t blogged in two months. If you’re still interested (and not afraid), proceed… with caution.
A Moondrop Date
With the “busy” thing, I managed to finish A Moondrop Date *breaks down, sobbing*. I passed it on to my lovely and hard-working editor a week late because I suck at deadlines, and it was the first deadline I’ve had to try to meet in a while so… to be fair to me, one week late isn’t so bad, I think? I used to abandon projects if I’ve been given deadlines because I just breakdown from the pressure. So, yay, me! And thank you, Tin for being the perfect combination of patience and firmness that I made it. We made it. Thank you!!!
The complete (albeit unedited) version of A Moondrop Date is currently (and will always be) posted on my Buy Me A Coffee account for BMC supporters. The digital version will be available soon though! Please keep an eye out for more information on my SNS accounts.
If you’re a supporter on my BMC, I won’t delete the book from the site. There’s no hard feelings if you choose not to purchase the digital copy, I promise. Your support through the site is already more than enough and I am already incredibly grateful.
BMC members, I sent you a message through BMC! I will never stop thanking you for your support, especially during the pandemic, omg! You guys helped me feed my dog and my cats through difficult times, and that alone deserves my gratitude so maraming salamat talaga. Bless each and everyone of you. Sana laging masarap ang ulam at ang tulog ninyo, and may all your dreams come true *tearfully throws fairy dust your way*.
Diamond Sky Incident
You may already know about the Diamond Sky Incident. A reader brought to my attention that there was a missing chapter in the second book of my Soju Sessions Series, and dahil lang ‘yun sa naisip niyang hindi ko gagawin ang gan’ung klaseng cliffhanger thing sa mga kuwento ko. To YOU, maraming salamat. I really appreciate not just letting me know, but also for giving me the benefit of the doubt that I wouldn’t write that story that way. Maraming salamat ulit.
Diamond Sky is actually one of the stories I wanted to tell. I wrote that to make sense (at least to myself) of what had happened to one of my long-time favorite artists, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, and to the artist who brought me to SHINee, Jonghyun. I didn’t mention this when the book was released because I didn’t want it to look like I’m using them to sell my books. That’s not true, and is, in fact, insulting.
I wrote the book to help myself understand what they did, and how something like that would affect the people who love them. And if I’m being honest, the people who love me had I ended up doing that they did. So it was very personal to me.
And well, to find out that something like that happened, that one of, if not the most important chapters in the story is missing, I think I’m justified when I say I was angry and disappointed.
It was an honest mistake and a layouting error, and I’d admit I also have something to do with it since I keep sending multiple files, and it’s easy to mix them up when I’m really bad at naming them so it’s easy to get confused. Anyway, the publisher already apologized and sent out corrected files. Please check your email account for the download link to the complete book.
If you’re a BMC supported, I also already posted the missing chapter there.
If you’re a BMC supported, I also already posted the missing chapter there.
Wattpad
Ah, that. I keep getting asked about returning to Wattpad. No, I’m not abandoning my Wattpad stories. I’m still clinging to them like a starving mouse clinging to his cube of cheese (though I read somewhere that mice don’t really like cheese, but think of me as a cartoon mouse).
I’m currently writing an update for Marlon. We’re at the HaLo with the Sarreals scene, and at the risk of spoilering things, the chapter after that is a turning point for Marlon and Charlotte so I’m rushing to get there before my Wattpad fatigue sets back in.
I loved Wattpad. I still have a fondness for it because it allowed me to write Ash, to write long-@$$ stories without filter or worrying about word counts or getting it published. It gave me a freedom that I didn’t know I didn’t really have when writing for a publisher. For that, I will always think fondly of Wattpad, and I will never actually abandon anything I write on Wattpad.
I’ve actually searched my soul for the reasons why I’m a little wary of posting there, and I came up with several reasons.
- Financial – I need to feed my cats, and writing a Wattpad update eats something from four hours to two days of time I could use to work on something that would let me feed my cats. We’re in the middle of a pandemic. I know we all need something to keep us hopeful and happy, but I honestly can’t spare the time because I have to work two jobs on top of writing, house chores and furmomma duties.
- Anxiety – This isn’t a secret. I get anxious when I post new updates. I get anxious when I get notifications about comments. I get anxious when I see how many followers I have. And I get anxious because I’m not in the same frame of mind as I was when I wrote Ash so the other stories aren’t going to be as happy or as light or as funny. I’m retraining myself to just enjoy writing without worrying about what people would think or say. I told myself not to read comments anymore though I sometimes feel like I owe it to the readers since they took the time to comment (but then I’d read a series of comments about how I effed a story up by not giving rich people dishwashers in their houses, and I just want to smash the nearest dishwasher, which in my house, happens to be me). Yeah. But, you know, retraining myself to be zen. Yeah.
But I do miss my Wattpad stories, and I have so many plans, actually for 2020, that I had to adjust for 2021… which looks like I’d also have to adjust for 2022… We’ll see.
On a personal note, I haven’t gotten vaccinated yet. Not even my first dose. I did sign up again for a schedule so hopefully—hopefully—our LGU pulls through this time. I’m supposed to be A3 because I have asthma, though I haven’t had an attack in years. And my anxiety about leaving the house without my sister with me outweighs the need to go to a clinic to get a medical certificate to prove that I have asthma so… But my parents, and my brother and his wife are already fully vaccinated, so it’s just my sister and me (and our youngest, who is nine, and my three-year-old nephew).
Anyway, I think I may have rambled enough…
If you can, PLEASE get vaccinated ASAP. If not for yourself, do it for others who haven’t been yet or who can’t get vaccinated.
And mask up please!
I know there are a lot of heartbreaking things going on today aside from the virus. There’re the wildfires and heat waves in what looks like every corner of the world, the recent deadly earthquake in Haiti, what’s happening in Afghanistan, the disaster that is the pandemic response in our country, but we can’t lose hope. Keep safe and take care of yourselves and of each other!
We’ll make it through. ✨
