#also special shoutout to the long time moots who have been here 10+ years even though we're in none of the same fandoms anymore

[emlovessid]

so i hit 1k followers this week which is absolutely wild to me. i appreciate you all so very much 🫶

as a lil thank you for sticking by the chaos that is my tumblr, drop a prompt in my inbox and i'll write you something !!

[amstories]

Newsletter #3: December 2021

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What a year it has been! Am I right? 2021 marks the first year I started to write again. If it wasn't for the pandemic, I wouldn't go back to writing. But I'm grateful that I get to write again and it seems like I won't be stopping or pausing anytime soon.

There has been a lot that happened within this year. I just want to say thank you to the people who kept on supporting me and my stories. I am deeply grateful for each one of you!

Because I wanted to celebrate my milestones and highlights for this year, here's a long post of my 2021 highlights as a writer. Yes, I warned you that it is long.

Last year (2020), my goal was to finish writing my first series, Karaoke Nights. However, I wasn't able to do that. But take heart! In January 12, 2021, I have successfully finished Huling Panyo, which is the last installment of Karaoke Nights series. I feel so satisfied being able to finish writing these novelettes even if they were short. This series is inspired by my blockmates back in SHS and they will always have a special place in my heart, just like how Kino, Chona, and Tina have a special place in their hearts for each other.

If you have read my Karaoke Night series, you may have noticed that I listen to a lot of OPM songs while writing. In my defense, I really had to listen and research a lot of OPM songs for this series. Along the way, I discovered Cup of Joe's song entitled Sagada and I was mesmerized by it to the point that I started writing my first slice of life short story, Sagada. It's very short so I was able to finish it immediately in May 22, 2021.

One of the projects I'm working on this year is revising and rewriting my old one shots (i.e., stories I've written when I was in high school). On June 25, 2021, I was able to reintroduce AM and PM's story in Dear Alyssa. An opportunity was given to me to enter this one shot in one of my writing group's competitions. This story was awarded as Champion by the Auteure's One-Shot Story Competition last August 2, 2021. Hooray!

After working on my first series, I continued working on my first full-length novel, The Adventures of You and Me. I have been writing this offline since 2016 and it's such an achievement for me to be able to finish this and share this to the world on July 18, 2021. Since this is my first full-length novel, I was able to enter this story in the 2021 Wattys last July 22, 2021. Even if I didn't able to make it to shortlist, for me it was already an achievement because I was able to finish my very first novel.

I had plans to take a break from writing online but Eloise & Jiyu really said no. After writing the first draft of the first part, I really wanted to try updating real time. Since I took my time writing it, I never expected to finish it by December 6, 2021 before I release this newsletter.

As promised, I published the preface of 576 Hours With You on October 10, 2021 and introduced a new series, a new story, and new characters.

This year, I also met a lot of wonderful people in the writing community. Despite Hiraya Writers being closed, I'm deeply grateful to the people I met there. The second writing group I became a part of Astraeus. And lastly, Auteure! If you are a part of these lovely groups and you met me there, thank you for being a part of my 2021.

I met my favorite people in a Discord server, ironically. Shoutout to the peeps at Writers Place. I love you all! I added a moots Christmas tree just because I like it. I hope next year, puno na 'to.

Aside from these things, I just want to document the number of reads my stories has for this year for the purposes of seeing my growth throughout the years. As of December 2021, I present to you the statistics of AM Stories!

To my 220 readers/followers, I just want to thank you for journeying with me. I'm so excited to continue this journey with you, guys! Stay tuned for more updates about my plans and stories for the next year.

nagsusulat, AM