Hey, website! Been a while…almost a year, in fact. And between my last entry and this, a lot has happened. A lot, and somehow, none at all. The pandemic, you see. Covid-19…but that’s not what this blog is about.
Last December, I received an invitation via email from #romanceclass guru Mina V. Esguerra to participate in a fundraising endeavor. Interested authors were to write a minimum of 5,000 words on a trope that was going to be assigned to each author a la roulette style. The characters would be living in the same setting–at a made-up condo complex in the Pasig area–plus a few more canons in place.
I readily said yes, wanting, more than anything, to get motivated into writing again.
Next email, I received my assigned trope: sleeps with everyone but you.
Thought bubble: So, I’m to write about myself? ?
Anyway, the trope seemed easy enough. I sought out author, editor, and friend Layla Tanjutco (she has a new book out! Get it here) to thresh out ideas with me and I was getting ready to get my story down on paper. But the spare trope on our shared spreadsheet was just begging to be picked up so I dropped my original assigned one and picked up the unassigned trope–single parent/s.
I still chatted with Layla about my ideas, talked with my late bff’s son about his feelings on his parent having a partner, and I started to write. About Paula, and Juan and Julian. Theirs was a story I almost didn’t finish. And I talk about that in the Season 4 premier of the #romanceclass podcast that was live-streamed the afternoon of February 13th.
Anyway, my story is titled “Perfect Dad,” and along with 14 other #RomanceClass authors, we present the Tropetastic Kindness Bundle, out on the morning of Valentine’s Day 2021.
Available on Gumroad for $5 or the price you set. Click on the image to purchase.
Cover designed by Tania Arpa, art by Carla de Guzman, photography by Chi You Rodriguez, models Jef Flores and Jeanne San Juan.
Now, I did say we came up with the bundle for charity because yup, we are donating all proceeds for a cause. We will be supporting Project Propel, Gantala Press, and Rock Ed Philippines. And hurry because this bundle will only be available until April 14.
Fifteen stories, fifteen authors, one kilig! Get the Tropetastic Kindness Bundle now!
Yoojung nervously ran her fingers through her tea-colored hair one more time and took a deep breath as she stared at Jo Yihwan’s name on the dressing room door. Earlier today, the 
She wrapped her fingers around the door knob and twisted it open.
“Please. There’s no need to be overly courteous.” She maintained her smile even as vitriol rose up her throat. If she wasn’t careful, she might just find herself getting thrown out of this show.
this is a lifeline for me. This show could be my last shot at a career in this industry, and if I have to work with someone who thinks very little of me so I could get that chance, then so be it.”
After taking a second to reinterpret the jumble of words, I shook my head and laughed. I can be Brienne of Tarth, sure.
“We were going to take her home but she insisted on waiting for you.”
I’d hooked one of her arms over my shoulders as we went up the stairs. “Oh I ask myself that sometimes too.” I belatedly thought that I should’ve taken my heels off for this because she was practically dead weight.
The last time we were together, we’d agreed to keep things casual. I wasn’t ready for a relationship, and she wasn’t ready for a full serving of a bisexual woman.
Chi Yu Rodriguez has many feelings. Sometimes these feelings find their way to paper in the form of short stories and fiction online. Sometimes they don’t come out at all and end up as unresolved sexual tension or terrible internal angst.