The Devil Who Danced At Midnight

the lady in letters

Not an update. You can skip this part.

I always make it a point to separate my notes because 1) I can't stop having them when I'm nearing the end, 2) it ruins the mood of the chapter (in my opinion, if it is this long) and 3) you are here to read the story, not to know about my life. 

Uhm hi, ako po si Em, nineteen years old, and I wrote this story during (and before) my internship period.

Some facts you probably didn't want to know about the devil who danced at midnight but I'm such a blabberbitch I'd still write it:

1. It was supposed to be written in English. Same way. Odd, but pure English. 

2. I didn't have a plot. Or an outline lol. I just randomly selected the words based on how the story will go (idea lang ang meron ako) and every chapter I face this dilemma kung saan iinsert 'yung word. Lol

3. The title The Devil Who Danced at Midnight was originally the title of my Spoken Word piece. I just used it because I'm not good with thinking new titles and I just kind of... incorporated it in the story. 

4. I don't neglect characters. You. Have. To. Read. Beyond. The. Pages. (Between-the-lines phrase is so gasgas na lol) Caius doesn't get much exposure simply bc... you get the answer.

5. Using the moon and earth as symbols just came to me when I was writing na. During the process. Hindi ko 'yun inisip before. Hahaha. But they're cute, 'no? (pumayag kayo pls)

6. The alien emoji is a personal favorite.

7. Faulkerson's personality (in the first part) is based on someone I knew. Someone told me that he's too good to be true but trust me someone's as good as that someone's as smooth as that (yoohoo 1.17) Pero isang year lang yun, guys (2 semesters). Baka isipin nyo from first year to fourth year naging ganun average nya.

8. This is a story I'd let my mom read. I usually hide my stories from my mom; I don't tell her what they're about but I'm finding this so cute... if ever she'll wish to read it, I'll let her.

9. I am so thankful you're there to watch the devil dance.

10. I'm always afraid to release every chapter. Lagi nyo kasing sinasabi na super ganda ng pagkaka-narrate and I get a lot of direct messages on Twitter saying the same thing. Well, I am afraid to release a new chapter after another kasi baka bigla kayong ma-down bc I didn't write better or just the same.

How did you come up with this.. peculiar writing style?

One word: tactic. I wanted to introduce this writing style a long time ago but I'm afraid it won't reach an audience that wide because... yeah, it's odd. So you have to take something first na pumatok na sa madla. In this case, the exchange of messages between two smart people that was already proven to be witty and attractive to readers. Also, most of my stories are written or narrated in English; this is merely an experimental phase for me. Luckily, it went well, and this received positive reviews.

Actually, it is not peculiar, or odd in the slightest. I just haven't seen this style on Wattpad (I don't read stories or fanfics here, sorry) so that's why you consider it as strange and new. But it is peculiar in a positive way, yes?

Tagalog? I thought you weren't skilled in that field. You said so repeatedly in your Facebook profile.

I wasn't; I needed training. There was this author I've met. His name's Chuckberry, and he was also a professor in UST (forgot his subjects) and he was the one who influenced me to do Filipino pieces.