Saligia

Foreword:

After finishing Gapang I thought that I could hang up my pen.  It took me several years before I could complete the 50 chapters, but gauging by the response of the faithful (?) readers, it was worth all the effort.  I had wanted to finish the other stories that I started, but I could not get into the right groove to push through.  Despite numerous requests the drive wasn’t there, so I thought that was it, and I would “retire” from writing.

I still had a lot of ideas in my mind, but they just remained…ideas.  I missed the times that I would write during my spare time, and I got into chatting regularly with some readers, mostly females 🙂   I must admit that these chats helped form the seed for a new story – well not really new.  I wanted to write another long novel but I wanted to finish the ones I started (Kapag Wala ang Pusa, Kailan Tumama ang Akala).  So I decided to take the middle road.  A new story, but drawing from the characters of the unfinished stories, and with a bonus to boot – Some characters from Gapang will have cameo appearances in the new story!

The working title for the new novel is SALIGIA.  As a synopsis, Saligia is a mesh of seven (yes seven!) stories of  seven main characters whose lives are being unknowingly manipulated.  Their lives and those around them interact with and affect each other in different levels and degrees.

A disclaimer:  although I give credit for my “chatmates” for the impetus and their inspiration, the characters in Saligia are not about them or their experiences.  The stories they have shared, especially their deep, dark, and naughty secrets will remain – secret.

Finally, for those who have followed Gapang genre through the years, you can expect more of the same, and probably more.  Saligia is a darker story than Gapang.  So for those who are not familiar with or are new readers, or even to the oldtimers, may I suggest that you re-visit or discover Gapang.  If it is to your taste, then I hope you will enjoy Saligia, although you will have to put up with long intervals between chapters.  If you don’t like Gapang, then most likely Saligia is not for you.