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| Photo: Dan Whale/Unsplash |
Today, author Chi Yu Rodriguez is behind the wheel of this blog. Enjoy the ride as she talks about her new book, "The Art of Shifting Gears".
- What is your inspiration in writing “The Art of Shifting Gears”?
It was actually an old story... fan fiction, specifically. I wrote it I think in 2008 but I never got past 2 chapters. When SparkNA came around, it was the first story that came to mind. So I decided to write it again. That being said, it's turned into something completely different. What inspired this version of that little story I started years ago was SparkNA's required theme: "Be brave." It turned into something extremely personal. Though not a mirror image of actual events, what Rae goes through is a reflection of the same feelings I felt when I was in college and trying to survive life. - How is your writing process like? Do you have any quirks in your writing process?
I have a very stressful writing process. At least I think people will probably find it stressful? Because most people I know write in increments... 500 words today, another 500 tomorrow, maybe 300 after that or a thousand, something like that. But in my case I write in bulk. For example, I wrote The Art of Shifting Gears mostly in Starbucks. I set aside one day in the weekend when I would arrive at Starbucks at 8am, set up shop at my favorite table, and go home at 8pm or sometimes even 9pm if my muses are feeling particularly loud. I bust out 3000-7000 words per I go through two orders of coffee every single time (with some tv series or movies in between to give myself time to breathe). I take down two orders of coffee, and maybe some cake too if I'm proud of myself. I did that weekend, after weekend, after weekend until a few days before final manuscript submissions. - If you will be given a minute of face to face encounter with any of your book characters, who would you want it to be with and what would you say to him or her?
I'll just pick one from The Art of Shifting Gears too because I've actually thought about this a lot...
I would've wanted to talk to Rae after her parents died and they moved to Pampanga. I would've tried to talk her out of shutting her friends out of her life completely. Though she dealt with the blows the way she thought would be best for her, I as a friend would've tried to tell her that she didn't have to leave her life behind too along with the city.
- Do you believe in love at first sight? Why or why not?
Love at first sight, no. The seed of love being planted after meeting a person for the first time... yes.
I just think that love itself is not something you can quantify, and especially not with a single glance. Love, as most of us know it, takes time to become real I think. Yes? No? - Give us your best banat or pick-up line.
I am single and have been single for the better part of three decades... that should explain why I have absolutely no answer to this question. :p
- Finally, use “spark” in a sentence.
All it takes is a little spark to start a raging fire.
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.
She prefers making imaginary people go through these feelings for her pleasure. Her muses hate her for it, and they repay her by being forever fickle.
She wrestles with them in her head everyday.
Rae de los Santos was en route to a perfect adult life. She knew what to major in, she knew what career path she was going to pursue, and she knew who she was going to be with all the way to the realization of her dreams—until her seamless journey made a turn for the unimaginable and skidded to a stop.
All of a sudden she was facing every roadblock possible, and the people she held dear ended up running over her heart.
For a year, she distracted herself with hot lead and burnt rubber, using karting as a lifeline until she was strong enough to face the world that shunned her.
But during Rae’s junior year in college, she was again blindsided by signs that weren’t supposed to be there. Will Rae go full speed ahead? Or will the seduction of the past slow her down?
