I recasted this novel as a sanity break and creative outlet during a weird period. Manila was put under hardened lockdown in April 2020. Grad school hadn't finalized our departure details. I was going stir crazy at home.
While rummaging through my e-files, I stumbled upon my final output for CW 151 (Writing for Young Adults). Once upon a time, before I got absorbed in development work, I dreamt of becoming a writer. That meant taking a bunch of writing classes in undergrad. (Student Number 08 because I'm ancient.)
I re-read In Motion and I wasn't cringing 100% of the time. That made me think that it was salvageable. (I hope I wasn't wrong.) In a way this is also a love letter to a few things: my youth in Diliman, an unrealized creative life, a patriotism that has since grown dim.
I flew to Tokyo and plunged neck-deep into public policies. I studied stuff like inclusive innovation, comparative state development, social security, industrial policy, and education reform. But late at night, whenever I got brain-fried with academics, I'd revisit this story of Kyle and Martin. I tinkered and edited and revised and added chapters.
I've since flown back to Manila with an MPP (yay haha). I've been serving my mandatory hotel quarantine. With nothing to do, I was urged by friends to finish this.
Whatever you've read is the product of helpful, encouraging feedback from friends and strangers. These are people who have also gone through the same doubts, fears, and anger during one of the longest lockdowns in the world. Here and now, I thank all of them.
As for Kyle and Martin, I'd like to think that they're still in public service in whatever way or form. They're still making sense of a country and toiling for the vague concept of a "nation."
No matter where we are in the world, I hope we continue doing the same, despite the high cost of betrayal by our own leaders.
Along the way, may we find a love in our motion, parallel and fulfilling in all the right ways.
Maraming salamat!
P.S. Gosh, I said so much. Here's the playlist-- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5VORbkhYtBToNzwFyvt11G?si=77b41628c8ad4648
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In Motion
Teen FictionKyle Ramos was expecting to cruise through his junior year at the University of the Philippines Diliman like he always did: overworked, too-cool-for-school, and maybe a little oblivious. Except his freshman classmate Martin Perez piqued his interest...
