|Wattys 2025 Shortlist| She was a sunlight. Wild, daring, and free. He was the crescent moon. Silent, disciplined, and powerful. Dorothy Maeve Andino lived like life was a dance she already mastered. But then came Zul Qurnain Rabbani-the man born into legacy, built from faith and restraint. He wasn't supposed to notice her. Yet when their worlds collided, something shifted. What started as curiosity turned into something deeper and too deep for what their pride, culture, and beliefs could endure. Because when the storm meets stillness, something always breaks. She once said if she ever got lost, she'd beg the sun to change its rays just to find her way. But what if even the sun couldn't save her this time? Date started: 03-13- 23 Date Ended: 02- 22- 24

After a near-fatal incident at the Han River, Haesoo awakens in a hospital bed, confused, disoriented, and haunted by a voice from her past. Standing beside her is Sunghoon, her childhood best friend-the boy who once meant everything to her, the boy who died in a tragic accident years ago. Yet here he is. Alive. Real. Speaking to her as if the years of silence and pain had never existed. As Haesoo recovers, the lines between memory and reality begin to blur. Sunghoon insists they were never apart, that their closeness never faded, but Haesoo's memories tell a different story. Back in high school, they drifted apart. And on the night he promised to tell her something important, he never arrived. Instead, he died. Now, she is left to untangle the truth: Why do her memories contradict what Sunghoon claims? Why does Jay and Sunghoon's once inseparable friend and now a distant figure in Haesoo's life, seem to hold pieces of the story no one else will say aloud? Jay was the one who stopped her that night. Jay was the one who stayed by her side while she was unconscious for five days. And yet, it is Sunghoon she sees now. Caught between the past and the present, between what she remembers and what she is being told, Haesoo must confront the deeper truths hidden beneath grief, memory, and time. Is Sunghoon's return a miracle, a dream, or something far more complicated? A haunting and emotionally layered story about love lost, time fractured, and the ache of unanswered goodbyes, this novel explores the fragile line between what we remember and what we choose to believe. STARTED: 3/5/2025 ENDED: 8/7/2025

Ardano University Series Kelvin moved to Manila to pursue his study in Ardano University. During his college years, he will share a room with Noah Faustino- a rising basketball player. Can they live together peacefully if Kelvin has a bad first impression to Noah? Or will they learn to coexist together and accept their differences? What is the story behind the doors of Unit 24-C?

Tadhana (Self-published)

Walang blurb para exciting. -Azi

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A love letter, a confession, and a blossoming heart. I got nothing to lose, only my heart to break.

Started: 04/27/2021 Ended: 08/24/2021 Ang hirap palang tumanda. Ang hirap magbayad ng bills. Ang hirap suportahan ng pamilyang akala ay isang milyon ang suweldo mo. Ang hirap ngumiti sa nanay na mataas ang tingin sa'yo pero hindi ka kayang ipagtanggol. Ang hirap tabihan sa hapagkainan ng tatay na pinag-uubusan mo ng pera pero hindi ka maalala. Ang hirap mag-abot ng tulong sa kapatid na baon sa utang. Ang hirap intindihin ng hipag na nakakapagpa-rebond pa kahit kapos na kapos na. Ang hirap pakisamahan ng bunsong halos ilahad ang mga palad tuwing makikita ka. Ang hirap ngitian ng mga taong tanong nang tanong kung bakit hindi ka pa nakakapag-asawa. Ang hirap humarap sa mundong isasampal sa'yo na mag-isa ka. Tulong, bigay, utang. Isang iling mo lang, madamot ka na. Kasama mo sila kapag may maibibigay ka, pero hindi mo sila mahahanap kapag wala na. Ikaw ang kakayod, sila ang tutuka. Ikaw ang iiyak sa pagod, sila ang magtatamasa. Iyon ang summary ng buhay ko. Sobra-sobra ang naririnig na paghingi, kulang na kulang ang naririnig na pasasalamat. Sobra-sobra ang pagpapasensya, kulang na kulang ang natatanggap na pagpapahalaga. Sobra-sobra ang binabayaran, kulang na kulang sa kasiyahan. Kaya nang dumating sa buhay ko ang nag-iisang lalaking hindi ako nakita bilang naglalakad na alkansya, ang nag-iisang lalaking nakinig sa mahabang listahan ko ng problema, ang nag-iisang lalaking nagbigay sa akin ng kakaibang saya, ipinangako ko sa sarili na sa gitna ng hirap ng pagtanda, magtitiis ako basta't siya ang kasama. Kahit pa ang kapalit noon ay pagtalikod sa minahal na pamilya. Kahit pa ang kapalit noon ay paglaban sa mundong pinatatakbo ng kapangyarihan at pera. Kahit pa ang kapalit noon ay ang pagdurusa't pag-iisa. Siya ang ginhawa, pahinga, at kasiyahan ko. Dumating man ang araw na tanaw ko na ang dulo. Dumating man ang araw na wala na kaming sagot sa lahat ng bakit at paano. Dumating man ang araw na pareho na kaming talo.

For the men Grace Zapata sleeps with, she's a woman without a name. Convenient 'yon para sa trabaho niya kung saan may dalawa lang siyang rules na mahigpit na sinusunod. First rule: No mouth to mouth kissing. Second rule: Never meet a man more than twice. Pareho niyang nalabag ang rules na 'yon nang makilala niya si Martin Salgado. Iba siya sa lahat ng lalaking nakilala niya. Binili nito si Grace para sa isang gabi pero walang nangyari sa kanila. Nag-usap lang sila at natulog na magkayakap. Pero ginulo ng encounter na 'yon ang normal na buhay niya. Nang magkita uli sila narealize nila na hindi nila kaya iresist ang isa't isa. So they stopped resisting. Sobrang compatible sila, hindi lang sa kama kung hindi sa marami pang bagay. Nasasabi nila sa isa't isa ang mga bagay na hindi nila magawang aminin sa iba. Nahuhulog ang loob ni Grace sa binata at ikinatatakot niya 'yon. She's a damaged good, a fallen woman who has a very dark secret. Besides, Martin is a broken man and though his body is hers, his heart already belongs to someone else.