From sharing her stories on the online platform Wattpad, author Gwy Saludes has grown to become a celebrity in her own right. Now an artist under O/C Records, Gwy has published a number of books under the publication company Precious Pages, with one of her stories brought to life in a digital series on Viva One. 

 In an exclusive interview with PUSH, Gwy, also known for her pen name 4reuminct, talked about what inspired her to write her well-received novels under the University Series namely The Rain in España, Safe Skies Archer, Chasing in the Wild, Avenues of the Diamond, Golden Scenery of Tomorrow, and Our Yesterday’s Escape. 

 “My own university life,” she began. “Since I studied in UST, and then I transferred in Ateneo for college so I have enough knowledge po of the culture, ‘yung mga communities, and ‘yung nakakasalamuha ko po ‘yung iba’t ibang tao from different universities. Nainspire rin po ako sa mga life stories nila, ‘yung mga experiences nila,” she continued. 

 Among her characters, is there a specific one that she can truly relate to, or crafted after her own personality?

 “Si Luna po talaga [the main character in The Rain in España]. During SHS, Lunang Luna po talaga ‘yung personality ko. Parang pati po ‘yung experience ko with ex, na kay Luna po ‘yun. ‘Yung mga heartbreak, sa kanya ko po ni-relate talaga ‘yung sarili ko.

 “Pero ‘nung nagtransfer po ako sa Ateneo, naging Samantha Vera [the main character in Avenues of the Diamond] na po ‘yung personality ko. Parang mas naging toned down na po ako. Hindi na po ako ‘yung sobrang kulit like Luna. Parang naging mahinhin,” she lightheartedly said. 

 Gwy also talked about her creative process when writing her characters’ personal monologues. 

 “Hindi po necessarily pareho kami ng pinagdadaanan pero I always put my experiences din kasi sa characters and sometimes, nilalagay ko na lang ‘yung sarili ko sa shoes nila like anong mararamdaman ko kapag ito ‘yung nangyari sa’kin. And minsan talaga, katulad sa mga experiences ng characters when it comes to social media comments, social media hate, ‘yun po, it comes from me talaga. It comes from my inner thoughts also.” 

 As she mostly writes about romance, does she have plans to explore other genres in the future? 

 “Before University Series, I also wrote action, thriller. Na-explore ko na po ‘yung mga genre na ‘yun but I just, parang since na-explore ko na po siya, mas alam ko na po na I’m more into rom-com talaga na novel. So in terms po of exploring other genres, I think for now, mag-stick muna ako sa rom-com,” Gwy replied. 

 When asked if there are offers for her to write stories or scripts for series and films, Gwy said that she was encouraged to explore that route.  

 “Wala pong offers kasi hindi po talaga ako scriptwriter so I don’t know how to write a script but they’ve been pushing me po to parang just explore, giving me opportunities na mag-workshop but hindi po ako tumutuloy pa kasi I think magiging super busy po kasi ako sa law school so I won’t have time to [do] workshops or write scripts,” she said.   

 As Gwy is now prepping to become a full-fledged law student, she said that while she will need to focus on her studies, she will try her best to manage her time.