FAQ

The most common questions asked during interviews and panels:

1. What was a comment that has stuck with you and has weighed on you during your lows, while motivating you during your highs?

My all-time favorite song lyric is by Sheryl Crow. It’s off “Globe Sessions” and it goes, “Making miracles is hard work; most people give up before they happen.” This writing business doesn’t happen overnight. It happens over time.

2. Do you write your books assuming your audience understands Filipino culture, or do you assume people have no prior experience?

Both. I assume people have some awareness of Filipino culture. When you’re writing, you have to believe that people have lived experiences whether it’s from media, stereotypes, or you lived next door to a Filipino family. But you also have to be aware that these lived experiences and our memory of them are limited. You sort of work around those limits to increase understanding. That understanding is dependent on either logic or emotion. That’s what makes a great story—a good balance of logic and emotion. Head and heart authority.

3. How often do you find yourself writing characters based on real people vs. a brand-new character?

All the time. Every character is a real person with a real motive and intention, so writing each one was easy. It almost feels as if I’m reliving my own lived experiences in different phases of my life.

4. How do you define success, and do you believe you have found that?

I’ve always just wanted to find a wider audience with each book. Whatever that wider audience looks like. Whether it’s three people or three thousand people. I’ve never wanted to put specifics down because it would be like I’m comparing my path to someone else’s. And I don’t think that’s realistic. The only competition you should ever have is with yourself.

5. How much has marketing influenced your creativity with your books? (Fitting in vs. standing out in white spaces)

I’ve always wanted to write a story that was unique. Or different than what was out there. I think that’s why I like writing in different genres because I mainly focus on an interesting story. The egotistical side of me always thought that I wasn’t meant to fit in because I was destined to stand out.