Category: Blog
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Pirates and Thieves
Even as I struggle to find a lit agent to rep my second novel, a google alert notifies me that a book I published 14 years ago, and whose digital edition was recently released, is now being offered FREE by some Trump-adelic morally-challenged pirate website. http://enterbooks.net/…/olip-gdr13169641-books-s1s11399262s… I am so fucking fed up with this bullshit.…
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The Mango Bride Sequel is… Advocacy for Domestic Violence Survivors
4 years after The Mango Bride was released, I continue to talk about advocating for survivors of domestic violence. So far, we’ve saved 9 immigrant survivors of domestic violence and raised additional money for community organizations that offer support services for these women and their families in the Bay Area and Anchorage.
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Paradise Hills Library Gets it Right
A friend took this photo @ ParadiseHills library. The Mango Bride’s metaphor for love is food. So it’s so smart of them to put it next to Marvin Gapulto’s Adobo Road – a cookbook I actually use!
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If You Read It They Will Come
How do you get the word out about your new novel that a) needs a literary agent and b) hasn’t yet been published? By acting like it already has both. I’m reading excerpts from The Rizal Dance Hall Murder and chatting about lovers, killers and taxi dancers in the 1930s, at Philippine Expressions Bookshop in…
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I <3 Twitter
140 characters to capture an 85,082 word novel. Just 140 to snag the notice of a literary agent. Caught the eye of 7 agents and 2 indie publishers on #DVpit Twitter pitch event last Wednesday. Am suddenly, belatedly, in awe of Twitter.
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A Mango Bride Cinderella at the AAAS Ball
I have no idea how The Mango Bride made it into the display of books by Asian American authors set out at the AAAS conference in Portland last April 15. It’s unlikely my publisher Penguin lobbied for its inclusion, for my book was released four years ago and all the bells and whistles I threw into the ensuing 18-month DIY book tour have…
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The Mango Bride Turns Four
April 11 was the 4th anniversary of my novel’s publication date. That morning four years past, I rose at 6 and baked a 150 banana bread cupcakes; went to yoga class to stay centered, then came home and baked 150 more. It’s not a Filipino party unless there’s food, so while the cupcakes were cooling,…
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Show Time!
Writing is typically a solitary activity — just me sitting on the love seat, typing, while the cats look on from the other couch. Consequently, watching actors perform your words is a true delight. Rhumba at the Rizal is a short play– my first! — is inspired by my unpublished novel, The Rizal Dance Hall Murder. After the Friday performance, playwrights (in front row) gathered on…
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Ready to Rhumba!
Catch the final shows this weekend. I’ll be speaking on the Playwright’s panel that follows this Friday’s show. Hope to see you there!
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Rumba at the Rizal!
Some writers have video book trailers for their novel. I got to write a PLAY for my book trailer! Fourteen actors and a choreographer pack the scene with love, death and dance. Rumba at the Rizal, a vignette inspired by the Rizal Dance Hall Murder will be one of several plays performed in Halo-Halo this…
Marivi Soliven 