Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a fourth-culture kid who is a native of the Philippines but have lived the greater part of my life in Cyprus, Lebanon, and the United States of America. My multiculturalism has permeated my writing, and I have written an eclecticism of genres and materials—from newswriting to writing for secular business and church magazines, from romance to young adult to fantasy, even high fantasy. I am not afraid to step out of the box and challenge the status quo, and my debut novel, *A Seal upon the Heart,* is an example of that. It is a mixture of romance and multicultural family saga. I also have a hodgepodge of interests from music to dancing to moviemaking to knitting to cross-stitching. But sleeping is not one of them.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
What’s to be my latest book, which is the sequel to my debut novel, *A Seal upon the Heart,* is entitled *A Thief in the Night.* Both books were actually one book at the outset, but test readers had recommended splitting it into two or even more books due to its length and difference in themes. The first half of the original manuscript, which eventually became *A Seal upon the Heart,* focuses on the love story of the main protagonists who came from different cultural backgrounds and belief systems—from opposite poles of the earth, in other words. And the second half is more about the challenges the family they build face. My inspiration was my own dreams of how I wanted my future family to love Jesus first and to live in His joy and abundance. And my second contrasting catalyst was my observation of multitudes of Filipino women coming to work in Lebanon and ending up in broken relationships similar to what they had left in the Philippines. I wanted to share with these love-starved women my dreams of a marriage and family truly blessed by God.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hmm, I don’t know if it could be called unusual, but I color code my manuscript according to what category of research they fall into. For example, with *A Seal upon the Heart,* green stood for Scottish questions, blue for rugby questions, red for deleted items, and purple for added items. I also check any words, whose spellings I’m not one hundred percent sure of, in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, especially words that can be spelled more than one way, like *mouth-watering.* Or *mouthwatering*? I use a single dictionary for all my words in a novel unless the word is not available there; then I use my second option as an online dictionary and so forth. I’m not certain that’s unusual either, maybe just finicky, haha.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
For fantasy, who else could have influenced me but the peerless J. R. R. Tolkien? I love fantasy with clear and majestic hierarchies, and Tolkien is a master of creating family trees of those. His old-world style of writing is poetically beautiful, his attention to detail impressive. I am a pretty detail-oriented person too.
For romance, Christian romance author Francine Rivers’ bestselling classic, *Redeeming Love,* definitely had a huge impact on my writing. Though lesser known, I find DeAnna Julie Dodson’s writing even lovelier than Rivers, with good word choices and a poetically flowing narrative. She writes medieval romance.
What are you working on now?
I will be working on *A Thief in the Night,* hopefully soon, adding chapters, incorporating suggestions, then editing.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve mostly used Facebook because that’s mainly where my friends and acquaintances are. I am not a social-media person, as I value my privacy, so writing kind of forced me to try out other social media, like Instagram and TikTok. To date, I have not really used them much, as I have been too preoccupied with writing and publishing my books. Maybe when all the activity dies down, I’ll experiment with them.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what’s in your heart, what you enjoy, not what sells. Because if you write for profit’s sake, your lack of inspiration will show in your writing, and that’s what readers will read. I also think it’s more fulfilling to delve into an activity that you love rather than something that’s just functional.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I haven’t really received any advice that made the lights come on in my head. I’m someone who tends to deviate from what people normally do because of my eclectic background, and that seems to work for me. I guess the most apt piece of advise for me right now in self-publishing is my brother’s “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” There are too many small stuff in self-publishing that will just make you go crazy if you endeavor to whip every single one of them into shape. Sometimes, it’s not worth it, and it’s best to just let go. But I still don’t, haha! But that’s just me.
What are you reading now?
Haven’t had time to read in a month due to writing, editing, and publishing. But the last book I read, around a month or two ago, was *The Masterpiece* by Francine Rivers. It’s my comparative title for *A Seal upon the Heart* because they’re both about a bicultural romance (I think one of the main characters in *The Masterpiece* was not a Caucasian) between a follower of Jesus and an agnostic.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to take a lengthy break after *A Thief in the Night.* Writing and editing comes pretty easily for me, but publishing is arduous work as a beginner. I might apply for an editing job in Europe. And then at some point, I plan to publish my high fantasy NIP (novel in progress) and bird novella—not sure which one first. All of these are by God’s will.
What is your favorite book of all time?
My most favorite of favorite books is J. R. R. Tolkien’s *The Silmarillion.* Far lesser known than *The Lord of the Rings* and *The Hobbit,* it unveils Tolkien’s brilliance in creating worlds and sentient creatures. It is a glorious piece of writing and may even be considered the Bible of all fiction books, in my humble opinion.
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