Some life updates
With my old website host increasing their rent, I thought it was time to move to another host and give my website a facelift. Unfortunately I can no longer move my old blog to my spanking-new website (boo) and so here I am, in 2026, starting over. Even though the new year hasn’t wasted time in breaking my heart, I’m doing well, career-wise.
I signed with a new literary agent! After nearly six years of querying, I was finally offered representation by Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts of HG Literary for my Philippine Martial Law Novel, People We Trust. I wrote a draft of this novel as part of my PhD thesis that I completed in 2018 (!!!) and though it received positive responses from my examiners, I struggled to find interest from literary agents. Which I guess was a good thing, because the novel definitely needed work, as I learned from rewriting portions of it and overhauling entire sections. The two brothers in the book weren’t truly present on the page in 2018, but I worked hard to get to know them better, and the curt rejections slowly turned into positive and encouraging rejections, and then an acceptance. Soumeya gets the book and I’m excited to work with her on it!
I talked to the Filipino-American Woman Project about Returning to My Father’s Kitchen, and how I hope that Filipino women find healthier ways of processing their losses than what our culture offers them through my book.
Thanks to The Hopkins Review, I got to talk to Christopher Gonzales (author of Return of the Lost Son) about his book, and my book, as part of this wide-ranging conversation about fathers, loss, and finding strength in one’s heritage.
I talked to the Boston Filipino-American Book Club about my Returning to My Father’s Kitchen on February 28 and made some new friends through my work. Grateful to Patty Enrado for recommending my book!
A panel that me and my friend, Erica Watson, helped put together was accepted by AWP for inclusion in their 2026 lineup in Baltimore! Unfortunately, I had to make the difficult decision early this year not to travel to the U.S. and attend this year’s AWP. However, Erica will be reading an excerpt from Returning to My Father’s Kitchen, together with my prepared remarks, during the panel. More details below:
Panel: Writing Impermanence, with Erica Watson (moderator), Bathsheba Demuth, Anna Cabe, and Sean Enfield
Friday, March 6, 2026
3:20 p.m. – 4:35 p.m. ET
Scheduled room: Room 325, Baltimore Convention Center, Level 300
