7 Years of Lola By the Bay and 2020 Year in Review

A part of me has always found it perplexing that I chose to start up my website at the end of a year. I sometimes wonder, “Why not have waited one more week until you were in the new year before finally starting it?” Well, seven years later, I look back on that decision and I think it worked out, actually. I get to both acknowledge the formation of this constantly growing website and look back on the past year in one go… and… well…. needless to say, this is quite a year to look back on.

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The End of BookExpo and BookCon

In this pandemic, it has been a common practice to cancel in-person events altogether and move them virtually. However, this week came an instance where an event that was held virtually earlier this year is being cancelled altogether. I’m talking specifically in this case about BookExpo and BookCon.

What Did I Miss?: November 2020

Appearances

Lumpia with a Vengeance Review – I make a guest appearance on Nerds Rules the World, as Kuya P and I give our non-spoilery thoughts about Patricio Ginelsa’s new film, “Lumpia with a Vengeance.”

Published Works

‘Story Game’ Navigates Celebration of Storytelling Through Odd Plot Choices – For The Nerds of Color, I give my thoughts on this fascinating film, from this year’s lineup for the Hawai’i International Film Festival.

Shannon Lee on Her New Book “Be Water, My Friend” and the Legacy of Her Father Bruce Lee – For the Center for Asian American Media, I spoke with the CEO of the Bruce Lee Family Company about continuing the legacy of the beloved martial artist and philosopher.

‘Water Like Fire’ Explores Life and Loss in Contradictory, Unexpected Ways – For The Nerds of Color, I review this emotionally moving film from this year’s lineup for the Hawai’i International Film Festival.

‘Waikiki’ Doesn’t Pull Any Punches about the Realities of Tourist Hot Spot – For The Nerds of Color, I dive into this sobering look at Honolulu’s tourist hot spot as the closing night film for the Hawai’i International Film Festival.

News

The Short Screenplay Challenge 2020, 1st Round Results – My script, “Small Town Spy,” made Top 15 in my assigned group for the first round of this challenge.

Thoughts About Taking Advantage of NaNoWriMo

It’s the last weekend of November, which means we are now down to the final days of National Novel Writing Month (otherwise best known as NaNoWriMo). I speculate over how many people took advantage of it this time around, due to the world still being infected by the pandemic and all. Those are numbers I’d be very interested in learning about.

When Reading About Real People in Fictional Situations

I recently read the two novels that make up author Andrew Shaffer’s Obama Biden Mystery series: Hope Never Dies and Hope Rides Again. They both came out within the last two years, and while I’ve always been meaning to read them, I finally made the time and effort to sit down with them both as of recently, as we near the date of the upcoming presidential election.

Changing Tactics

Eight years ago, I made the decision to start taking my writing more seriously. After a summer spent working on a showcase featuring rising performing arts talents and seeing one of my favorite actors make his own writing dreams come true, I knew that no matter how much I had on my plate, I can make the time to make my own writing dreams become a reality.

6 Years of “A Moment’s Worth”

With each passing year since the release of my debut novel, A Moment’s Worth, the farther away we move from how life was at the time it was written. Not to say that that wasn’t already expected, but as indicated in past retrospectives, I never expected for the difference to have gotten as vast as it has.

Thoughts About Fiction in the Time of COVID-19

A few months ago, I read the latest novel from the thoughtful sci-fi author Mike Chen, A Beginning at the End. I won’t go into too much detail about it, but if I were to describe it in a very brief synopsis, it follows three adults from different paths of life and how they all find themselves coming together, in the aftermath of – wait for it it – a global pandemic.

In Conversation with Jerry Spinelli about the Journey of “Stargirl”

Every time I think I’m going to do more interviews in this corner of the Internet, it doesn’t pan out into fruition. I’ve come to accept that that’s okay, for this is really a space for me to speak. However, that doesn’t mean I’m going to forfeit interviews completely, and I definitely have quite a conversation to share today. In the midst of COVID-19 altering life as we know it and finding ways to pass the time until these shelter-in-place orders are lifted, I figured that now is the best time to reach out and speak with an author whose books I grew up reading: Jerry Spinelli.

“Stargirl”: A Movie Adaptation 20 Years in the Making

Every now and then, I expand my dialogue about storytelling by going beyond the boundaries of books and out into the mediums of TV and film. I do so by doing these analysis pieces once in a while about a TV show or film that has reached a significant time in its history (i.e. series premiere, series finale, film release, anniversary of a release, etc.). Previously, I marked the end of an era with a look back on the ABC series, “Fresh Off the Boat.” Today, to mark its premiere from yesterday, I dive into the world of Disney+ original content for the first time, as I provide my thoughts on the film, “Stargirl.”

(WARNING: There will be spoilers from the film, not so much on the plot specifically, but more so on the changes and additions that have been made from the book it is based on.)