9 Years of Lola By the Bay and 2022 Year in Review

It all comes down to this. The fanfare of the holiday season is winding down as champagne is slowly but surely being stalked up for the stroke of midnight tonight. Resolutions are being jotted down and vision boards are being crafted together, with the hopes of some of them actually manifesting by this time in a year. 2023 is now less so of a concept and now hours away from becoming our reality.

But before 2022 bows out altogether, I wanted to make sure I had my retrospective for this ninth(?!?!?) year of my website written down and ready to ponder for those who  may have missed any of what happened, or to read and go, “That happened this year?”

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What Did I Miss?: June 2022

Short Films

Interview with an Aswang (Short Film) – Originally written and produced in 2021, a college student interviews her aswang friend about what her life is like for a class assignment.

Published Works

Filmmaker Soma Helmi on Bringing AAPI Leads and Indonesian Mythologies to “The Angkasa Legacy” – For Mixed Asian Media, I spoke with this writer and director about the making of this sci-fi romance and the importance of Indonesian representation.

Notable Little Moments and Details from ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ – For The Nerds of Color, I dive into the “fractals” that caught my attention in this “Star Wars” limited series.

An Additional Notable Little Detail from ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ – For The Nerds of Color, I explore an additional “fractal” I had accidentally left off of my list exploring them from the latest “Star Wars” live-action series.

Now Playing: “Interview with an Aswang”

Last year, I made my debut with Rainy Day Artistic Collective with a one-act play I wrote called “Interview with an Aswang;” where a college student interviews her aswang friend about what her life is like for a school assignment, only to unknowingly hit on some hard realities the latter has dealt with. It was since made into a short film that was submitted into the film festival circuit, and while it did play at Mixed Asian Media Fest, it otherwise wasn’t as successful getting in elsewhere.

8 Years of Lola By the Bay and 2021 Year in Review

For those who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas! For those who don’t, I hope you have a really good day anyway.

I can’t believe it’s been this long since the formation of my little corner of cyberspace already. It’s grown to be the virtual hub that I’ve always wanted for myself, and then some. I created the website to make it easy, for those who don’t already follow me on social media, to keep up with writing projects I have going on, as well as what’s on my mind on a (mostly) week-to-week basis. Looking back on my posts over the last 11 months, I think I’ve started to notice just how blatant and honest I’m becoming about both where I am in my journey as a writer, as well as the things that I truly care about.

Coming in September: Mixed Asian Media Fest

So something I’ve been working on throughout the year is now a few short weeks away from happening, and in this announcement, there are multiple components to it. Allow me to walk you through them:

Short Film Announcement: “Interview with an Aswang”

After officially announcing it both in my guest appearance on the ShoPowSho podcast as well as on my Instagram, I’m proud to go public with the news here that my one-act play, “Interview with an Aswang,” has been made into a short film and is currently being submitted into the film festival circuit. For those who didn’t catch it when it was featured in Rainy Day Artistic Collective’s Winter Showcase three months ago, it tells the story of a college student who interviews her friend about what her life is like as an aswang for a school assignment. Of course, that’s just the very surface level synopsis of it.

Re-Introduction in Honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May is recognized as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the United States, where the entire duration of the month is devoted in recognizing the history, culture, and achievements of people from the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. While this annual, month-long celebration has been going on for a couple of decades now, I think it’s fair to say that this year’s will really be one of the first ones where people outside the communities are actually paying attention and learning about the history, in light of the hate crimes that have been happening for over a year now. I’m always going to be dismayed that it took a massacre for the general public to start paying attention to what has been happening, but the positive is that at least they’re finally paying attention. We’ve been here for a long time and we’re not going anywhere.

Playwright’s Commentary: “Interview with an Aswang”

It’s been two and a half years since I last had a play I wrote be produced. Honestly, I thought it would be a good while before something of the sort ever happened again, as I shifted focus towards getting my screenplays out there, as well as work to complete something resembling a draft of the third novel-in-progress. But sometimes, opportunities come along that you just can’t pass up, and it’s because I went for one that eventually led to the creation of my latest one-act play and first play to be performed on a virtual platform, “Interview with an Aswang.”

Coming Soon: “Interview with an Aswang”

It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these things; announce a play that I’ve written that is being produced. In fact, the last time this happened was all the way back in 2018, in the midst of all the anticipations that took place that August. I didn’t think I would find myself in such a position like this again for quite a while, but when opportunities arise during such dire times, you go for them.