Mid-Year Update and 2018 Reads

Idk if I'll ever get the hang of blogging on the regular; but since it's the middle of 2018, I might as well spring one up amidst all the ucky-mucky news cycle of the past 7 months.

Looking at my 2018 writing goals from my last post, I'm proud to be accomplishing 2 of the 4:

  • Re-worked my NING SANTOS WIP and am 11k into drafting, which isn't technically a lot...but it reads a lot better than what I had reworked back in January.
  • Completed and surpassed my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge!!! Set myself up for 6 books and ended up reading 8:
    • 5 Middle Grade books by Asian American authors
    • 1 YA book by an Asian American author
    • 2 poetry collections by Asian American poets.
    • Currently on my 9th read: Nightbooks by J.A. White, my only non-POC/non-APIA authored read so far.
Current poetry WIPs aren't quite yet ready for submitting, but I do have a forthcoming poem publication this year in Hay(na)ku Anthology #15 (they'll be having a book launch in September at the San Francisco Public Library).
haynaku15 copy-2 2

And creative development for the Saya story for Guardian Princesses is on the back-burner for now as the team is focused on other GP priorities.

Finishing off this blog with a list of the 8 books I read so far (*NOTE*: This blue-green-tan/brown color scheme was a complete but hilariously beautiful accident) 



  1. The Way to Bea by Kat Yeh (MG Contemporary) - audiobook version
  2. Spirit Hunters #1 by Ellen Oh (MG Paranormal/Horror) - eBook version
  3. Invocation to Daughters by Barbara Jane Reyes (Pinayist* Poetry)
  4. You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly (MG Contemporary)
  5. Microchips for Millions by Janice Lobo Sapigao (Pinayist* Poetry)
  6. See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng (MG Contemporary) - audiobook version
  7. An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes by Randy Ribay (YA Contemporary)
  8. The House that Lou Built by Mae Respicio  (MG Contemporary)
*For more info on Pinayist poetry, I suggest Reyes' essay, "Towards a Pinay 'We' Poetics.

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