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I try not to look up to people who are Filipino for the sake of their nationality. There seems to be a shortage of diversity in the arts in general, including publishing, so whenever I see a person of color doing something to further their culture or cause I tend to root for them.

The stories, they get misconstrued as the facts aren't really facts and the fictions aren't really fictions. Sometimes, the people telling the stories aren't who they appear to be. Sometimes, the voices sound the same and you never really know where they're coming from. And sometimes, the same person just keeps telling the same story, over and over until he's sick in the head.

People aren't stupid. They just want to believe in others. They just want to believe that the world isn't coming to an end. And more importantly, they just want to believe in themselves. They want to believe that they can still trust their fellow human being to do the right thing.

...There is a lack of diversity in publishing—authors and books—so if you want to write that book about growing up as a Filipino in the States, or a culture that you find interesting, do it now. Publishing is hard enough, and we need to take advantage of opportunities when we can.

So the biggest lesson for me was to write what you want. People are going to have their opinions—good and bad. The reality is you're not going to please everyone, and if you attempt to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one. If anything, you can have fun doing it.