Jason Tanamor Quotes

Like many American born Asian-Americans, I wanted to assimilate as a child. I wanted to fit in. As I grew older, I realized that instead of fitting in, why not stand out?

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.

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.

When you're hiding out in bushes to meet your favorite celebrity, well, that's just pathetic. When you're designing an elaborate plan to get laid, that's just creepy.

I don't need to be motivated to write; it's always there waiting to get out. Published or not.

I've always looked at life through the lens of a non-Filipino.

The voice of scared shitless reason said, "Oh my God, oh my God! She's got a gun. She's got a gun!"

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.

I always wanted to be an author. I thought it was the coolest job. As a child of immigrant parents, it wasn't ever something that they promoted. They always wanted me to do something practical.

My favorite author is Chuck Palahniuk. I'd never been a big reader, often going long stretches without reading. Then I read Fight Club (novel).

I considered myself white, having grown up essentially American but with Filipino parents. I don't speak with an accent and I barely speak Tagalog. So, for most of my life, I looked at the world as a 'white' person.

Regular people joined by a common link. Death, it affected all people, all occupations. Accountants, cooks, realtors, secretaries. A support group for all to grieve. Doctors, the unemployed, teenagers. Dying could happen to anyone.

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.

If we can get more stories and people who can make differences, such as authors writing OwnVoices stories, I think we'll begin to see a shift in industries that can depict people of color in a more positive light.

Make believe is much more entertaining and enjoyable than real life. More fantastical things can happen in make believe.