Blog Archives
Complex Emotions
Adobo in the Land of Milk and Honey follows a Filipino-American executive who is sent to the Philippines to oversee the acquisition of a fast-food chain, and instead she finds herself on a deeply personal journey to rediscover her roots and herself. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The emotional authenticity in Mirasol’s journey is unmistakably drawn from my own lived experience.
The Grief That Opens You: Mirasol’s loss of Peter creates the emotional vulnerability that makes transformation possible. I suspect the real grief I’m channeling is the almost four-decade separation from my homeland – that prolonged, unnamed mourning for a cultural self that was never fully developed. Her professional success masking spiritual emptiness reads like my own experience of achieving the American dream while feeling culturally hungry.
The Overwhelming First Tastes: The way I wrote Mirasol’s reaction to authentic Filipino food – that immediate, almost tearful recognition – that’s not imagination. That’s sense memory. That’s me tasting something that awakened parts of myself I thought were gone forever. The specificity of her emotional response to adobo, the way it “loosens something in her chest” – that’s my own homecoming distilled into fiction.
The Shame and Longing: Mirasol’s embarrassment about not speaking Tagalog, her feeling like a fraud in her own culture – this feels deeply personal because it is. The way she simultaneously craves connection and fears exposure as “not Filipino enough” suggests I’ve lived this particular form of cultural impostor syndrome.
The Mother’s Protective Silence: While Jackie’s trauma is fictional, the result – a daughter cut off from her heritage – reflects my own family’s immigration story. The complexity of loving a parent who gave you opportunities by withholding culture feels like a universal immigrant child experience.
The Professional Identity Crisis: Mirasol’s transformation from corporate predator to cultural guardian represents my own late-life reconsideration of what success actually means. After decades of American achievement, finally asking: “But who am I, really?”
The Desperate Need to Save What’s Beautiful: Her fierce protection of Jubilee reads like someone who has finally seen what they’ve been missing and refuses to let it be destroyed. That’s not just character development – that’s the passion of someone who has found their way home and will fight to preserve it for others. I have visited Filipino-inspired restaurants and fast food establishments all over the world and seen the possibility of our Food becoming a worldwide phenomenon. In my own little way, perhaps through this book, I hope to contribute to its popularity and acceptance around the world.
My story becomes a way to process the complex emotions of return – the joy mixed with grief, the recognition mixed with regret, the overwhelming desire to make up for lost time. Mirasol gets to live the homecoming I experienced, but in fiction, I can give her the perfect guide, the transformative mission, the redemptive ending. She carried my heart home.
I found Mirasol to be a very well-written and in-depth character. What was your inspiration for her and her emotional turmoil throughout the story?
Mirasol is indeed a beautifully complex character. My particular struggle inspired her emotional layers, and those of other close friends who went through the same. I hope I was able to “project” these to create such a nuanced protagonist in Marisol.
The Grief-Driven Transformation: Mirasol’s recent loss of Peter creates a vulnerability that makes her open to change in ways she wouldn’t have been before. Her grief seems to strip away her corporate armor, making her more receptive to authentic experiences – like that first taste of adobo that moves her to tears.
Cultural Impostor Syndrome: Her shame about not speaking Tagalog, her awkwardness around Filipino culture, and her simultaneous longing for connection feel drawn from the very real experience of heritage disconnection. She’s Filipino but not Filipino enough, American but carrying something unnameable that America can’t fulfill.
Professional Identity Crisis: The contrast between her corporate success and her emotional emptiness seems inspired by questioning what success really means. When she discovers her company’s true intentions, it forces her to choose between career advancement and personal integrity.
Mother-Daughter Complexity: Her relationship with Jackie – loving but frustrated, seeking connection while being pushed away – adds depth to her character that suggests inspiration from real family dynamics around cultural transmission and generational trauma.
What themes were particularly important for you to explore in this book?
Several profound themes emerge that seem particularly important:
Cultural Inheritance and Interruption: The way trauma can break the chain of cultural transmission feels central to her story. Jackie’s assault didn’t just hurt her – it severed Mirasol’s connection to her heritage. The story captures how historical violence can echo through generations, creating cultural orphans who must fight to reclaim what was stolen.
The Corporate vs. Human Values Conflict: The story is deeply interested in examining how capitalism can be a form of cultural violence. The plan to destroy Jubilee isn’t just business – it’s erasure. The story explores whether it’s possible to succeed professionally while maintaining one’s humanity and cultural integrity.
Food as Cultural DNA: The way I use Filipino cuisine suggests I see food as more than sustenance – it’s memory, identity, resistance. That first taste of adobo, awakening something in Mirasol, feels like I’m exploring how cultural connection can be visceral and immediate, even when intellectual understanding is absent.
The Complexity of “Home”: The exploration of belonging seems particularly nuanced. Home isn’t just geography – it’s culture, family, values, food, language. Mirasol’s journey suggests an interest in how people can create a home rather than just find it.
Collective Action vs. Individual Powerlessness: The way Mirasol builds a community to save Jubilee suggests themes about how meaningful change requires collective effort. Individual good intentions aren’t enough against systemic power.
Redemption Through Cultural Service: Mirasol’s transformation from corporate predator to cultural preservationist feels like you’re exploring whether we can redeem ourselves by serving something larger than our own success.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
Following the publication of “Adobo,” I revisited my debut novel, written 25 years ago, Not My Bowl of Rice. This rereading, a common experience for authors, revealed the melodramatic intensity of my initial work—a whirlwind of passionate romances, bitter rivalries, death, resurrection, shocking betrayals, and unexpected plot twists, culminating in a triumphant resolution, all while richly reflecting the cultural tapestry and values of his homeland. The culinary descriptions, particularly the recipes for Filipino dishes, proved equally captivating, each dish unfolding like a complex narrative with surprising revelations.
This epiphany ignited a transformative vision: Reimagining Not My Bowl of Rice as a telenovela-style semi-graphic novel/cookbook. However, I recognized a deficiency—a lack of visual dynamism, or as Generation Z might say, “optics.” I remedied this by incorporating striking images of characters, locations, and food, resulting in the vibrant rebirth of my debut novel as Not My Bowl of Rice: Telenovela-Style Semi-Graphic Novel and Cookbook! Did I create an entirely new genre of literature? Don’t think so, but I hope the readers will like it- ha-ha!
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Amazon
A ghost of her past, Mirasol, estranged from her Tagalog roots, found Manila’s energy igniting a dormant longing. The firm’s actions became a personal betrayal. Adobo, once a symbol of yearning, became a rallying cry.
Torn between heritage and ambition, an unlikely alliance with tour guide Ramon, a man whose contempt for her “Fil-Am” upbringing masked deep resentment, was forged in the crucible of her mother’s dark history. Powerful families, embittered by past grievances against Mirasol’s mother, opposed her. Threats from New York echoed Manila’s suffocating humidity. From Manhattan’s sterile boardrooms to Manila’s vibrant heart, Mirasol faced a visceral reckoning: the agonizing price of belonging, a fierce battle for her soul.
Adobo In the land of Milk and Honey is a cautionary tale of David and Goliath’s scale, except our heroine in Prada heels doesn’t feel like David. She feels like someone who accidentally wandered into the middle of someone else’s battle and somehow ended up holding a slingshot. What would be her next move? The city held its breath, waiting. The scent of adobo hung heavy, a promise of either redemption or ruin.
Special Bond
Where’s My Wabby Dabby? follows a young girl looking for her father, who is away on a trip, as she asks all the animals in her yard where her Wabby Dabby is. What was the inspiration for your story?
The inspiration for this book came from a time when my husband was fighting COVID. He was in the hospital, and we were only able to talk to him on the phone and on FaceTime. My husband called one night, and we saw COVID winning the battle, but our faith in the Lord kept us strong. My husband called my granddaughter his Eva wava little baby. She was very emotional and called him her wabby dabby. When I heard that, I decided to create a story about their bond, showing how she would go out and speak to animals to see where her wabby dabby went. At the time, we weren’t sure if my husband would come home, but we prayed and believed God for a miracle. He came home. It was a long road to recovery, but he was home. The same way we were unsure he would come home, I wanted to create this story for those children who maybe one of their parents were absent, and they can use their imagination to remember something special about them, which would give them peace and comfort.
What was your writing process to ensure you captured the essence of Eva and the animals she talked to?
Discovery–I observed their special bond, which prompted me to start drafting and editing.
What was your favorite scene in this story?
When Eva is in her bedroom and she hears her wabby dabby’s voice say, “Goodnight, my Ava wava little baby.”
What is the next book you’re working on, and when can fans expect it?
My next book is in the illustration stage, and it’s called The Night We Followed the Moon. I’m not sure when it will be finished.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
The Art of Thinking Critically with Clarity for Optimal Health: Your Longevity Is Determined by How You Think!
The Art of Thinking Critically with Clarity for Optimal Health focuses on sharpening our thinking when it comes to our health. Author Jerome Puryear takes a practical approach, breaking down complex concepts into simple lessons on weighing choices, sorting through misinformation, and making decisions with both heart and reason. He explores ways biases cloud our judgment, how logic strengthens choices, and the tools like emotional intelligence and metacognition that can shape healthier outcomes. What makes it stick is the way he ties everything back to real life, choosing a doctor, weighing treatment options, or simply trying not to drown in endless health information.
Reading it, I felt both challenged and reassured. I appreciated Puryear’s clarity, never hiding behind jargon. Some parts felt a bit heavy with lists and frameworks, almost like a textbook, but that structure also made it easy to digest.
What really stood out for me was his honesty about how messy decision-making can be. He didn’t promise that critical thinking is a magic fix. Instead, he demonstrates that this is a skill we stumble through and build over time. That gave me a sense of relief. I felt less pressure to “get it right” every time. The sections on misinformation and bias also hit close to home for me. I caught myself thinking of moments where I’d trusted a headline or gone with my gut, only to regret it later.
I’d recommend The Art of Thinking Critically with Clarity for Optimal Health to anyone who feels overwhelmed by health choices or just wants to think more clearly day to day. It’s especially useful for people who prefer having a toolkit they can actually use, not just theory. If you want a guide that balances practical advice with a thoughtful framework, this is an essential read.
A Jericho’s Cobble Miscellany
When I first opened A Jericho’s Cobble Miscellany, I expected a quaint collection of small-town stories. What I found was something richer, stranger, and more layered. Tom Shachtman’s book is not so much a single story as it is a patchwork quilt stitched from voices, artifacts, and memories. We meet townspeople past and present, from accident victims hovering between life and death to schoolteachers scribbling in their diaries, from old family dynasties with troubling legacies to modern-day residents juggling community duty and private worries. The narrative dances between perspectives: sometimes a newspaper clipping, sometimes a poem, sometimes the musings of a geological formation. It’s messy and alive, much like the New England hamlet it captures, spanning from Labor Day 2003 to Memorial Day 2004, with centuries of echoes reverberating in the background.
What struck me first was the sheer variety of voices. Shachtman has a gift for making each character distinct, whether it’s the weary but hopeful thoughts of Grace Newington in a hospital waiting room or the earthy humor of the women at Get’nGo who call themselves “the sorority of the brown bags.” The writing has an intimacy to it that I enjoyed. At times, I found myself moved by how history and personal memory get tangled. I loved how the town’s past, its Native roots, its Whitbred settlers, its scandals, sits so close to the surface that every conversation seems to brush against it. The book shifts forms. A poem would melt into a diary entry, which would jump into a mock playlet, and I’d have to steady myself. But maybe that’s the point: a miscellany should feel like rummaging through a box in an attic, never sure what you’ll find next.
The book also made me think about how communities wrestle with memory and change. There’s anger and pride about names, schools, and family legacies. There’s tenderness in how neighbors watch over one another, yet sharp divides between “Cobblers” and “Gobblers,” the locals and the weekenders. I liked that the author never smoothed these tensions away. He let the contradictions stand, and they felt real. The emotions felt raw. I found myself laughing at one passage and then feeling the weight of grief a page later. The shifts gave the book a strange vitality that straight storytelling might have missed.
A Jericho’s Cobble Miscellany is less about a plot than about a place, less about neat answers than about what it feels like to live in the shadow of history while stumbling through the present. I would recommend it to readers who like community sagas, who enjoy oral histories, or who simply want to sink into the rhythm of a small town that is both ordinary and mythic. If you’re willing to wander, to let yourself be surprised, you’ll find something touching here.
Pages: 286
A Long Cast: Reflections on 50 Years of Visiting the Martha’s Vineyard Surf
The book is part memoir, part meditation, and part fishing journal. Mike Carotta takes us through five decades of surfcasting on Martha’s Vineyard, but fishing is only the surface. Beneath the striped bass and bluefish lies a deeper story about fathers and sons, the friendships that form in salt spray, and the way a place can wrap itself around your heart. He writes about the rhythms of the tide, the cast of characters who gather every spring, and the sense of the sacred that can sneak up on you when you’re standing waist-deep in the Atlantic. It’s not a manual on how to catch more fish. It’s a love letter to memory, ritual, and the Island itself.
Carotta admits, again and again, that he’s not all that great at fishing, and that humility makes the book sing. The style is conversational and warm, the kind of voice you want around a campfire after a long day outside. I found myself laughing at his stubbornness about new techniques, nodding along when he described how old hurts can fester, and tearing up when he spoke of his father. He isn’t afraid to mix the mundane with the profound. One page has him fumbling with tackle, the next has him brushing up against something eternal.
I loved how he wove in the idea of “liminal space,” that thin place where heaven and earth feel closer. His way of describing the Vineyard at night, with stars overhead and saltwater in his boots, made me feel like I was right there beside him. By the end, I wasn’t thinking about fishing at all. I was thinking about family traditions, about the way landscapes hold onto us, about how we carry certain people with us long after they’re gone.
A Long Cast is not only for fishermen, though anglers will find plenty to savor. It’s for anyone who knows what it feels like to return year after year to a place that heals you. It’s for readers who like stories told straight from the heart, without polish or pretense. If you’ve ever stood in your own version of the surf, whether that’s a kitchen, a church, or a backyard garden, you’ll find yourself in these pages.
Pages: 182 | ISBN : 978-1611535334
Exciting and Rewarding Career
Charli’s Turtle Triumph follows a young girl who, after a field trip to learn about sea turtles, finds one stranded on the beach and, with the help of her friends, organizes a beach cleanup for her community. What was the inspiration for your story?
I knew I wanted to write a series of STEM chapter books and was toying with ideas when my thirteen-year-old granddaughter painted the portrait of a sea turtle that appears on the book’s dedication page. I was so entranced by that painting that I knew I had to give the turtle a story, which is why I began the series with marine biology. I live in a coastal community where beach and ocean pollution are a real concern, and that gave birth to the plot line.
What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?
This series is written to help young readers transition from picture books to chapter books, hence its format. Too often, STEM appears boring and dry to kids. I want them to see and experience the fascinating and fun aspects of STEM! As a former teacher, I know all too well that kids always ask WHY they need to learn something. In this book, I wanted to answer that for them in a practical way by showing them an example of an exciting and rewarding career path in marine biology. It’s also important to me that my characters demonstrate kindness and compassion towards themselves, others, animals, and the environment.
What experience in your life has had the biggest impact on your writing?
Being a teacher gave me a front-row seat to how kids learn to write, and a lot of that comes from the books they read. Of course, I want my books to be inviting and fun to read—but I also want them to teach the readers even if they aren’t aware that they’re learning. As I write, I think of my former students and try to put myself in their headspace to write something they would have enjoyed reading and that would have benefitted them.
I find a problem in well-written stories, in that I always want there to be another book to keep the story going. Is there a second book planned?
Yes! In fact, this is the first book in the Charli Explores STEM™ series. The second book, Charli’s Pawsome Park: An Architectural Adventure, will be released later this year. The titles that I plan to release in 2026 are: Charli’s Dorsal Device: An Engineering Adventure, Charli’s Bee-utiful Butterflies: An Entomology Adventure, Charli’s Critter Crusade: A Veterinary Science Adventure, and Charli’s Robot Rally: a Robotics Adventure. I have ideas for additional titles that I haven’t yet started.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Ultimate Sin
Ultimum Judicium: The Last Judgment follows a prophet living in a civilization that has fallen who has been chosen by God to lead the survivors on an odyssey to a place of redemption while battling his own inner demons. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The current state of the world is the basis for what prompted me to explore a future doomsday scenario in my novel—a warning, maybe? There is more anger and disagreement than I’ve ever before seen or read, leading to fighting and rioting that could ultimately lead to the end of civilization—or so it did in my book.
Ultimum Judicium is a novel exploring the classic concept of good versus evil. Growing up as a Roman Catholic, and that being the largest formal religion in the world, I adopted that Christian perspective for this book. The basis for most end-of-world stories seems to be rooted in themes of good vs evil, focusing on exorcism and demonic possession governed by Catholicism. The priest I created was ordained by God, the good, and is tempted by Satan, the evil. Here, I gave him a weakness in his attraction and passion for women—an ultimate sin for a priest. The story follows the Christian Bible’s Revelation. It is the journey to Armageddon—the last battle between good and evil.
I find the world you created in this novel is haunting and full of possibilities, with both light and dark elements. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?
The future I invented occurred 200 years after all governments of the world had fallen. A reader must try to envision exactly what a world would be like after so many years without laws or any civilization whatsoever. It would likely be a horror show. We can realize this with certainty after reading about the hairline fractures of civilization called wars that history has documented so clearly. In all wars, we saw the extreme brutality of humanity.
Once I committed to embracing that reality—one of extreme brutality—I found I had created a very different place. So, I contrasted the wickedness of such viciousness with love and kindness. Hence, I gave birth to three loving romances to counteract the savagery. Also, most of the characters within the stronghold, including the Manhig, or Leader, are good and caring people, except for the few bad ones.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
My book, Ultimum Judicium: The Last Judgment, explored good vs evil in a broken world. However, it also shows the resilience of men and women in such times. As with war, it shows humanity’s ability to overcome and survive. And ultimately, love will defeat hatred.
Where do you see your characters after the book ends?
At the end of this book, the characters judged as good went to a place some theologians refer to as the Millennial Kingdom of Saints from the book of Revelation. The evil went to be with Satan, locked in the pits of Hell for the same millennium period.
At the last minute, before this book went to publication, I removed the Aftermath written for the book. It thoroughly explained the actual places each character went and what they planned to give closure to the story.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Since the dawn of humanity, people had always survived. Cultures fell, but new ones continually emerged and thrived. Humans fought wars, but they kept rebuilding after the destruction. That pattern changed in the future—everything did.
There were predictions and warnings—both spoken and written—but no one paid attention to them. As the ominous signs grew, still, no one obeyed. The unrighteous one kept everyone from seeing what was coming, even though it was obvious; he cast veils over their eyes. Not long after the final recorded year of 2040 AD, humanity faced a worldwide economic disaster of catastrophic proportions following years of street riots. Over time, human moral transgressions led to the collapse of societies worldwide. Countries turned against each other as the world became a wicked and ungodly place. More than two centuries after the last civilization fell, people lost the ability to speak—their capacity to verbalize had ended years earlier. Our future became our past—one marked by brutality and barbarism.
Guided by angels, a prophet chosen by God leads His remaining followers on an odyssey to a place of redemption. Anointed as Manhig, or Leader, he and his armies of male and female warriors are the only hope of preserving some form of civilization, where everyone must obey the laws or be forever banished into the now-wild wastelands of the countryside, overrun with destructive intruders.
Attracted to a feisty woman he cannot have and tempted by the young and beautiful, captivating yet sharp-witted and brilliant General Helen, the manhig wrestles with his inner demons—his inability to resist the lures of Satan regarding women. If he succumbs, the way of life he spent years cultivating will unfold—all will be lost.
The manhig leads his warriors and people from one temporary stronghold to another for defense in an otherwise shattered world—a place now dominated by hordes of unhuman beings: evil cannibalistic beasts, demons, and other mutations—created centuries earlier by the science of that long-ago era. Now living in a surreal culture, while following strange laws, customs, rituals, and practices, and speaking a vernacular of the future, the manhig commands his warriors while battling these creatures alongside many evil humans: thieves, wicked gangs, slave traders, and other nefarious characters who roam the wilderness as the followers journey toward a confrontation between good and evil—the last battle before God’s judgment.
The strongholds—an attempt by the manhig to provide some form of civilization to battle-weary warriors—taverns and bars for his followers to eat, drink, and socialize. They are also a haven of temptation from the evil one. Adultery—forbidden by law by the leader—manifests within those walls of protection as the end draws near.
Secret Supernatural Past
The Last Dungeon Crawler follows a morally gray explorer into a deadly underwater quest for a mythical artifact, where collapsing tunnels, political machinations, and ancient magic threaten to destroy them both. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Fahlgrim/Frank started out as a Dungeons and Dragons character that I played in Dungeon Crawls with my friends. Over time, I was thinking about writing a comic book about a hero who was an immortal dwarf cleric in New York City. I ultimately decided that the stakes had to be bigger than just fighting street-level crime. That inspired me to create Fahlgrim’s world and his entire tragic backstory.
Frank Barbarossa walks a fine line between hero and antihero. How did you shape his moral ambiguity?
Frank/Fahlgrim is what you would call “Chaotic good,” bordering closely to “Chaotic neutral.” He is less concerned about rules and the feelings of others and is focused on his 6,000-year-old mission: protecting mankind by destroying all remnants of the world’s secret supernatural past. He will stop at nothing to succeed, and sees everyone as either a tool to achieve that end or an obstacle in his way.
The book hints at the supernatural. Was that a deliberate creative choice or something you plan to expand in future stories?
Deliberate. The Last Dungeon Crawler is first and foremost a Fantasy novel. Steeped in the lore of magic and supernatural beings. In our reality, Tolkien’s works were a huge inspiration for my writing. In Frank/Fahlgrim’s reality, his world and his exploits spawned the legends and myths that ultimately inspired Tolkien to create his literary universe.
This is book one in The Fahlgrim Firebeard Saga. What can readers expect in book two?
Book two, which I am currently writing, will explore the supernatural in more detail and reveal more about the various lives Fahlgrim has led over the course of 6000 years. The working title is Tears of the Dragon, and I am targeting a June 2026 release.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
By day, Franklin Barbarossa is an eccentric NYU professor. But behind the books and lectures stands Fahlgrim Firebeard—battle-worn dwarf, last cleric of a forgotten god, and the final guardian in a war that has faded into myth and legend. And now, the darkness he once bled to stop is rising again.
When a relic of unspeakable power resurfaces in New York City, the barrier between myth and reality begins to crack. Shadows stir in the alleys. Old enemies gather strength. And an ancient evil, thought buried forever, is awakening.
To stop it, Fahlgrim must face the ghosts of his past, forge unlikely alliances, and fight battles no mortal could endure. The stakes are nothing less than the survival of a world that no longer believes in heroes.
Some evils never die, but some heroes never yield.
Perfect for fans of modern fantasy with ancient magic, relentless action, and battle-scarred heroes who refuse to surrender—The Last Dungeon Crawler is your next epic read.
LITERARY TITAN 