Literary Expo

I went to Book Expo America. It's a huge event with publishers from all over coming to pitch their latest line of books to booksellers. I went to network and check out trends. I also went to a number of networking events (um, parties really) to meet new people.

There were, of course, big wigs there taking up huge amounts of space. Every publisher you can imagine was there.

Deals were being made. This hall had agents, editors, and publisher making deals about rights and acquisitions.

At some events, the champange was flowing. I only had water.

There were important scholarly types talking about their books, like Robert Thurman who endowed the first Chair at Columbia University for the study of Buddhism. He's a brilliant man. Alas, some just call him Uma's dad.

There were celebrities like Ernest Borgnine pushing his memoir.

People in suits promoting stuff like this book Marley's Treasure.

There was a small lane called "Writers Row." These were people who had the gumption to pitch their own line of books, like this guy with Ghetto Heat Publishing

Or this guy stood pushing his book and his buddy sleeping there.

At the end of the day, I had a blast!

Literary Long Ago

I am in this book called Best Gay Asian Erotica, edited by Joel Tan. I began my writing life writing nothing but Gay Asian life. Embracing who I am was part of my development as an artist and a man. From my recent work, you can see that I began writing about other things as well.

Not too long ago, I began going through old folders in my computer. I ran across a long short story that I started in the mid-nineties. It was really the first story that I'd ever cared about developing. It runs 50 pages long and it's about a gay Asian health worker in the mid-nineties and his unfulfilled love life. (Back then, I was a gay Asian health worker with an unfulfilled love life.)

I sort of abandoned it. Recently, I started picking at it again. It reminds me of a time and place in my life that I'd said farewell to. It was inspired from a bar called Mugi's that is now called The Stone.

1994

I used to hate it here. I mean Ito's is not exactly the Bonaventure Hotel. It's old and dismal, a real dive. Ito's is located in the east end of Hollywood. Far from the Mann's Chinese theatre and the Walk of Fame. Ito's is surrounded with decaying brick buildings. These brick buildings would have probably housed starlets back in the 1930's, but not today.

Ito's bar attracts a very interesting clientele. There's a lot of Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Japanese, Thai, and other Asian languages spoken here. Most of the guys here aren't Asian-American like me. Most of these guys are from Asia.

Not too many Asian Americans come to Ito's. Many of us, American born or bread Asians, will party in the bars in Silverlake or West Hollywood. We look at Ito's as that embarrassing place where people who can barely speak English go, where their rough accents are painful to our ears.

I don't know why we divide ourselves: Asian-Asian versus Asian Americans. That's just so.

Lesson # 1: There are certain things that just are, no rhyme or reason.

Literary Scrolls

This is Garupuda and his interpreter Nandita. We recenty hosted them when they came from India. There is a tradition in a region of India where Scrolls tell a story. Sort of like a comic book with panels depicting a portion of a story. What makes this even more enchanting is that Garupuda sings the story. He is a respected scroll singer where he's from.

He created scrolls dealing specifically with HIV. The panels tell a sad story in a beautiful way.

Literary Marriage

I used to think those story book weddings were ridiculous. I mean that whole Cinderella thing has hi-jacked the lives of many who believe that this magical relationship will come by, ending in a loving marriage. I never thought it was something for me to believe in.

Well, today California okayed gay marriage. You know what? I was thrilled! There was a little bit of the romantic in me and for a moment I thought maybe the Cinderella thing ain't so bad. I actually began to whisper a phrase that might be happen someday: Will you marry me?

Now, I just need to find someone to say it to.

Literary Feathers

In my last post, I talked about the most amazing reading with Corpus Journal. I didn't mention that Native American Sherman Alexie was one of the writers in the journal. There was an attempt to get him to the reading, but he was unavailable. Interestingly enough, the next day was a Pow Wow on campus. I thought that if we couldn't get Mr. Alexie, atleast the spirit of native cultures were present around the same time.

Literary UCLA

Last week I was a part of an amazing literary event at UCLA. MAKE ARTSTOP AIDS and AIDS Project Los Angeles teamed up to do a reading of Corpus, a literary journal from APLA. Students (above: Coordinator Bobby, with readers Sarah, Turquoise, and Nick) were asked to "respond" to work published in the journal. It was one of those events that made me glad to be a writer. The night was truly magicial. More established writers read their work, then heard how students reacted to it. The room was packed and good vibes went around.

Pato Hebert from APLA did a great job with the journal, a publication that included Sherman Alexie, Elton Naswood, Jaime Cortez, and Keith M. Harris.

On another note, I was asked to write something up for the Center for the Study of Women on campus. I wrote a personal essay on my experience with AIDS and the work of women in the MAKE ARTSTOP AIDS exhibition. The essay also ran on the website for the International Institute. Check it out here.

Literary Slamming

Last week, I hosted the Dead Poet's Slam an annual event produced by Smartgals, an incredible org doing amazing sight specific work. The Slam pits a group of dead poets against another group of dead poets. This year the rivalry was West Coast dead poets vs. East Coast dead poets. Writers, performers, actors intrepret the work and get judged by a panel of experts. One performer interpreted Langston Hughes, while another interpreted Charles Bukowski. And so on. The dead East Coast poets won. Not only is the event fun, but it brings together a great group of talented people.

Screenwriter Nevin Schreiner and Smartgals Leader Christine Louise Berry.

Slammers included writer Brendan Constantine and actor Shawn Michael Howard.

Memoirist and judge Rita Williams with Judge and Smartgals guy Tau-Mu Yi.

Poet and Judge Chris Davidson with writer Aimee Bender.

And there I am, host. I was in a goofball mode, dressing in the spirit of the evening's fun. Hence, the updturned collar and funny tie.

Literary "Times" Remix

As we head into the weekend, here are memories of the Times Book Fair from a weekend past.

Cheryl Klein poeting and writing in her booth, Poets and Writers. Check out her blog here.

Lavonne and Emily from Skylight Bookstore, my launching pad. You know they're sweltering in that heat. That smile proves their great actresses.

Me and my friend Gali trying to look cool in the cool shade of my camera.

Literary Prizes V

The food was the biggest literary highlight. I'd never seen this dessert spread before. It was one huge chocolate fondue station. I felt like I had sinned by partaking in the sweets.

Literary Prizes IV

This is Maret, who programs the festival, and freelance editor Dan. This is BEFORE she has to execute the upcoming festival of books. I'm sure that smile faded.


This is memoirist Heather King and her friend Julia. Heather wrote about getting sober. She said that despite what this photo looks like, she's not drunk.

Winner of for the first fiction prize was Dinaw Mengetsu. He was cute. told me not to show this picture or else it would frighten people away. He has the kind of sweet humility that an emerging author can have.

The night attracted NPR writer Jo Greise. I suggested that she do an NPR story about me. Silence.

Literary Prizes III

On the left is me and Jenoyne Addams. She and I met as Emerging Voices fellows ten years ago. Now, she's an author AND and agent. On the right is Doug Dutton of Dutton's Brentwood, which is closing. He got a special certificate for his work in the LA literary community.

Literary Prizes II

The LA Times Book Prizes do bring out the literati in a big way.


Here's Susan Straight and her daughter.

Johnny and Joanne from Akashic, one of the best Indie Presses around.

Agents Bonnie Nadell and Betsy Amster.

Literary Prizes

This is Sandra Zane. We met at the LA Times Book Festival eons ago. She was beginning her career as an agent and I was an unpublished writer. We look at the festival as our anniversary. Now, she's a full-fledged agent and I have two novels under my belt.

We went to the LA Times Book Prize show. We didn't plan on wearing velvet blazers. When we met, we just laughed at the coincidence. Great minds...



At the award show, Maxine Hong Kingston received the lifetime achievement award. At the reception, I rush and told her that I have a career today because of the foundation that she laid.

Poet Mark Doty was also there. I'd been meaning to meet him for ages.


Michael York as there...

It was most fun.

Literary Forum

What was amazing about the Gay Mens Forum was the commitment from the men in the room to be the best men possible, strive for the best of society. I sat on a panel dealing with the gay spirit and creativity. That's Leo Garcia, Artistic Director of Highways Performance Space, me, Performance Artist Ian MacKINNON, Hywel Sims, Executive Director of the Gay Mens Chorus, and Moderator and performer Michael Kearns.

It was quite refreshing to see men more in this vein, instead of the the bar hopping, Macys shopping set. Despite the media images that America prefers to see of us (faaabulous men who design), it was wonderful to see activists and artists together working toward the betterment of our community. There were a few hundred men there. It was pointed out, however, that there were probably more men who attended the White Party on the same weekend.

Literary Chopsticks II

Here's a continuation of Literary Chopsticks from this post:

Cesar's best friend was Arthur Figueroa. Arthur wasn't as pretentious as Cesar. Although he was Mexican, he didn't lay claim to being related to Montezuma--Moctezuma, Arthur corrected--or any of the Aztecs. Arthur was a little more subtle about his heritage. He never mentioned that he came from an old California family, with a family tomb in the Missions. He didn't mention that he was a descendant of Jose Figueroa, Governor of California in the 1800's. He simply took a quiet pride in driving down Figueroa Blvd in downtown Los Angeles, smiling knowing that this street sported his name. Indeed, he smiled driving down other streets of Los Angeles like Alvarado, Pico, Sepulveda. He was related to them all. He was raised not to brag about his lineage and Arthur never did. Inside, however, he wanted to tell people in his office that his family basically created this fine state.

That's why he enjoyed Cesar Wong's company. Arthur never mentioned his family bacground, but Cesar sure did.

"Did you know Figgy is one of THE Figueroas," he'd say to a friend. Arthur knew that Cesar was doing it to elevate Cesar, impress everyone by saying he knew a Figueroa. It was quite pathetic really. He saw Cesar's brows rise whenever he met some poor cretin named Kennedy. "Are you related to one of THE Kennedy's?" The answer was always, No.

"He's just A Kennedy," Cesar said, "not a THE."

Literary Chapter: Newness

Some of you inquired about my last post. I'm okay. Really good, actually. I've been enjoying my new job. The writing is so-so, but I'm loving what I'm doing. I'm doing AIDS and Art--it feels right in my bones.

I'm wondering--dare I say it--that at 40 I feel like I'm starting a new chapter in my life! I mean, I'm doing things I thought I wouldn't do. I started yoga. I actually danced some African dance at a gathering. It really does feel like I'm starting a new life.

Some highlights:


I had the pleasure of presenting for some aspiring librarians and archivists at UCLA. Imani Tolliver (left) presented on poetry, Chris Freeman presented on a book on West Hollywood, the legendary Felice Picano presented on early gay press, and I presented on AIDS literature. Afterward, we went to see the MAKE ART/STOP AIDS exhibition.


My boss David Gere, my co-worker Cathryn, Richard Gere (my boss David's brother), and me. David brought his brother over to say, HI. I was a bit star struck, I admit. I've always been impressed with Richard Gere's work with Tibet.

Come back for future posts about me sitting on a panel in West Hollywood discussing the wellness of gay men (this Saturday), hosting the Dead Poets Slam with Smart Gals Productions, and attending the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, including private reception.

Literary Pardon

I've been in a weird space. Pardon for not posting as much. It's nothing bad. Just an interesting space.

Literary Internet

I'd been paying attention to other internet sites like MySpace and Facebook. When I'm feeling mischevious, I google myself to see what I'm up to. Or I'll check MySpace and Facebook to see if anyone listed me as one of their favorite authors or listed one of my books as one of their favorite novels.

After years of neglecting MySpace, ignoring the "someone sent you a message" message--thinking its someone selling me porn--I finally logged on to see how my pathetic page was doing. I was shocked to see that I actually got messages from a few people who wanted to let me know that they're reading me. I sent out apologetic e-mails for my neglect.

I really do appreciate it when people tell me that they're reading my work. It reinforces the idea that I'm doing something right. I have writer friends telling me that their books didn't find publishers. These are really GREAT writers. This depresse me.

I talked to an agent-friend of mine who suggests that building an internet presence actually helps in publishing. If you can go to a publisher and say that you have thousands of friends on MySpace or thousands of hits on a blog, publishers will actually take that seriously. They'll think that you have potential readers who will buy your book (as opposed to the great writer who has no friends).

So, I have this blog. I have accounts with MySpace and Facebook, hoping it will be a smart business plan. Then, you know what? I find that the validation from just one person in internet land, who says says that "Letters to Montgomery Clift" is one of their faves or "Talking to the Moon" is a book they enjoy, spurs me on as a writer.

Oh, gawd! I'm codependent with the internet!

Literary AIDS reading

I'll be doing a presentation for aspiring librarians and archivist at UCLA. My presentation will be on AIDS and art, specifically writing. I'm hoping to develop a list of must-have books for a library. I'm not looking for scientific, medical, or self-help books. I'm leaning toward the literary. I've got titles by Paul Monette, Randy Shilts, Tony Kushner, Essex Hemphill, Saphire, Tony Dent. Any books you'd like to suggest?

Literary Santa Monica

Hey all,

I'll be a guest speaker for Santa Monica College's Spring 2008 Literary Series. It'll be on Thursday, March 20 at 11:15am in the Art Building, Room 214, located at 1900 Pico Blvd. I'll be doing a talk on what inspired "Talking to the Moon." Come out if you can!

Literary Aspirations

This is Cary Grant, one of the most stunning men in movies. Speaking of grants. I applied for one. Not an actor grant, an arts grant. It's for money to help research and develop my third novel. It is my fourth grant hoping to do this. I've applied for two and my agent applied for one--all of them rejected me.

I'm hoping the fourth one will be a charm. I didn't know if I wanted to share this information with you, but I think that those who want to lead the writer's life will have to experience this. Sometimes I see writers get grants and think that I'm certainly capable of getting one. I'm hopeful when I apply and just feel the most horrible pain when I don't.

Last year, I applied for the Fulbright. It took months to prepare that application. I had to get letters of recommendation, an invitation letter from a university from the Philippines, write essays on the merits of my project. I waited and waited. Finally, I got a letter of rejection. I got it on the day of my book party for Talking to the Moon. I got that letter of rejection just two hours before I was supposed to go out and be happy in front of a crowd of people.

My family and friends had prepared a party and I didn't tell anyone that I got this heartbreaking news. I doubt anyone knew that I was crushed. I looked into the faces of all those people celebrating a novel I had written and felt so much better. There was still a tinge of remorse, but I felt better.

What made it sting more was how it was rejected. The Fulbright goes through a series of committees. It has to pass the American Fullbright Committee, then it goes to the Philippines Fulbright Committee. It made it past the Americans, but it was the Filipinos who rejected it. Ouch.

I'm truly wondering if this third novel is something I can write right now. It's on the back burner. I've always aspired to have a collection of short stories published and that's taking my focus. I've got five stories that have been published and I feel confident about them. I'm hoping to have ten altogether.

Literary Dumbo

So, see this woman? Her name is Margaret B. Jones, a half Native American woman who went through foster care and ran with gangs in South Central. She wrote a memoir about it and got a rave review in the New York Times.

Her real name is Margaret Seltzer, a prep school kid from the valley who got busted by her own sister. You can read about it here. Her books were pulled from shelves.

She cries alot now saying she just wanted to give voice to people she tried to portray in her book. She is a dumbo. First off, those people have voices and are being heard. Read Push by Saphire or American Son by Brian Ascolon Roley.

Second, she should have called it a novel. Susan Straight writes about people of color or the disadvantaged all the time, but she would never try to pass as something she wasn't.

Third, I was happy to read that it was her sister who pulled the plug--glad to hear that someone in that household was raised right.

Literary youth

So, people say to me, Noel, you gotta check out these boys on YouTube. They're these clever, young Asian guys named KevJumba and Nigahiga. They tell interesting stories and have a unique point of view. Apparently, they're "stars" on YouTube because they have thousands and thousands of subscibers who watch their videos. I took a look. I was stymied. They are nothing but these obnoxious teenagers who spend way too much time alone in their rooms.

I was quite irked by them actually. It was an annoying feeling deep down in my bones. I couldn't fathon why I had such a severe allergic reaction to them. Then I realised: OMG! I WAS THAT OBNOXIOUS TEENAGER WHO SPENT WAY TOO MUCH TIME IN HIS ROOM.

In some way, it was like watching my former self. I should e-mail those guys and tell them if they're not careful, they'll end up an obnoxious man who spends way too much time alone in his apartment.

Liteary Plagiarism

So, I belong to these listserves that give me the skinny on what's going on in communities I'm interested in. One post that has got some people wondering is whether a big company like Carl's Junior ripped off a Filipino American sketch comedy group. Hmmmm. What do you think? The writing seems rather similar, no?