I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
I’m Japanese and my husband is Chinese, but I have several friends who are Filipino, which is why I decided to write a Filipino heroine for Narrow Escape. However, I had to do lots of research, especially for the character names.
I had a hard time coming up with the name of the Filipino drug gang in the book, but there are several real-life Filipino gangs who just use initials for their names. So I picked the phrase, laki sa layaw, which means “pampered while still young” in Tagalog (a Filipino dialect), and shortened it to the gang name, LSL. The phrase seemed appropriate for a young, tough, attitude-saturated gang of drug dealers.
I don’t actually know the meaning of Arissa’s last name, Tiong, but I liked it because it was easy to read and pronounce (sort of) for non-Filipino readers. :) Some of the Filipino surnames are really long and complicated to pronounce for an American like me!
Charity’s uncle is Johnny Capuno, is a captain in the LSL gang. I chose Johnny’s last name, Capuno, because it means “fellow leader” in Tagalog.
The Tiongs’ neighbor is Mrs. Tabil, and if you read the scene, you’ll find that the meaning of her last name is very appropriate. Tabil means “talkative” in Tagalog. :)
Nene, which Arissa uses often when speaking to her niece, Charity, is a term of endearment for young girls.
Now, aren’t you glad I didn’t pick something like Tukodlangit for Arissa’s last name? LOLOL
Do any of you come from a family with a neat ethnic name?
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The hero in my WIP is a Latin Irish cop with two last names (both parents) and both mean "warrior."