HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: We are doing some celebrating around here today: We are so honored to host a newly anointed award nominee!
The fabulous Mia Manansala’s first novel, Arsenic and Adobo just received a coveted Agatha Award nomination! And that is the best possible beginning to any mystery writer’s career.
Click here to see all the nominees, including our own Jan Brogan for Best Non-fiction for The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston's Struggle for Justice…and me for HER PERFECT LIFE for Best Contemporary Novel! I have to say I am still floating and I bet Jan and Mia are too—along with the other nominees. And we say hurray. And congratulations to all.
And now Mia, like any good writer, is on to her next book! And she's shares some secrets... and an incredibly prophetic Tarot card.
Embracing Side Character Energy
by Mia Manansala
For the last few years, I’ve pulled a tarot card to represent my year. I don’t choose the card I want to symbolize my year, as some do, I shuffle my cards and leave it up to them to tell me what the year will bring.
In the past, I separated the major arcana from the stack and would choose my card from among the twenty-two cards of the major arcana only. But you know what? Not every year needs to bring huge, life-changing experiences (which is what the major arcana often symbolizes). Sometimes you’ll have a quieter, minor arcana year and that’s absolutely fine. In fact, considering the tumultuous last few years (who knew The Hermit card I pulled at the beginning of 2020 would’ve been so prophetic!) I am absolutely craving a minor arcana year.
Which is why I was absolutely thrilled when I pulled the Three of Cups, a card symbolizing community, teamwork, and celebration.
I always tell new writers that building a good, supportive community is one of the best things you can do as an author. And I also tell them to celebrate their wins, big or small, because this industry is tough and we all experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows–sometimes on the same day. So you need to enjoy each moment while you can.
I give that advice, but to be honest, it’s often hard to follow it. As writers, particularly if you’re a series writer, you’re always looking ahead and working on the next thing.
2021 was my debut year and it was wonderful in so many ways, but I spent so much of the time overwhelmed by everything and always looking ahead to the next book I had to write that I know I didn’t properly enjoy it. So this year, I aim to slow down, ground myself in the present as much as possible, and CELEBRATE.
Along with embracing the minor arcana vibes of this year, I also decided that this is the year of side character energy. I came across this idea in this hilarious tweet by Delia Cai:
For the last few years, I’ve pulled a tarot card to represent my year. I don’t choose the card I want to symbolize my year, as some do, I shuffle my cards and leave it up to them to tell me what the year will bring.
In the past, I separated the major arcana from the stack and would choose my card from among the twenty-two cards of the major arcana only. But you know what? Not every year needs to bring huge, life-changing experiences (which is what the major arcana often symbolizes). Sometimes you’ll have a quieter, minor arcana year and that’s absolutely fine. In fact, considering the tumultuous last few years (who knew The Hermit card I pulled at the beginning of 2020 would’ve been so prophetic!) I am absolutely craving a minor arcana year.
Which is why I was absolutely thrilled when I pulled the Three of Cups, a card symbolizing community, teamwork, and celebration.
I always tell new writers that building a good, supportive community is one of the best things you can do as an author. And I also tell them to celebrate their wins, big or small, because this industry is tough and we all experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows–sometimes on the same day. So you need to enjoy each moment while you can.
I give that advice, but to be honest, it’s often hard to follow it. As writers, particularly if you’re a series writer, you’re always looking ahead and working on the next thing.
2021 was my debut year and it was wonderful in so many ways, but I spent so much of the time overwhelmed by everything and always looking ahead to the next book I had to write that I know I didn’t properly enjoy it. So this year, I aim to slow down, ground myself in the present as much as possible, and CELEBRATE.
Along with embracing the minor arcana vibes of this year, I also decided that this is the year of side character energy. I came across this idea in this hilarious tweet by Delia Cai:
In my second book, Homicide and Halo-Halo (Feb 8), my protagonist Lila Macapagal is going through a really difficult time dealing with the aftermath of the events from the first book, as well as the pressure of opening her own cafe with her best friends Adeena and Elena. While Lila is dealing with a murder at the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she’s judging and is connected to some uncomfortable memories from her past, Adeena and Elena are just vibing, enjoying their newfound relationship and full of plans for their burgeoning business.
Illustration credit: pandesaii (art commission)
I’ve decided that for 2022, I’m sidestepping that protagonist life and embracing my inner Adeena Awan, where I get to be the sassy barista best bud with fabulous hair and a drama-free love life.
If you could channel the energy of any fictional side character, who would it be and why? Drop your comments below for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Homicide and Halo-Halo! U.S. entries only.
HANK: YAY, Mia! And I am off to try that. And hmmmm.. one of the cards you pulled was…celebration! Your decision was to CELEBRATE! Guess that's working! Gotta love that.
And I would choose the energy of Rowen Atwood in Her Perfect Life. (What an experience to be a smart confident mischievous 7 year old, right?)
How about you, Red and Readers?
Mia P. Manansala is a writer from Chicago who loves books, baking,
and badass women. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture.
She is the winner of the 2018 Hugh Holton Award, the 2018 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, the 2017 William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers, and the 2016 Mystery Writers of America/Helen McCloy scholarship. She's also a 2017 Pitch Wars alum and 2018-2019 mentor.
Homicide and Halo Halo
Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie's Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.
Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can't bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.
To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila's little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.
https://www.miapmanansala.com/
I’ve decided that for 2022, I’m sidestepping that protagonist life and embracing my inner Adeena Awan, where I get to be the sassy barista best bud with fabulous hair and a drama-free love life.
If you could channel the energy of any fictional side character, who would it be and why? Drop your comments below for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Homicide and Halo-Halo! U.S. entries only.
HANK: YAY, Mia! And I am off to try that. And hmmmm.. one of the cards you pulled was…celebration! Your decision was to CELEBRATE! Guess that's working! Gotta love that.
And I would choose the energy of Rowen Atwood in Her Perfect Life. (What an experience to be a smart confident mischievous 7 year old, right?)
How about you, Red and Readers?
Mia P. Manansala is a writer from Chicago who loves books, baking,
 |
| Jamila Yip Photography |
She is the winner of the 2018 Hugh Holton Award, the 2018 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, the 2017 William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers, and the 2016 Mystery Writers of America/Helen McCloy scholarship. She's also a 2017 Pitch Wars alum and 2018-2019 mentor.
Homicide and Halo Halo
Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie's Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.
Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can't bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.
To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila's little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.
https://www.miapmanansala.com/
