Q: What was the inspiration behind Lakas and the Manilatown Fish?
A: The inspiration for the story is my 8 year old son Lakas.  When he was an infant he had this cowlick on top of his head that looked like the fin of a fish.  I thought about how funny that was and envisioned him going to a fish market and meeting a fish who would take him on a fun-filled journey.

Q: How long have you been writing?
A: I started in High School.  I went to George Washington High School in San Francisco. I was on the speech team which had different categories.  My category was O.P.P. (original prose and poetry). My first pieces were inspired by the musician Gil Scott Heron.  He had a record out with Brian Jackson called, "Bicentennial Blues". I really got into the lyrics of that piece. He was doing spoken word and was the forerunner to spoken word poetry as we know it today. I got inspired and wrote third world poems, poems about Malcolm X and other things. We'd have speech competitions at different schools and my stuff was pretty revolutionary compared to what the other students were doing and i think the teacher/judges were a bit put off by it. I ended up getting third place a few times when i thought i should have gotten first or second but as they say in horse racing, there's only win, place, or show.

Q: Who are your writing influences?
A: My uncle, the poet Al Robles.  Carlos Bulosan of course and i love Bienvendo Santos. The story "Scent of Apples" is probably the most beautiful short story i've ever read. I like Lawson Fusao Inada, he's a very clever writer. Oscar Penaranda is someone I really look up to, particularly his short stories. I really love the book, "Seasons by the Bay". Charles Bukowski is a huge influence.  I loved the book "Septuagenarian Stew". I like Luis Rodriguez and Martin Espada. I also like the songwriting of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Smokey Robinson, Jim Croce and the Doo-Wop sounds of the 50's and early 60's.

Q: What is your best poem?
A: The poem is called "Portrait of the Artist as a Janitor". The piece is about my father. He had worked as a janitor for the city and county of San Francisco for many years. He started his own 2 man janitorial service, which meant i was the employee and he was the boss. Anyway, he'd steal toilet paper from various work sites and we'd have toilet paper to last us into the next major earthquake.

Q: Why do you write?
A: Why not?

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A: Not Really