Jason Tanamor and His Aswang
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Filipino American author Jason Tanamor with a copy of Vampires of Portlandia by the White Stag sign in Portland, Oregon.
After she passes, Percival vows to uphold his grandmother’s strict rules so that their clan can live freely without fear of being exposed by humans.
But when the city's murder rate rises drastically, he suspects a family member might be responsible, and he must try to find the perpetrator.
"Aswang" is a Filipino umbrella term for "monster/s," usually connoting supernatural shapeshifters that look human by day but transform into other kinds of entities at night that have a propensity for ingesting human fluids or innards.
Fil-Am Jason Tanamor’s new adult/urban fantasy book Vampires of Portlandia, published by Parliament House Press and slated for release later in the year, allows readers to get to know what kind of aswang Percival and his family are, warts and all.
Jason Tanamor
Recent discovery
Tanamor had never even heard of aswang until recently.
He'd caught an episode of the now-defunct television show "Grimm" (which featured Fil-Am Reggie Lee as Sargeant Drew Wu) that had an aswang (played by Fil-Am actor Alain Uy) in the storyline.
"My wife asked if I'd ever heard of aswang," he says. "I didn't, so I called my father and asked. He said, casually, 'It's something your grandmother tells you to scare you.' All I thought was, 'Why didn't anyone tell me as a kid?'"
Local color
Born in Iowa City, Tanamor had lived in that area up until recently. He and his spouse relocated to Portland, Oregon in late 2018.
Prior to the move, books he had written include humor on pets Moo Moo the Serial Killer Cat (2018), dark humor on grief Drama Dolls (2015) and horror Anonymous (2013); satire on dating She's the One (2017) and stolen identities Hello Fabulous! (2014); and children’s book I Heart Superhero Kid (2016).
His initial culture shock at Portland's local color inspired this latest book. "During the fall and winter, there are literally thousands of crows that roost in the city center.
"I always find myself walking around, and with all the crows, a huge homeless problem, police sirens always in the distance and the smell of human waste, the environment contributed to setting up the world in Vampires of Portlandia nicely."
Tanamor's other books include Moo Moo the Serial Killer Cat; Hello Fabulous!; Anymous and Drama Dolls.
Heritage
With the book's milieu in mind, Tanamor explained the other inspiration for the story's genesis.
He says that growing up in the mi-West in the 1980s in a predominantly white community, "I found myself assimilating. I'd always looked at life through the lens of a non-Filipino" and had written his previous books through that viewpoint accordingly.
"It wasn't until recently that I'd started to accept my heritage. Probably due to age, maturity or pride. Whatever the case, I'd decided to write about Filipino culture as I know it."
Research
And although Tanamor had researched the general characteristics of aswang, he also wanted to create his own interpretations. "I took some lore and then invented my own at times."
"Mainly because Percival's family is a typical family just trying to live in peace," he points out. "They're not vicious monsters as depicted in lore.
"I want readers to resonate with the aswang siblings, but I also want them to be a part of this cool and interesting lore. The vampires are just like you and me; they just happen to be aswang.
"More importantly, I wanted to introduce aswang to mainstream readers. It's an underrepresented subject that deserves its own narrative. I'm hoping we see a lot more variations of aswang lore, such as we do with vampires and zombies."
Process
In previous interviews, he explained that his process for writing books begins with expanding on what he believes is an interesting idea. He works the storylines mentally and always has an ending in mind before he begins writing anything down. He then proceeds to do general outlines for each chapter, noting what will happen to each character or setting.
"Writing comes naturally to me, so long as I know what I'm writing about." His first draft is for storytelling while the following rewrites are for editing continuity and clarity.
For this book, "it took about nine months to write, as everything came together rather quickly.
Tanamor's two favorite authors are Dave Barry (for the humor) and Chuck Palahniuk (for the directness). As for Filipino American authors, "Some that I have discovered that I'd like to get more spun up on are Randy Ribay, Elaine Castillo, Erin Entrada Kelly and Jessica Hagedorn."
As evidenced by Tanamor's body of work, he explores writing in different genres and subject matter. He is currently focusing on stories with Filipino American contexts—developing one based on his childhood, about a Fil-Am teenager who hides his love of Filipino folk dance, and one on his parents, about a couple who emigrates from the Philippines to the US in the 1970s to escape martial law.
Vampires of Portlandia is about a Filipino American family of aswang in Portland, Oregon.
In the meantime, he confesses that he's slowly become obsessed with aswang. "Now, whenever I see a crow staring at me with its beady eyes, I whisper, 'aswang.'"
Visit Tanamor.com.
Walter Ang
Walter Ang is the author of Barangay to Broadway: Filipino American Theater History. When he is not writing about Fil-Am theater, he delves into astrology and yoga. Visit http://amazon.com/author/walterang
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