AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: CELESTINE TRINIDAD

It’s been a little while since we shared an author interview, and with the release of Southeast Asian Fantasy Drabbles this week, it’s the perfect time to meet some our SEA contributors!

Celestine Trinidad has been an Insignia contributor since the early days, with her story ‘Horse Feet’ featured in Southeast Asian Fantasy. She also has a YA story, ‘Shadows’ in this year’s Insignia 2020: Best Asian Speculative Fiction, and a poem published with our Instincts online series.

Celestine is one of many Filipino contributors in Southeast Asian Fantasy Drabbles; her piece ‘Sole Witness’ features the same characters from ‘Horse Feet’ and is a great addition to the collection.

TWENTY-FIVE QUESTIONS

Author Name/s: Celestine Trinidad
Years active as a writer: 13
What genre/s you write: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Romance, Crime, Young Adult, Children’s
Favorite genre to write: Fantasy
Favorite length of story to write: 7500+
Your nationality: Filipino
Country you live in: Philippines
Number of Asian countries visited: 4
Favorite Asian country (visited): Japan
Favorite place in Asia (visited): Tokyo
Place (city or country) you most want to visit in Asia: Taiwan
Favorite Asian cuisine: Japanese
Favorite Asian dish: Sushi
Favorite Asian movie (any genre): Last watched that I really enjoyed was Alive starring Yoo Ah-yin and Park Shin-hye
Favorite Asian book (any genre): Salvation of a Saint by Higashino Keigo (or honestly any book by this author)
Favorite Asian celebrity: Current favorite actor – Ju Ji-hoon, current favorite band – Ben & Ben
Best thing about being a writer: You can reach a lot of people with your stories, and hopefully through your writing you can give them hope, encourage them to keep going.
Worst thing about being a writer: Sometimes you just want to be done with a story/book, but there’s still so much work to be done before you can get to the end, huhu.
Day writer or night writer: Night (or early early morning, sometimes)
Drink and snack of choice (while writing): Tea (coffee when I really need to stay awake) and chips
Number of short stories/poems submitted each month (av): 1-2
I dream to be published with/in (publisher/publication): Tor (one can dream, right?)
Most active on (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram): Twitter (@luckychan)
Self-published, traditionally published, or both: Both
Currently working on: A paranormal romance novel based on Philippine folklore (which may turn into a trilogy, if I ever get around to finishing it haha)

~~~

Author Bio:

Celestine Trinidad is a licensed physician (particularly, a pathologist) based in the Philippines. In her spare time, she writes speculative fiction and children’s short stories. Some of her other stories have been published in other print and online venues, such as The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories, Alternative Alamat, and the Southeast Asian Fantasy volume of Insignia.

Website:http://bit.ly/celestinetrinidad

Blog: http://luckychan.dreamwidth.org

Twitter: http://twitter.com/luckychan

Tumblr: http://luckychanmd.tumblr.com

~~~

Read more about Celestine Trinidad at Insignia Stories:

Excerpt: ‘Horse Feet’ (Insignia: Southeast Asian Fantasy)

Excerpt: ‘Shadows’ (Insignia 2020: Best Asian Speculative Fiction)

INSTINCTS Poetry: ‘The Manananggal on a First Date’, July 12th 2020.

~~~