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#ItsPersonal III 96.Gail D. Villanueva joins with a friend, talks representation in books and pets!
8 Plays4 years ago
Gail D. Villanueva is the author of Sugar and Spite, and debut novel, My Fate According to the Butterfly! She was born in the Philippines, in which she currently lives, and enjoys her many pets at home (dogs, ducks, turtles, cats and random birds)
On this episode Gail shares her experience talking with kids about books, and the importance of representation in text. She shares some of the most interesting questions she's had from school visits. And she talks specifically about her childhood/adult reading journey.
Later in the podcast Gail shares some hobbies that you may not know about, and her writing inspiration. You may never guest who it is!
Website: https://gaildvillanueva.com/about-me/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gaildvillanueva
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gaildvillanueva/
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Transcript
Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of It's Personal. The last book I wrote is heavy. All right. Hey, Gary. This is DVD Superboy. My name is Randy Riebein. My name is Jared Krizovska. I don't think I'm a person that curses a little hard to stuff out to anybody. I'm excited. Hi.
Meet Gail de Villanueva
00:00:20
Speaker
Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of It's Personal. Today I have a very close guest that is literally like
00:00:28
Speaker
30 minutes away from me. This is the first. I am so excited to talk to her today. Can you introduce yourself? Hi, I'm Gail de Villanueva, and like Gary said, I'm in the Philippines. I'm the author of My Faith According to the Butterfly and North recently, like as in April 20 recently, and also the author of Sugar and Spice. Wow, I'm so excited about you today.
Life in the Philippines During the Pandemic
00:00:55
Speaker
As we talked a little bit about like in the beginning before we press play, I want to check in with you just to see how you're doing. Check in, see how like your family's doing. How are things for you knowing that the Philippines right now are, we're dealing with it, right? We're dealing with it. How are things going with you? It can be exhausting, especially when you have to like do stuff outside.
00:01:21
Speaker
it's like it's a whole production just going to the grocery like everything has to be done at the right time and at the right moment because just you know just one mistake just can be like you know it can it's a matter of life and death so just have to adjust and it's been a year it's still exhausting but kind of getting used to it
00:01:49
Speaker
You do, you do.
Becoming an International Author
00:01:50
Speaker
And we've talked a little bit about this again in the beginning. So you are published in the U.S., but you are located in the Philippines. I know. How does that happen? Can you tell us a little bit about that journey? Interesting. Since you also live here, you don't know there's a lot of art books here.
00:02:13
Speaker
are published in the U.S. And the Philippines is like a huge importer of books from the U.S. And that's the kind of books that I grew up with. And normally when they, it's starting to become different now. But before, when I was a kid, Philippine-authored books are classified under one umbrella term. It's called the Filipiniana section. And even if you have like picture books and like anything,
00:02:43
Speaker
fantasy books, they're all locked together under one umbrella term. So most of the books that I grew up with are the ones published in the US. And I don't know, so it probably just made me think that I want to have a book published too.
00:03:07
Speaker
I want it to come up here and I want kids like me to read it and see that there's a possibility for them to actually get published and like, you know, failures always grow and it's a huge undertaking. Like, you know, it's like, I have big dreams, but it's nice to be able to do your part, if you know what I mean, to make a difference and just want kids' lives.
Representation in Literature
00:03:36
Speaker
and you're doing that? I hope I am because like when I was a kid if I had like all these access to Philippine author books it would have been made such a huge difference. You know like theory is a thing about like reading when you don't see yourself.
00:03:59
Speaker
in those stories that you read. And like I said, when I was a kid, I'm not exactly very young. I'm like, OK, I'm like 39. So when you're my age and during the time when I was a kid, the diversity, because you're still very much non-existent. So I grew up with stories by white people about white people and how practically no Filipinos, especially brown ones,
00:04:29
Speaker
So it kind of gives you this feeling like you don't really exist and you only exist in this world that you know. But outside, like in the US or other countries or whatever outside the world, you kind of wonder if you exist in those worlds because the books that you read don't really feature you or like even mention that you exist.
00:04:57
Speaker
I don't know. It would have made a lot of difference if I had a book like this when I was a kid. I agree. And I can totally relate. Like I've said this a few times before on the podcast. Like I think I never really loved reading. Yeah. And I remember going to school and the same thing. I didn't see books that looked like me. I went all the way through university, not really reading. I would read a lot of like,
00:05:26
Speaker
books about people, like biographies, those like different people. Never read academic books, like middle grade, mostly academic books. I didn't read like a full book until my wife gave me a book when I was in, I think I was in India at the time. She gave me the kite runner. Um, and then from there she introduced me to Jason Reynolds and I was like, holy crap. Like I was just like, there's this guy who looks like me and writes stories about
00:05:55
Speaker
people that look like me, that have same experiences as me. And like what you are doing right now with your books, like it literally opened a whole new world for me. And here I am, I was an educator at that time, so I was reading picture books, I was kind of reading some early readers, and I still wouldn't pick up a YA book or a middle grade book because I just didn't even know. But I 100% agree with you, like those are the reasons why we read those books in the world. And you're doing such a good job of that. Thank you.
A Career in Web Design
00:06:25
Speaker
you used to and I think you still are into like web design and technology. Yeah. I've done my research. I've looked like I know like that is that's for almost 20 years now or something like that, right? I know. Can you tell us a little bit about that? It's a funny thing about that is when I was a kid, if you met me, you'd never think that I was secretly a geek.
00:06:56
Speaker
Yeah, I guess like I do read a bit. Like I said, I read the white awkward books of often sweet darling twins. And, um, but I was mostly an athlete, a jock, literally a basketball player for the varsity team. And like they, nobody imagined it. I was.
00:07:26
Speaker
at home enjoying and having fun playing around with code. And the interesting thing about this is that, I'm not sure it's probably just, I don't know why it's the case, but if you put me in a classroom setting and the type of student that's gonna be like really hard to, how do you describe it?
00:07:55
Speaker
kick out to the classroom. Most likely, I'm probably the student that you would say, stay at the bat or go outside because you're making too much noise or you're not paying attention or something like that. It's really hard for me to do one thing at a time. So I have to do two things at the same time. I need to multitask. That's the kind of person I am. So if you tell me to take down,
00:08:25
Speaker
probably gonna decorate the whole new book with doodles and stuff. So it's just the type of person that I am. And I don't know, I find it difficult in a classroom setting, but if you give me something and you tell me, I want you to know how this works. And that's exactly how I learned what to say. I just deconstructed a website and just found out how things
00:08:55
Speaker
went together because I need to see how it's actually implemented. That is so cool. That is so cool. And was that something that kind of ran in your family or was it something you just found interesting? No, that's a funny aspect. My mom, before she had her stroke, she was a really great florist and a watercolor artist.
00:09:24
Speaker
My dad is a photographer. He's currently at a photojournalist at the moment. And my sister is really great with oil pastels. She's like a genius with that. And me. Me. I felt like I needed to be different.
00:09:50
Speaker
When you have family members who are kind of brilliant at what they do, you really want to pick a skill that you know that they can't do. So no matter how much you suck, you're still going to be better than they are. And that's exactly why I picked lab design, because I was pretty sure they don't have the patience to deconstruct it. I do.
00:10:18
Speaker
So yeah, I decided like, you know what, I'm gonna study web design because mom, dad, and my sister can't do it. And even if, you know, even if I suck at it, I'm still gonna be better than they are at that. Yeah, that's how it started. For some reason, just got hooked and 20 years later, I'm still enjoying doing what I do.
00:10:47
Speaker
And I think that's what it's all about, right? I think you try to, as much as possible, find the things that you love and if you can hone in on that and zoom in on that and continue that throughout your life, like for the most part,
00:11:01
Speaker
most people that are doing things that they are passionate about are happy. Like I don't think people who are doing things that they're passionate about are not happy. Yeah, you're not going to be happy if you keep on like, especially if it's going to feed you. If you're doing something that you don't like. Now that you've mentioned it, I remember like when there was this one kid during a school visit who asked me, you like your job.
00:11:31
Speaker
because the mom doesn't like her. I was like that's a really nice question and I can honestly tell you that I do even after how many years and it's one of those things that you answer a kid wholeheartedly without. You have to.
00:11:51
Speaker
going to tell them honestly and you don't sometimes like you know if you're not sure if you like your job at all and a kid asks you that you're you're kind of going to feel like how am I going to answer this but at that moment that the moment that they asked that the kid asked me that I was like yeah I do I didn't hesitate and that's what really made me yeah
00:12:16
Speaker
Yeah, I love that.
Discussing Complex Topics with Children
00:12:18
Speaker
I love that. And I think it's so good because it also needs to be thinking about how important it is just for us to tell the truth to kids. Yeah, definitely. Because they know. They know. And I think that's just the part that sometimes adults forget. When you lie to them, you make it worse for them because they're going to find out the truth. And I teach third grade and I am very honest about
00:12:40
Speaker
things that are happening in the world and kids are being kind to each other when kids have questions about friendships or why so and so isn't nice to me. Like I think we have to be very careful about like fidgeting the truth with kids. Yeah exactly. I think we need to be very honest with them because again they are the future of our world. Honestly you know like this funny thing is that
00:13:06
Speaker
A lot of adults think kids, you know, you're smarter than adults think they are. I remember someone asked me in an interview, do you think it's okay to discuss difficult topics with children? Because my first book, it discussed the drug war in the Philippines in an age-appropriate manner, and she was asking what made me want to do that.
00:13:37
Speaker
And I was like, why not? Because it's a reality that a lot of families in the Philippines face. And I don't see the point that we don't talk about it and lie to kids about it. We need to be honest with them. And I feel like we're equipping them better if they know what it's about and they understand instead of lying or not down the mountain.
00:14:06
Speaker
I agree. They know. They hear their parents or their siblings or they watch it on TV or they look at it on YouTube. The kids know. Why not allow them to at least have the dialogue with you to help them, like allow them to have the dialogue so they can help themselves understand and then come to their own conclusions. I think the hardest part is, especially as an educator, it's like sometimes parents or people in general think that we are
00:14:36
Speaker
like showering these kids with like our beliefs, then it's not that at all. It's like we are opening up conversations for them to come up with their own conclusions about how they feel about a specific situation. So yeah, I think it's so important that you shared that, yes, I love my job. I really miss my job with that kid because it could have been, I think, again, when we don't tell the truth, the kids, it makes them doubt things, it makes them think
00:15:03
Speaker
about things in different ways that they don't have to, right? And I think the reason why the kid asked me as well is, is that I have a feeling that if she probably asked an adult and they said yes, but they didn't feel like they really loved the job, something like that. So that's really like, cause I get the weirdest questions. Like there was one question that you felt like one of the most existential questions I've ever gotten.
00:15:33
Speaker
was from a 11 year old girl and she was asking me, why do you like ducks? It's not do you like ducks, it's why. And I'm like, hmm.
00:15:50
Speaker
That stumped me. Why do I like dogs? And since we only had probably 20 minutes or 23 minutes during the school visit, so I couldn't really think about it that much. So the only thing that came to my mind was, well, I like dogs because they're cute and they're like dogs. They act like dogs.
00:16:15
Speaker
But they have the beaks and they have wings and the kid was like happy about it already. It's a great answer. Yeah, it's a good answer for her. But long after that conversation, I was lying on my bed asking my husband.
00:16:32
Speaker
Why do we like ducks? And he was even asking himself, yeah, you know, that's a good question. I'm not even sure why we do. Why do we like ducks? No, I bet you get some of the most interesting questions from Kate, because you talked to a rate of ages. I bet you get so many interesting questions all the time. Yeah, exactly. I bet you do. Definitely.
00:17:01
Speaker
Usually it's the 13-year-olds who ask me more writing specific questions because I think most of them are already starting to like really start writing their own books. And I love seeing like especially bible young authors. I love seeing them. It's like you can see the passion. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
00:17:30
Speaker
That's cool. When you see kids asking questions about the process and you get a chance to even see their writing and when they get excited about it, I think that is like, like, yeah, I think that's so cool because it allows them to have hope and hold on to it. And it goes back to the passion piece that we talked about, like they can hold on to that for so long when they continue to see people that look like them doing the stuff that they love to do. Oh yeah. I remember there was one kid, um, um,
Encouraging Young Authors
00:18:00
Speaker
He was a young black 13-year-old boy. And he was asking me, like, how did you feel about writing as a brown author in an industry that's so full of, like, people? Like, do you think, how hard is it to get into that kind of industry? And I was, like, telling him, you know what? You have a story to tell? Go for it.
00:18:29
Speaker
And you can see in his eyes, he was like, you can see the hope. Like it was always like there was a spark in there. And it was like, Oh my gosh. I made him feel better. And it was like really satisfying seeing him like the moment that he went in front of the screen at first. And he was like, you can feel that he was hesitating about
00:18:58
Speaker
going for it is like, but then when he sees somebody who, who, who, you know, who actually kind of like not exactly like 100% succeed, but actually get a level of success in it, tell him that you can do it. Whatever story you have, it's worth telling and you should go for it. And like, I felt like those simple words were enough for him to
00:19:28
Speaker
you know, like really, really continue writing. And I think that's one of the best things about being an author is that you get to like, you get to inspire a generation of new writers. And I think that's the most worthwhile thing. I agree with you. And I want to ask you a question because I think it goes with
00:19:55
Speaker
what he asked you is like your feelings on like the idea of own voices in writing. And you talked about that, like just how important it is to see kids. Oh my, do I hear something? Do I hear something in the background? Yeah, sorry. It's Hershey. She's chirping again, near the mics. So I do, my question is, what are, who are some other
00:20:24
Speaker
Filipino authors or illustrators that you enjoy, or that you and you started seeing those books. Like who has inspired you through that journey? Okay, I'm going to embarrass her again. She's listening. Arie Andrade Kelly is actually, she's one of my mentors, and she was actually one of the first Filipino MG authors. Actually, she was the first Filipino MG
00:20:53
Speaker
that totally inspired me to write. That made me realize that there's space in the writing industry for Filipino author books about Filipino kids. And what can you say? Like Aaron is like just a genius when it comes to characterization.
00:21:14
Speaker
every time you read her books, it's gonna be like reading a, it's like having a masterclass, masterclassman characters. And characterization, yeah. It's like the voice for every one of her characters is just so distinct. And you can see that perfectly with Hello Universe. I think that's the new Berry Medal Award with you. But yeah, it was so good.
00:21:43
Speaker
The voices of the multi-point of view narrative is so distinct and it's so different from when you read The Land of the Forgotten Girls. It's even much, so much different. It's like, how do you do this? How do you make each character so distinct and so real?
00:22:12
Speaker
And it's not just because she's your character, main characters are Filipinos. Every character that she has, they just seem to be so real. And Aaron is like, I called her Auntie Aaron. Yeah, Auntie Aaron is like totally an inspiration. And if you're listening, Auntie Aaron, I hope you're embarrassed.
00:22:39
Speaker
Make sure we send it to her. Make sure that I'm going to like tag you when this comes out because like you got it here like you're a genius.
Gail's Pets and Wildlife Friends
00:22:50
Speaker
Yeah, we've got a few more questions for you and I think we can't finish the podcast without asking you about some of the lovely friends that you have at home with you. And I say friends, meaning by the number of pets and animals that you enjoy. Can we maybe
00:23:08
Speaker
I know you have one with you right now. Yes, it's Hershey. But what are some of your favorite hookings? For those of you listening, you can't see Hershey right now, but just explain what you have in your hands right now. I have like a little duckling who was hatched two days ago. Adorable, adorable. Yeah, unfortunately for her, she was the only one who hatched in this specific patch of eggs because our ducks were about getting lazy.
00:23:39
Speaker
And so she's kind of attached to me right now. And I know it's a girl. Nothing wrong with that. Because like we checked. We checked. That is so lovely. Yeah. That is so lovely. What other animals, I guess, do you have? I have three dogs. We have two cats.
00:24:10
Speaker
What else do we have? We have two turtles. Our two turtles are like, are like dogs. If they're hungry, like they're going to come up to you and like, just keep on tapping your foot. And the funny thing about the turtle is that I remember a few months ago, I believe, or a few, yeah, a couple of months ago, one of our turtles, the name is Tortoroomi,
00:24:39
Speaker
tortellini escape under the gate oh no like yeah my husband is like oh my gosh where is tortellini i could could feel his anger because he really loves that turtle and anyway it's like we have this um we have a neighborhood facebook group
00:24:59
Speaker
And he posted photos of Tortellini. If you've seen Tortellini, please call us because we miss her and stuff like that. And she's really friendly. You'd be able to touch her. And thankfully, Tortellini didn't wander too far, just like three houses down. And apparently, from the looks of it, our neighbor was
00:25:28
Speaker
we get this feeling that they even hesitated on calling us. Cause that's how friendly she is. I was thinking like probably Tortellini was asking for food and like keep on like, you know, touching them and like begging them and stuff because we got there. You know what? They were like, you can see that every member of their family is like nearly in tears.
00:25:58
Speaker
but you only had them like for less than a day you only had her like she's been with you for like six hours and why are you always crying so apparently as it turns out Gertolini made a huge impact into their lives and every now and then they still like visit the
00:26:21
Speaker
Like, you know, pass by our house, like asking you to sort of leave your room. That's so fun. That's so fun. That's so fun. And right now I'm befriending a, how do you call that bird? I think it's the Philippine Pied Fantino. It's one of those wild birds. And I believe this bird was a migratory bird, just like our house, our neighborhood is near the Shermati Mountains.
00:26:51
Speaker
So a lot of migratory birds pass above us, going through the mountains. And this particular bird, it's a really pretty bird. Try looking it out, like Philippine fan tail, fan tail or something. Anyway, Pied, the P-I-E-D, Pied fan tail.
00:27:22
Speaker
It's a really pretty bird. I'm not sure where you are. You have a lot of Maya birds, the brown sparrows. It's pretty common. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. You're probably pooping all over your balcony. The common bird is usually the brown sparrows, the Maya ones.
00:27:51
Speaker
But here, we really don't like the bounce virus because they eat that's food. Oh, wow. Yeah, I mean, they go in packs, like huge flock of like Maya birds just eat my dog's feet. And I'm like, oh, wow. Like leave. And they're like, you know, I don't know, unwanted guests and everything. But then when this migratory burn, somehow, like, you know, passed by our house.
00:28:20
Speaker
probably he liked it here so he made the home and in one of my husband's like yeah in one of our mulberry tree and then since then we don't have like ground sparrows anymore
00:28:36
Speaker
We don't have freeloaders. And I'm like, okay. He can't stay. Of course, the third enjoyed being around you. Like, of course, the third. Well, he has a purpose, you know. He keeps the hoodies very territorial. And he does look like Sherry. So he keeps the brown sparrows away. And I'm like, I'm going to feed you. I am going to keep you here.
00:29:04
Speaker
we keep on like um we even tried bathing like a scare girl for the brains sparrows it's just like they know oh my god they know it's not a human so like we can't keep them out of that feed and like then this so it's all in blackbird because he's a blackbird literally as it grows i imagine that they have like name
00:29:27
Speaker
I love that though. I love that you're just taking in animals and animals are doing it without even asking. Yeah. It's time to make probably they dislike the house. I love that. I love that. Gail, where can people find you online? Oh, I'm online.
00:29:46
Speaker
I'm everywhere as Gail G. William. It's not really intentional. Like maybe you were thinking, wow, Gail is like really good at marketing. No, it's not really, there's nothing to do with that. It's like mostly just me. I just can't remember my username.
00:30:07
Speaker
So it's hard to remember, so I just picked one. It's Gail de Villanueva. I love that. Yeah, even my website, it's gaildevillanueva.com. And that's most actually fun, so. Yeah, I mean, I get to hear it to remember, from what I know. Exactly. Yeah. Thank you so much. This is so much fun. Yeah, I know. I had so much interest. And like, Rami was telling me that she was guessing here.