Today I am happy to welcome Roxanne San Jose, author of Annagram and Time Travel, to Creekside Café. It is so good to have you at my virtual café.
Roxanne: Thank you so much. I am happy to be here.
Sherri: You are so young, probably the youngest author I have had visit so far.
Roxanne: I graduated with a degree in Political Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Sherri: That’s interesting. Do politics show up in your novels or other writing?
Roxanne: My first book, Annagram, has politics in it since it was inspired by social issues in the Philippines on the Spratly Island.
Sherri: Do you speak of the claims against the island chain? I’m not sure I know all of the history, but I believe China and others are trying to claim the island chain and establish their rights to what should be considered Philippine lands? How did this factor into your first novel?
Roxanne: Yes, China and other countries were trying to claim islands due to natural resources. The Philippines won the case under the International Court of Tribunal.
Sherri: Your latest novel, Time Travel goes back to the year 1970. That is the year I started kindergarten. It was a chaotic time in history. Is there a specific reason you chose that year?
Roxanne: No, I do not. I just wanted to pick a year for the story
Sherri: You self-published Annagram but you found Avid-Publishing for Time Travel, tell us about that experience. Did you like working with a publisher?
Roxanne: It is a great experience having a publisher because I am not doing the work all by myself, such as the book cover and marketing.
Sherri: You have been doing some promotions for Time Travel, doing events at local schools, we’d love to hear more about it.
Roxanne: The main character, Angelie Thompson is a high school student. I have been promoting by doing interviews and attending book clubs.
Sherri: You are originally from the Philippines?
Roxanne: I was born in the Philippines but now live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I was thirteen years old when I moved to the United States. My family chose to move due to the low economy.
Sherri: It must have been a culture shock leaving the Philippines and coming to the US, especially Las Vegas.
Roxanne: It was different from the being in the Philippines due to the culture.
Sherri: What do you do in Las Vegas?
Roxanne: I work in our family owned slot machine business, I repair slot machines to accounting.
Sherri: Have you always written?
Roxanne: I have been writing since 2015. I got into writing by reading books. I was inspired to write my first novel based on social issues in the Philippines on the Spratly Islands.
Sherri: Who are your favorite authors or your favorite books?
Roxanne: Mitch Albom, my favorite book of his is Time Keeper.
Sherri: Tell us a little more about you as a person and as a writer.
Roxanne: I graduated with a degree in Political Science from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I am friendly. As a writer, being creative is my key to writing a story.
It took me two years to finish Time Travel because I went back to the Philippines briefly, did editing with an editor and submissions to publishers.
I learned how to write by reading about writing a novel, vocabulary words and grammar.
Sherri: It’s been good to have you here Roxanne. Time Travel was released April 15th, 2019. You can find the links below. Follow Roxanne on social media and check out her books.
Order: https://www.avid-publishing.com/product-page/time-travel
Social Media Accounts:
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