We are thrilled to share the story of Zeny May Recidoro, whose work we will bring to volume in our inaugural anthology, due out next year.
DILIM: Tell us a bit about your background and inspiration
ZMR: I am a writer and artist from the Philippines with an interest in local visual arts, literature, folk cultures, and food history. I draw most of my inspiration from my interactions with other people.
Because of my line of work, I get to meet a lot of people from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Talking and interacting with them exposes me to different perspectives and temperaments which helps me discern how to form and write my characters.
When I can, I travel to new cities and visit museums to recharge. Like most writers, I read to continue working on developing a voice and style, and to see how another writer might go about writing a scene or incorporating a concept within a narrative. I also go on nature walks with my husband and we take pictures. Having conversations with him also inspires me.
Noticing things in my day-to-day life and absorbing the details in everything or how people conduct themselves seems like a very static way of being inspired but it works for me and helps me be detailed in my work without being indulgent.
DILIM: Can you share about your writing process? Any favorite places you feel productive, or any routines you do to engage with your work?
ZMR: Most of my time is consumed by full-time work and small tasks or errands for my home, in tending to a life. I keep different types of notebooks, one of which is dedicated solely to ālightning-strikeā ideas I canāt immediately write down but also cannot afford to forget.
During my days off, I spend about five hours writing each day, which would be ten to fifteen hours in total each week. Time spent writing which is equivalent to a part-time job. Of course, things happen and I might write less or more. I try my best to be committed and disciplined.
Working well, to work hard and smart, is important. The stories might be lush, gothic, and detailed but a lot of the work that happens behind the scenes is often dry and tedious. My favorite place to write, where I feel most productive, is in my pink cozy chair by the window overlooking a small pond where, currently, a duck family lives.
DILIM: What advice would you give to yourself from twenty years ago?
ZMR: I would tell her to be patient and to believe in herself.
DILIM: What message would you like readers to know, long after theyāve read the last page?
ZMR: I had a full-time job with good pay and benefits, and a supportive spouse, all which allowed me the time and space to feed my imagination and artistic passions.
Zeny May Recidoro’s current work āIridescenceā is in e-book and softcover format.
Find her online at her author website: https://zenymayrecidoro.wordpress.com/
And her studio with artworks and books is:
https://www.lilyandmoonstudio.art/