Where are All the Asian Beach Reads? A Q&A with Eliza Romero

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

Recently I had the chance to interview Eliza Romero, a Filipino-American style blogger and the founder of the blog, Aesthetic Distance. Eliza is a pop culture writer, activist, and supporter of diverse literature and media so of course we had a lot to talk about, but the focus of our interview was on the state of Asian-American commercial fiction. I found out Eliza is putting together a panel for the upcoming Baltimore Book Festival called, “Where Are All of the Asian Beach Reads?” and I realized this was a topic I wanted to know more about as well. Eliza was kind enough to answer all of my questions and she gave me so much to think about. Plus, what perfect timing as the film Crazy, Rich Asians debuts this Wednesday, August 15, so everybody should be primed and ready for this conversation.

Here’s what Eliza had to say:

Ms. Meltingpot: Welcome to My American Meltingpot. Can you tell my readers a little bit about your background and how you combine photography, style and diverse literature on your blog, Aesthetic Distance? By the way, I love the combination.

Eliza Romero: Thank you! I started my blog back in December of 2014 and it was originally a beauty and photography blog. I was really set on breaking into the fashion industry via photography. Then, I started posting more personal stuff along with pictures of myself and found that my readers enjoyed that more. I started getting requests for more personal style posts. So my fashion photography work got phased out of the blog and it turned into a pop culture/political fashion blog. I didn’t know anyone else who was taking that approach with their fashion blogs but eventually, I found a small circle of women with similar platforms who inspired me, like Hoda Katebi. I really loved writing articles about issues that I was passionate about. I started writing about heavier and more controversial topics, like race and gender.

A couple of my articles got picked up by larger media publications and I started getting invites to write more. I also started getting invites to attend and host real life events like a fashion show in DC last fall and an upcoming discussion panel this September. I also get asked to be on a lot of podcasts, which is another thing I love doing.

As far as diverse literature, I’ve always been passionate about reading books by POC authors, especially Asian authors. Racial mirroring, a term I learned from fellow Asian writer Sunny J Reed, is something that is a privilege for well-represented groups. Asian Americans are finally getting there. There is a growing amount of Asian children’s books, middle-grade books, YA, literary fiction, and commercial fiction. There is so much out there that just wasn’t available to me when I was a kid. I want to make sure those books get the recognition and the spotlight they deserve. I’m in a few book clubs and I always make sure to pick out a book by an Asian author when it’s my turn to choose a title!

MM: So, you’re organizing a panel for the Baltimore Book Festival called, Where Are All the Asian Beach Reads? I’d like to know, where are they and why don’t we see more of them?

ER: That’s the question I’d like to delve into. Why haven’t there been more? Is it because we are only taken seriously if we’re writing dramatic, heavy literary fiction? Nothing against those kinds of stories. They are beautifully written but they’re not always the most fun to read and they’re not the kinds of books you can just propel yourself through. I think a lot of the most well-known books by Asian writers are more serious and literary and more about the writing than the story. We end up expecting more of this kind of writing from them. There is still a huge gap for lighter women’s fiction and more accessible books by Asian writers.

MM:What do you think people think of when they hear the term Asian literature? Is that even a category?

ER: Honestly, they probably think of Joy Luck Club. If Joy Luck Club doesn’t come to mind specifically, then probably some sort of tragedy/poverty porn/immigrant story. I’m not putting down those stories — they are important but that is definitely what people think of and I think a lot of people are turned off by that.

MM: What role do you think the publishing industry has played in keeping Asian literature so limited and what do they need to do to fix the situation?

ER: I think a lot of it has to do with the risk a publisher takes when debuting a new author. It can cost more than $50k to debut a new author and in this economy, a lot of publishers aren’t willing to invest that kind of money unless they’re sure they can get a blockbuster book out of it.

On the author side of things, Asian authors would really benefit if they worked harder on their social media presence. Publishers will be much more willing to take on a new author if that person already had a large, loyal following.

MM: What impact, if any, do you think the book and film Crazy Rich Asians will have on the publishing industry’s willingness to publish more commercial fiction by Asian authors with Asian characters? Do you think there will be an explosion of Asian commercial fiction now?

ER: Every publisher is looking for the next Gone Girl. And Asian American literature, even commercial fiction, hasn’t produced anything with that kind of cultural impact — until Crazy Rich Asians came along. I’m really hoping that Crazy Rich Asians changes things for Asian American commercial fiction and literature in general. I’d love to see more blockbuster books coming from them. In fact, it’s already starting. This summer alone I saw more Asian novels out than any summer before.

The more blockbuster books there are in this genre, the more Asian stories will be made into movies and TV series.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han is already an upcoming Netflix movie that comes out later this month. The Wangs vs. The World has been picked up for a Hulu series. And Kevin Kwan is writing a new (still unnamed) Asian American series for Amazon. The Kiss Quotient by author Helen Hoang is currently in early development to be adapted into a film. Right now, R.O. Kwon’s debut novel, The Incendiaries, is getting a ton of great press and stellar reviews in mainstream media outlets like the NY Times and Washington Post.

When it comes to Crazy Rich Asians, something that drives me nuts is seeing so many Asian Americans not wanting to support it because “it doesn’t tell their story.” All Asian stories are worth telling.

MM: Finally, what can readers do to help get more “Asian beach reads on the shelf?” And can you leave us with a few recommendations of other titles in this genre that you think are worth a read?

ER: Until more Asian beach reads and commercial fiction novels start to get more attention and media spotlight, the best thing for readers to do is to seek them out on their own. There are a lot of great resources out there now thanks to social media:

The Books and Boba Podcast
We Need Diverse Books
The Asian American Writer’s Workshop
Also, start following your favorite Asian authors on Twitter — it’s a tight-knit community and many of them promote their colleagues’ work on there.
Shameless plug: If you follow me on Twitter, I review a lot of books by Asian authors.

Here are some titles to get your started if you’re new to this genre:

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
The Good Son by You Jeong-Jeong
The Best We Could Do by Thuy Bui
America Is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo

MM: Thank you so much. These are great suggestions and resources. If people want to follow you for even more information and updates, how can they find you?

ER: People can follow my blog, Aesthetic Distance or catch me on social media.
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook

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Wasn’t she great, dear readers? I hope you learned something, or at the very least got some new book suggestions. Do you have a favorite Asian American author or book that features Asian American characters? Leave me a comment with your suggestions ideas.

Peace!