Tag Archives: Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

A List of API[A] Romance Authors That Publish Books in English

A List of Asian [American] Romance Authors

Happy APAHM! If we still use APAHM. I think we’re all clear I’ve largely checked out of Romanceland[ia] – god I still hate that “ia” at the end. 😖 Anyway – so I haven’t really made many changes to the list from last year. If you know people who should be on it please let me know!

Also, like years past, I am loosely using [North] American as one category. I actually don’t know if there are any Asian South American romance authors? If so welcome!

Melia Alexander
Bella Andre
Brittany Arreguin
Tessa Barbosa
Grace Callaway
Jax Cassidy
S.A. Chakraborty
Gloria Chao (YA)
Jeannie Chin
Mary H.K. Choi (YA)
Sylvia Day
Sara Desai
Sonali Dev
Piper J. Drake
Pintip Dunn (YA)
Vicki Essex
Hafsah Faizal (YA)
Eilis Flynn
Jen Frederick
Maan Gabriel
Jeanette Grey
Jenny Han (YA)
Karen Harbaugh
Farah Heron
Helen Hoang
Mia Hopkins
Amalie Howard
Uzma Jalaluddin
Julie Kagawa (YA)
Soniah Kamal
Coleen Kwan
Thien-Kim Lam
Ruby Lang
Jackie Lau
Loan Le (YA)
Jade Lee aka Kathy Lyons
Jayci Lee
Hudson Lin
Jeannie Lin
Lisa Lin
Marjorie Liu
Gennita Low
Tif Marcelo
Maida Malby
Sandhya Menon (YA)
Courtney Milan
Tara Pammi
Suzanne Park
Sajni Patel
Cindy Pon
Tara Quan
Alisha Rai
Amara Royce
Sophia Singh Sasson
Nisha Sharma
Royaline Sing
Suleikha Snyder
Jesse Q. Sutanto
Cecilia Tan
Cara Tanamachi
Sherry Thomas
Melanie Ting
Julie Tieu
Gita Trelease
Jen Trinh
Neely Tubati Alexander
Lillie Vale (YA)
Grace Wen
Fortune Whelan
Preslaysa Williams
Cathy Yardley
Jennifer Yen (YA)

International Asian Pacific Islander Romance Authors
H. Bentham
Halina Cabrera
Catherine Dellosa
Carla de Guzman
Six de los Reyes
Mina V. Esguerra
Elizabeth Galit
Georgette Gonzales
Agay Llanera
Arlene Manocot
Chris Mariano
Nicola Marsh
Bianca Mori
Farrah F. Polestico
Kate Sebastian
Nalini Singh
Camilla Sisco
Marian Tee
Jay E. Tria
Celestine Trinidad
Ekaterine Xia
Ines Bautista-Yao

To be honest I have a fuckton of Asian romance authors to add but I’ve only been reading their [fan] translated works, so not sure how all that’d fit here, really. But if anyone is interested in reading Chinese historical romance novels boy do I have a list for you!

A List of Asian Pacific Islander [American] Romance Authors

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Hi friends! It’s that time of year again! Welcome to Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

Like previous years, the upper list is “North American” Romance Authors … which sure SAPAHM/APIAHM is for the USA but … I’d posit someone living in Canada [maybe? generally?] has a closer cultural experience than someone who has never lived in N. America? And for the latter, diversity in reading is always good, yeah?

Melia Alexander
Bella Andre
Tessa Barbosa
Grace Callaway
Jax Cassidy
S.A. Chakraborty
Gloria Chao (YA)
Jeannie Chin
Mary H.K. Choi (YA)
Sylvia Day
Sara Desai
Sonali Dev
Piper J. Drake
Pintip Dunn (YA)
Vicki Essex
Hafsah Faizal (YA)
Eilis Flynn
Jen Frederick
Maan Gabriel
Jeanette Grey
Jenny Han (YA)
Karen Harbaugh
Farah Heron
Helen Hoang
Mia Hopkins
Amalie Howard
Uzma Jalaluddin
Julie Kagawa (YA)
Soniah Kamal
Coleen Kwan
Thien-Kim Lam
Ruby Lang
Jackie Lau
Loan Le (YA)
Jade Lee aka Kathy Lyons
Jayci Lee
Hudson Lin
Jeannie Lin
Lisa Lin
Marjorie Liu
Gennita Low
Tif Marcelo
Maida Malby
Sandhya Menon (YA)
Courtney Milan
Tara Pammi
Suzanne Park
Sajni Patel
Cindy Pon
Tara Quan
Alisha Rai
Amara Royce
Sophia Singh Sasson
Nisha Sharma
Royaline Sing
Suleikha Snyder
Jesse Q. Sutanto
Cecilia Tan
Cara Tanamachi
Sherry Thomas
Melanie Ting
Julie Tieu
Gita Trelease
Jen Trinh
Neely Tubati Alexander
Lillie Vale (YA)
Grace Wen
Fortune Whelan
Preslaysa Williams
Cathy Yardley
Jennifer Yen (YA)

Ongoing List of Asian Pacific Islander [American] Romance Authors

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Hi friends! So the world is a fucking dumpster fire, and … yeah. I hope this list brings a spot of joy though, and you discover some excellent “new to me” authors to glom. <3

The top list is “North American” Romance Authors … which sure SAPAHM/APIAHM is for the USA but … I’d posit someone living in Canada [maybe? generally?] has a closer cultural experience than someone who has never lived in N. America? And I could’ve just … omitted the “second” list but … I do want to shout out those authors – so yeah.

Melia Alexander
Bella Andre
Grace Callaway
Jax Cassidy
S.A. Chakraborty
Gloria Chao (YA)
Jeannie Chin
Mary H.K. Choi (YA)
Sylvia Day
Sara Desai
Sonali Dev
Piper J. Drake
Pintip Dunn (YA)
Vicki Essex
Hafsah Faizal (YA)
Eilis Flynn
Jen Frederick
Maan Gabriel
Jeanette Grey
Jenny Han (YA)
Karen Harbaugh
Farah Heron
Helen Hoang
Mia Hopkins
Amalie Howard
Uzma Jalaluddin
Julie Kagawa (YA)
Soniah Kamal
Coleen Kwan
Thien-Kim Lam
Ruby Lang
Jackie Lau
Loan Le (YA)
Jade Lee aka Kathy Lyons
Jayci Lee
Hudson Lin
Jeannie Lin
Marjorie Liu
Gennita Low
Tif Marcelo
Maida Malby
Sandhya Menon (YA)
Courtney Milan
Tara Pammi
Suzanne Park
Sajni Patel
Cindy Pon
Tara Quan
Alisha Rai
Amara Royce
Sophia Singh Sasson
Nisha Sharma
Royaline Sing
Suleikha Snyder
Jesse Q. Sutanto
Cecilia Tan
Sherry Thomas
Melanie Ting
Julie Tieu
Gita Trelease
Jen Trinh
Lillie Vale (YA)
[Grace Wen]
Preslaysa Williams
Ekaterine Xia
Cathy Yardley
Jennifer Yen (YA)

ICYMI I also compiled a list of Black Romance Authors.

Have you read any of the authors on this list? Is there anyone I missed? Obviously I’ll never be able to get/know of everyone but I’d like to be as inclusive as possible. (And as always, if you’re an author who doesn’t want to be on this list, please let me know so I can remove you.)

Thanks all, and I hope you’re doing well! <3 Thanks for sticking with ALBTALBS!

Original Retro APAHM Guest Hudson Lin on Diversity 201: We Are Not a Monolith

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Hi friends! If you’re wondering about the title … well, Hudson originally sent me this post in 2019. I cringe even now thinking about it. I nearly (figuratively) died when I saw earlier this year I’d totally dropped the ball, so I contacted Hudson and was graciously given permission to post it now. (I will say … in May 2019 I was recovering and re-learning how to walk again so … it wasn’t as if I was totally just not doing anything…) But I still feel terrible. So – my apologies to the wonderful Hudson Lin, and thank you!

Diversity 201: We are not a monolith
By Hudson Lin

When I think of the words Asian American, I get a very specific picture in my mind. This person has yellow skin, grew up in North America, speaks English fluently and perhaps a second Asian language. This person fits most of the mainstream stereotypes of Asians in the West. This person looks like me.

But my mental picture of an Asian American is wrong. Because not all Asians have yellow skin, not all grew up in North America, not all speak a second language. Not all Asians are good at math and excel in school. Not all are quiet keep our heads down hard workers. Not all Asians are good at badminton. Continue reading →

A List of API[A] Romance Authors

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Hi friends! So I did this for Black History Month – created a list of Black Romance Authors which I hope you found helpful. So I wanted to do it for APAHM too.
With SAPAHM months I’ve had some international guests, so the lists might be slightly off – so apologizes if they are, please let me know what to change. (If I couldn’t find a webpage I linked to their Amazon profile page.) And … some of these authors write YA but YA romance, so I added you know – “(YA)” after their names.

Melia Alexander
Bella Andre
Grace Callaway
Jax Cassidy
S.A. Chakraborty
Gloria Chao (YA)
Mary H.K. Choi (YA)
Sylvia Day
Sara Desai
Sonali Dev
Piper J. Drake
Pintip Dunn (YA)
Vicki Essex
Hafsah Faizal (YA)
Eilis Flynn
Jen Frederick
Jeanette Grey
Jenny Han (YA)
Karen Harbaugh
Farah Heron
Helen Hoang
Mia Hopkins
Amalie Howard
Uzma Jalaluddin
Julie Kagawa (YA)
Soniah Kamal
Coleen Kwan
Thien-Kim Lam
Ruby Lang
Jackie Lau
Loan Le (YA)
Jade Lee aka Kathy Lyons
Jayci Lee
Hudson Lin
Jeannie Lin
Marjorie Liu
Gennita Low
Tif Marcelo
Sandhya Menon (YA)
Courtney Milan
Tara Pammi
Suzanne Park
Sajni Patel
Cindy Pon
Tara Quan
Alisha Rai
Amara Royce
Sophia Singh Sasson
Nisha Sharma
Royaline Sing
Suleikha Snyder
Jesse Q. Sutanto
Cecilia Tan
Sherry Thomas
Melanie Ting
Julie Tieu
Gita Trelease
Jen Trinh
Lillie Vale (YA)
[Grace Wen]
Ekaterine Xia
Cathy Yardley
Jennifer Yen (YA)

International Asian Pacific Islander Authors
H. Bentham
Halina Cabrera
Catherine Dellosa
Carla de Guzman
Six de los Reyes
Mina V. Esguerra
Elizabeth Galit
Georgette Gonzales
Agay Llanera
Arlene Manocot
Chris Mariano
Nicola Marsh
Bianca Mori
Farrah F. Polestico
Kate Sebastian
Nalini Singh
Camilla Sisco
Marian Tee
Jay E. Tria
Celestine Trinidad
Ines Bautista-Yao

Have you read these authors before? I know there are names I’ve missed – so do you have anyone I should add? (And thank you!)
And as always – if you want to be removed, please let me know.

*ETA: and unlike the other list, the italicized names are ones from crowdsourcing. So I switched it up. Just keeping y’all on your toes. 😉
*ETA² – Clarification after getting numerous comments – mostly on Twitter – Jackie Lau is not the only Asian Canadian author on the list. I included Canada in the “American” list because it’s in N. America, and is closer/much more similar than say someone who lives in Malaysia and has only ever lived in Malaysia. We’ll see how things change next year.

Happy APAHM + An Ending

1 Reply

Hi friends! It’s May 1, which means APAHM has rolled around again! What is APAHM you might ask? It’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Sometimes you might see AAPI – especially more recently in articles, or being said, and that’s Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

It seems fitting for me to say this during APAHM – I have slightly mixed feelings about it – I’m not happy about it but … I’m pulling the plugs on Smithsonian Heritage Month (SHM) posts in 2022. If people want to guest post they’d be more than welcome to. In fact, I hope they do. But I’m not going to keep trying for nothing. Putting out calls, seeing all the people who see it and just don’t care.

The attitude “oh Lime is just doing this to pander and we aren’t welcome any other time” which is patently untrue. Pretty much anyone is welcome to guest at ALBTALBS at any time – it’s just for the SHMs we really tried to find highlight and celebrate people who fit under the umbrella of that particular month. It’s become more of a burden than a recognition – depressing and discouraging, and that’s … just not good. So I’m calling it quits on that. We’ll see where and how everything else goes.

So uh – on that downer, especially looking at all the hate Asian Americans have gotten for the past year+ … whoo?

😐

SAPAHM Post: Amara Royce Discusses Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient

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Hi friends, so it’s a guest review, I suppose is the best way to describe it. I’m thrilled that Amara Royce contributed this post, and as you might know, Hoang’s next book The Bride Test is now out! (Amara sent me this post on the 4th.)

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Contemporary romance released by Berkley on June 8, 2018

A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there’s not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he’s making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…

I generally don’t write reviews of the books I read, not even on Amazon or Goodreads. So I’m not going to try to be clever, and I can’t guarantee I will be entirely coherent. But I cannot help gushing about this book effusively! I can’t adequately express how much I adore this book—and its author, Helen Hoang, for writing it! I’m also squee-ing because her next book is due out for release on May 7th!!

Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient truly wrecked me in all the best ways. I loved the main characters and many of the supporting characters. I adored the depiction of the female main character Stella’s subjective autistic perspective, as well as the male main character Michael’s handling of the heroine without realizing she’s on the autism spectrum. I adored the depictions of Michael’s family life, especially his mother. I adored the integral issues of consent, and I want everyone to read this book! That’s what the tl;dr boils down to, but for more details, keep reading.

Continue reading →

SAPAHM Guest: Ekaterine Xia On the Portrayal of Mothers … and then Confucius!

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Hi friends! I’m glad to welcome back Ekaterine Xia to ALBTALBS! She’s going to be out APAHM hero this year, and has written other really thoughtful posts before, which I hope you’ll check out of you missed them. (Lime, WTF are all those letters and what do they mean? SAPAHM = Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!) So without further ado… another incredible post by Ekaterine!

On the Portrayal of Mothers … and Confucius!

I have mommy issues.

Specifically, I have issues with how mothers are portrayed in fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy.

Even within Romancelandia, SFFR has a lot of mommy issues. Contemporary does much better, and I have to ask if it’s because contemporary wasn’t influenced by men and their favorite tropes in the same way science fiction and fantasy romance was.

It took me a long time to put that niggling unease into concrete examples, but once you start the list, things start to look pretty bad really quickly. Continue reading →

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Tag Archives: Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

A List of API[A] Romance Authors That Publish Books in English

A List of Asian [American] Romance Authors

A List of Asian Pacific Islander [American] Romance Authors

Ongoing List of Asian Pacific Islander [American] Romance Authors

Original Retro APAHM Guest Hudson Lin on Diversity 201: We Are Not a Monolith

A List of API[A] Romance Authors

Happy APAHM + An Ending

SAPAHM Post: Amara Royce Discusses Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient

SAPAHM Guest: Ekaterine Xia On the Portrayal of Mothers … and then Confucius!

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