Today we’re excited to be connecting with Jeehan Quijano again. We’re excited to feature one of their products in our gift guide – learn more below and we encourage you to use your gift budget to support small businesses & creatives whenever possible.
Jeehan, we loved learning your story, but I think our audience is going to appreciate learning about the product side of your story as well. So, maybe you can help bring everyone up to speed?
It’s a fiction novel written from my passion for writing and the necessity for diverse stories. We live in a multicultural society and I feel it is my duty as a writer to tell stories from voices that are often unheard or silenced. I’d had this story in my head for a very long time but I started writing it when I was going through grief. Perhaps it was my way of coping, and perhaps it was the right moment to write the story. The story focuses on a Filipino who escapes poverty in his hometown and comes to America to work as an occupational therapist. It is a dream come true for him in many ways until one day, he receives news that his brother has died. So he goes home to collect his ashes, but he also finds out bitter truths that were hidden from him, revelations that lead him to a place of regret, sadness and retribution. But there is also redemption in the end. There are other themes in the story that are just as important, such as love, sacrifice, forgiveness, and an immigrant’s struggle of adaptation and acceptance.
What’s been the most exciting part of the journey of taking this product from idea to real life?
The most exciting part is finishing the first draft because it’s a great achievement to see all your hard work come into fruition. It is such a liberating feeling. Besides, you can’t have a final product without a finished draft. And the next most exciting part is when you hear people saying that they were moved by the story and resonated with it in some way.
If you had to boil your product or brand down to one core message – what would that message be?
The general message is that books and reading are important. Reading opens your mind to worlds you know nothing about or know very little of, and helps you understand humanity thus fostering empathy. There are many other benefits such as it increases your vocabulary, nourishes the capacity for attention, creativity and critical thinking. The core message of this novel is that it reiterates truths and realities that we already know but need to be reminded of – that we all have dreams and desires for a good life, that family dynamics can be complicated, that sometimes people will do anything for their loved ones, and that we take many different paths in order to arrive at the life that we desire. Also, immigrants, like most people, aspire to achieve their dreams and, at the most basic level, desire for their families to live decent lives free from poverty and danger. So we all have more similarities than differences, and at the very core of us as human beings, we want to live in a society where our loved ones are sufficiently nourished and sheltered, and free from harm and persecution.
Do you have any advice for folks who are just starting out?
If you want to be a published author, focus on writing consistently, whether that’s one paragraph or one page a day or a few pages per week, because those add up. It’s the persistence and hard work that will get you there. It is a work that relies solely on you, so you have to be your own cheerleader, advocate, therapist, teacher, student all at once.
- Website: www.jeehanquijano.com
- Instagram: @jeehan_quijano
