A Latin Lover

April 20, 2015 posted by Vicki in Dot Dot Dot

In honor of Madrid Fusion Manila, a most-anticipated culinary festival that celebrates over 300 years of shared history between Spain and the Philippines happening this week from April 24-26, 2015, TheGypetters.Net would like to bring you a week of posts about the event as well other things Spanish.

It’s every journalists’ dream to write a novel, a real novel, more than just a compilation of articles written over the years. I believe I have mine somewhere hidden inside my brain yet I haven’t had the courage to sit down and make a commitment to writing it. So I’m very proud and happy to personally know someone who has, someone brave and funny and nonconventional, a brilliant writer as well as a mother, someone entrenched in her passion for her craft. Bambina Wise, who recently moved back to Manila from South Africa, a contributor of WWD and lifestyle editor of the Manila Standard Today is launching her novel this week, Making Love in Spanish, the  story of a fifty-something single mom named Maxine, who discovers one can screw the rules after all. Escaping the hellish fires of her married life, Maxine embraces the unexplored dimensions and expressions of love. Eager to know the juice behind the juicy, TheGypsetters.Net probed Bambina a bit more to find out how this book came to fruition.

TheGypsetters.Net: Why did you decide to write this book?
Bambina Olivares: I was in New York, and had just been chatted up by a guy who then told me there was this thing going on at a club called Avenue the next night. He was an opera singer. We met up the next night and within five minutes I realized he was boorish and homophobic. I left the club soon after. The next day I was telling a girlfriend about the opera singer and she said I should write a book about dating. But I wasn’t interested in writing a memoir or tell-all, even if I did start jotting a couple of chapters. It wasn’t until another trip to New York when my mother made a throwaway comment that I realized I knew how the book would unfold, what the plot points would be. From then, the book started to take shape.

TGN: What advice can you give to women approaching 50? 
BO: Be fearless and trust yourself. At that age, you would have grown into a pretty awesome woman. Embrace it.

TGN: What do think about young women today regarding the new nuances of dating? 
BO: It’s still a minefield, but if you have a strong sense of self, you’ll soon be able to weed out the ones who are worth your time. Don’t overanalyze, and be ready to move on if it doesn’t work. Easier said than done, I know! Sometimes the most innocent of texts take on a meaning beyond what was intended, but don’t dwell. And don’t stalk on social media! Also, be open to possibility!

TGN: How is making love in Spanish different from making love in English?
BO: Well… Love in a foreign language always has that added bit of frisson to it, don’t you think? And Spanish as a language is so full of ardor and passion. And cariño. Words must be complemented by action, as they say. In Spanish, pues, that tends to happen quite a bit!

“MAKING LOVE IN SPANISH is a smart, witty and sometimes racy novel that examines midlife and all it encompasses: reclaiming oneself, ageing with grace and humor, raising empowered daughters, cherishing family and friends, dating outside one’s usual demographic, and occasionally having trysts with Latino lovers. Maxine navigates not just the globe, but the tricky waters of love and lust in the new millennium, cruising – and sometimes stumbling – through the good, the bad and the sexy, often with hilarious consequences. Written in the style of a memoir, it’s also part multicultural romp, part dating satire, part ode to New York and a total celebration of female freedom.”

Kudos, Bambina! I’m sure many curious Manilenos are excited to find out what your novel is all about. 50 Shades of Sangria, perhaps?  Making Love in Spanish is published by Anvil Publishing and will be available at all National Bookstores and Fulled Booked stores nationwide from April 23, 2015 onwards.

The author Bambina Olivares and the sexy book cover