Cindy Fazzi is a Filipino American writer and former Associated Press reporter. She’s the author of the Domingo the Bounty Hunter series, to be released by Thomas & Mercer on Sept. 9, 2025. It includes the previously titled Multo, a finalist in the Best Literary category of the 2024 Silver Falchion Award. Her historical novel, My MacArthur, was published by Sand Hill Review Press in 2018. Her short stories have appeared in Heartland Review, Copperfield Review, Snake Nation Review, A Thin Slice of Anxiety, and TOUGH.
I was a writer without an agent or a book deal for so long that the warning “be careful what you wish for” simply didn’t apply to me. I wished that all my unpublished manuscripts would get published, and I was prepared to get that wish.
In 2022, I was as close to my wish as I could get. I finally had a literary agent, Maria Napolitano of KT Literary, who sold two of my four unpublished novels to Agora Books, an imprint of Polis Books. The deal was for a two-book contemporary thriller series, which follows a Filipino American bounty hunter as he tracks down his most elusive quarries.
Agora Books published book one, Multo, in 2023. The novel introduced Domingo Laban, the first Filipino American and first brown immigrant hero in the bounty hunter trope. Multo was a finalist in the Best Literary category of the 2024 Silver Falchion Award.
Before the end of 2023, my agent submitted book two of my series with an eye on publication in 2024. It never happened. Polis Books and Agora Books shuttered in March 2024, six months after Multo was published.
It took another three months before the warning “be careful what you wish for” finally applied to me! In a stroke of good luck, Thomas & Mercer picked up my series in a new two-book deal.
The publisher planned to simultaneously release both books on Sept. 9, 2025. Instead of simply re-issuing book one, Thomas & Mercer treated it as a brand-new manuscript, complete with full edit and a new title and book cover. My Domingo the Bounty Hunter series includes Danger No Problem (book one) and Sunday or the Highway (book two).
Bird by Bird
Unlike my previous publishers, Thomas & Mercer has a full-fledged editorial and marketing staff. Suddenly, I had an entire team waiting for my two manuscripts, which would be edited back-to-back under formal editorial schedule.
I was used to working with just one or two people in small presses, but at Thomas & Mercer, I had an acquiring editor, a production manager, a developmental editor, a copyeditor, a proofreader, a cultural sensitivity reader, and two marketing professionals who wrote promotional copy for my series. This was the real deal.
The elation of wish fulfillment quickly turned into fear as I dived into a grueling editing schedule. In December 2024, as everyone went on a holiday break, I was working. Worse, I was stuck in never-ending “what-ifs.” What if my editors hated my revisions? What if I failed to meet the deadlines? What if the ground beneath me opened and swallowed me?
More than anything, it was the idea of editing two books simultaneously that overwhelmed me. I wrote the books over a span of many years at my own leisurely pace. Overnight, I lost the luxury of time.
How did I face the challenge? “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird,” as Anne Lamott wrote in her book, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. It was the advice Anne’s dad gave her brother while tackling a report on birds that was due the following day.
Other Favorite Passages
In a time of great stress, I reread passages of the book. It comforted and energized me. It helped me finish my work on time and to the satisfaction of my team. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
Quote #1: “Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious. When you’re conscious and writing from a place of insight and simplicity and real caring about the truth, you have the ability to throw the lights on for your reader.”
Writing can be very dreamy, but the editing process required me to become fully conscious and tactical. Developmental editing is akin to a crash test in the car industry. It’s the time to look for holes in a novel’s plot and weaknesses in conflict and character development and overall structure.
Quote #2: “You get your intuition back when you make space for it, when you stop the chattering of the rational mind.”
During the editing process, I had to think strategically like my editors. If something doesn’t make sense, then it must go even if it was beautifully written. I embraced rigorous changes. At the same time, there were times when I had to pause and set aside the “rational mind” to connect with my intuition. This was particularly helpful in fleshing out a secondary character.
Quote #3: “I heard a preacher say recently that hope is a revolutionary patience; let me add that so is being a writer.”
During editing, my editors pointed out everything I’ve missed while writing the manuscript. From improbable scenarios and continuity problems in the timeline to dangling modifiers and unclear antecedents. It was a humbling experience that required “revolutionary patience.”
Bird by Bird inspired me when I was just dreaming of becoming a traditionally published author. I continue to benefit from its wisdom as an author with an upcoming two-book release.
Danger No Problem by Cindy Fazzi
Domingo has an excellent track record as a bounty hunter—except when it comes to Monica Reed, who has eluded him twice before. As he works to catch Monica for the third time, he discovers unexpected layers to Monica’s story, all surrounding a harrowing truth that she will do anything to bring to light. Caught between duty and morality, Domingo must decide which side he’s truly on.
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