By André Averion, Communications Manager

Published August 26th, 2024. Updated September 1st, 2024.

Gabriella Buba will be returning to Dallas Sept. 6-8 to discuss her critically acclaimed book “Saints of Storm and Sorrow”, a Filipino-inspired mythos fantasy debut of a queer nun using her goddess-given gift against colonization.

Raised in Dallas pre-university, Buba is a mixed Filipina-Czech author and chemical engineer currently based in Houston, with her first ever published book “Saints of Storm and Sorrow” debuting June 25. Professionally her writing career began in 2018 with several short stories and anthologies, but her interest in writing started even at a young age. 

“My mother will tell you that the first time we watched Pocahontas together I was so angry at the ending that I made her sit down and write a letter to Disney telling them how they messed up and how I could fix it for them,” Buba said. “I've always kind of watched stories with this idea in my head that I can do it better.”

In 2013 Buba had written her first novel, but after her first publication rejection, she began writing poems and short stories for herself. That was until her husband encouraged her to begin querying for an agent in 2018, when Buba would eventually get involved with Pitch Wars, a popular mentoring program that shutdown in 2022. Despite 55 requests to publish with no follow up, in November of 2022 she met Ramona Pina, who would eventually become her agent. 

However during this time, Buba was facing an author’s dilemma. She aspired to write the story of a failed chosen one, but each draft failed to meet her expectations. It wasn’t until she met Mia Tsai, author of Bitter Medicine, who helped her realize she wasn’t being true to herself. All of her characters were Filipino, and there was an audience of Filipinos ready to read her book.

“When I started writing, all my stories were stories about white people, because those are the stories I read and all of us learned by imitation,” Buba said. “When you finally realize that- when you finally are ready to write stories that are about you, it’s a very vulnerable moment, but your writing grows. I realized that and I sat down, did a month of research, and then I wrote the entire book in another month.”

From this revelation and the work of Pina, she would finally find her publisher with Titan Books, which would take Buba out to London for the launch of the book between June 25-27 in 2024. Not even a few days later, “Saints of Storm and Sorrow” became Amazon Editor's Picks: Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of July and later became Spotify's Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy of 2024.

Inspired by the oldest extant Marian statue and black Madonna in the Philippines, who’s name and origin is lost to time, Buba wondered if Our Lady of Guidance could have been angry at her name being forgotten. The prospect of wrath sparked the influence of “Saints of Storm and Sorrow” where the main character María Lunurin is driven by anger at the vengeance of the goddess and colonization of the Philippines. 

“You've got to look at what you've got driving you deep, deep down and you gotta reach in there real deep and you gotta pull it out,” Buba said. “For me that was anger. That I am angry about the way the world is and the things that my friends, my family and I have gone through because of the way the world is. And there's a point where you have to stand up and say no. Now it stops here. It stops with me and I'm going to do something about it.” 

“Saints of Storm and Sorrow” isn’t just about the powerful theme of anger, as throughout the book audiences will resonate with the themes of love, history and identity. The challenges of living between two cultures, the complexities of faith and the resilience of tradition will certainly strike a chord with many Filipino-Americans reading this magic driven story. It’s a story for all Filipinos, written by a Filipina. 

It’s a blooming mythos kickstarting The Stormbringer Saga, with its sequel “Daughters of Flood and Fury” having its cover art officially debuted Aug. 23 with an expected release date of July 2025.

Before the second book releases, Gabriella Buba will be returning to DFW for a book tour this early September, where fans and the DFW Filipino American community will have the chance to meet her.

On Sept. 6 at the Lincoln Park Barnes & Noble in Dallas, Buba will be discussing and signing the book copies at 5 p.m. for a meet and greet. 

On Sept. 7 at 12 p.m., Buba will be a special guest at PACE’s Let’s Get Social event at DelCiano Pinoy Cuisine in Grand Prairie, curated by Abby Casallo of Pixel Parlour. On the same day at 6:30 p.m. Buba will be joining romantic fantasy author Amy Avery for conversation and book signings at Pantego Books in Dalworthington Gardens, TX. 

On Sept. 8 she will be returning to Dallas for a 1 p.m. book signing at Whose Books with sci-fi dystopian author Judy Liu. 

“Saints of Storm and Sorrow” is available on Amazon and Goodwill. It is also available on Audiobook and Spotify, which is narrated by Dante Basco, famous for his role as Prince Zuko from “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, and Danice Cabanela, who stars as Bonnie in Netflix’s “Adventure Beast”.