Month: June 2011

I grab this book after I read the review from Maxwell Cynn, the book was in my list, yes the I may never read all the books I wish list.
I have never met Rachel, but I know that she is part of the IBC that I am actively participating, and she was one of the people that was behind the incredible Blog for Troops that I participate in Memorial Weekend.
This book is a collection of articles/post she had on her blog (that I also discover recently), if you had never read it, stop reading here, go there. (I promise my blog will be here after you laugh a lot)
I pick this book and read it on one sit, I laughed mostly, she open my eyes on certain issues (chick stuff) but more than anything saw a human side for RachelontheOC. (Rachel Thomson)
Writers are human, we make mistakes, we said things we should not, and we think things that we will not admit to ourselves we did, those things will die with us (or be part of a really sick character on a book, maybe a funny one if we are lucky)
If you are looking for a good laugh, pick this book, you will laugh from beginning to end and may even get a couple of moments that you will stop reflect, and understand or discover something, (about her, but maybe about you) and then you will go back to laughing again.
This book was a nice treat, and I am glad it got to the top of the list.
 

I know that Father’s day was yesterday, but I don’t post on Sunday’s so, Here it is.

Happy Father’s Day!

I am a lucky guy, my father not only is alive, but I had the chance to appreciate how great he was when I was growing up, and even that there are many things I don’t understand, even today, I am sure of something: “He did the best he could with the tools he had” and honestly he did a great job, a job that I am grateful, a job that should make him proud.
So I want to take a moment to say: Thanks! I hope I can use the tools I had also the best I could, and that my kid(s) can grow and appreciate all the good things I am trying to do, and get to be kind with the mistakes I am sure I am going to make, but I learned from the best: Be sure, that I am doing the best I can with the tools I have!

Let’s begin saying that I am guilty of all charges on these ideas, the reason I know I am, is because I have been able to learn some of them, but I can assure you that there is a long list of other things I do, that I am not even remotely aware.

• One of the big issues with writing is the excuses we say to ourselves, writing is hard, tough and difficult, therefore we create great things to procrastinated like writers block, and we make no time to write, regardless of how important write is for us, it is always the last thing in our list, think about it, people are parents, workers, husbands, wives, friends, parents, sons and daughters, then after everything else, we are writers.
• We writers don’t procrastinate, we have writers block. Writers love to be special, because we tend to be sensible people, we are full of insecurities, therefore we need to feel special, constantly. Because of that we writers don’t procrastinate, there is nothing special about procrastination, writers block instead is cool, and assure us, that we are something unique, writers.
• The problem with procrastination or writers block is that can last a really long time, most of the time caused for the fear of write poor stuff, we as writers forget that we need to write a lot of bad and poor stuff (let’s be honest, Crap) in order to write and create good stuff, so because we are afraid of write the poor stuff we hide behind the writer’s block curtain. Please don’t allow me to fool you, I have hide behind that same curtain before, until I learn that if I allow myself to write poor stuff I get more confident to write the better stuff.
• Writers Block is the best excuse writers had invent to said they are afraid, if I have Writer’s Block in some way, we belong to a special club, but also I don’t need to say I am in any way afraid, I don’t need to acknowledge the fear, I don’t need to admit that I am afraid, because what I have is Writer’s Block!
• Professional writers don’t suffer from writer’s block, basically because they had understood that in order to write good stuff they need to write the stuff that it is not even worth the trash, in order to write the good one, and they know that writer’s block is nothing more than fear with a fancy name.

There is another secret, your bad stuff, no one need to read it, you can even delete it if you want, I keep a running file, called STUFF TO HIDE, for those days in witch I am afraid to write, when I can claim I have Writer’s Block. I know I need to write poor stuff, but only when I don’t want to sit and write. When I sit to write I only wish to write great incredible stuff. It is because of that, that I simply put it there, in that file, and write, write like a mad man (but you can do it as a women if fit better). Other days, I think I will write great stuff, and should get published for the whole world, in case you are not aware, there is a lot of the bad stuff that should be shared, and a lot of the great that should be burn and no one should write, but it is at the end of the day, the fear, the fear of not being good, of not been special, or not being a a writer, of not write good enough, in conclusion, a fear of what others think, a fear of not being good enough.

So, the first book is out. The Writer, and I am done with the second draft of the next novel, tentatively titled: Putsch. I am working now on some of the feedback I got from The Writer, at the same time that I work on the promotion the book, and fixing some of the stuff I have noticed, like real grammar issues.
No one said, that after first book, since were going to get easier, things are getting complex, real complex, but really fun too.
 
We as aspiring writers, take our sweet time to write the first book, enjoy and taste the first book, then struggle to get the energy to push the book while writing the second one, I don’t want to imagine what’s next, after you are trying to push two books and begin the next one, but this is the dream, and in the name of the dream, I subscribe to the work and smile.
 
At the same time, you are hoping to get the comments, the likes, the followers, the people that read your story, the people that enjoy the story, so if you are reading this and had not stop from my Facebook page, please do and like it, same of the book in Amazon, and if you read it, don’t forget to leave a comment.
 
About Putsch, let’s begin with the definition: a violent attempt to overthrow a government.
 
Hannah Fisher is hired to sabotage Rafael Hungria’s government, his employer is seeking control over some energy reserves while develop a nuclear complex and weapon. The problem begins, when Hannah decide to putsch his employer.
 
This is another fast paced triller, shorter than my original novel, actually is over 35,000, that technically place it as a novel, but so fas has been not only a fun novel to write, but a fun novel to re-write, edit and read.
When you are editing, you need to keep reading, slowly, paying attention, looking for errors, with this book, I have struggle with that, getting myself into the reading instead of the editing process, forcing me to get back, and re-read in order to properly edit; but had been fun!
 

I publish my first novel on May 2011. It’s called ‘The Writer’ and I am extremely proud of it, sadly, my manuscript had some issues, some grammar issues. I freak out. I even tough on remove the book for all the online places that it is right now, hide it until get to be perfect.
I am a learner,  so after I tough about removing the book, I stop myself and make a different decision. My book is only available in electronic version, so when I update the next file, with the corrections all the people that had bough it will get an updated file the corrections. The print version will follow after those get corrected. I feel bad, I do, but I also know that the fact that some grammar issues are distracting to the reading they did not kill the story. I should not have those, I agree, but they are there. About that I can only do two things, back off and remove the book, or fixed them and move forward. I choose the later.
I was born and raise speaking spanish, I learn english when I was 25 (I didn’t speak a word before that) and I have come to a point in witch I am not a great spanish speaker and I am not a great english speaker (frustrating I know). I came to this craft for the long run, I have another team of people working on the manuscript, and a new one will be out early next week. It will be error proof, I don’t know, unlikely,  but it will have less, and will continue going to correction until get’s to the place it should.
Should I be ashamed that I don’t have the team or editors behind?, no.
Should I be ashamed that the book had some grammar issues?, no.
I only should be ashamed if you discover that I am aware and decide to ignore them. It even cross my mind that this will kill my career as a writer, but then I cool down, it will only kill my career if I choose not to do anything about it, my career will be killed only by one thing, Fear.

If I allow the fear of some grammar issues stop me from writing, I will kill my career,
If I allow the fear of not writing anything good ever again, I will kill my career,
If I allow the fear of people don’t liking what I wrote, I will kill my career,
If I allow the fear of rejection from the readers, I will kill my career,
 
But I will not kill my career:
 
If I keep writing, and working into improving my grammar and the craft,
If I continue writing, even if my inner critic think is not good, and I never will write anything good again,
If I don’t write because people may not like it,
If I don’t write because people may not read it.
 
I went that path, I stop writing, and I didn’t like it more over there than over here, dealing every day with the fear, dealing every day with the opportunity is without a doubt more fun than the other option, and trust me, I embrace it, because of fear the other option.
 
I will write, even when I don’t feel like it,
I will write, even if I made grammar mistakes and crimes,
I will write, even if no one ever read me,
I will write, even if people dislike it,
I will write, even if no one ever read it,
I will write, because I am a writer.
 

Last weekend event was incredible. I receive 102 unique comments, and my friends at Indie Book Collective are going to be donating 10,000 books to our troops. I was impress about the stories, the personal emails, and the amount of people, emotions, and gratitude that came trough this event. It was a great learning experience.
Today I just want to create a little moment, to say thanks, thanks for the freedom we have, to the people that made it possible, thanks to the people that visit us this weekend, participate and allow Indie Book Collective to have such an incredible event, it was an honor to be part of it.
Have a great week.