Feliz cumpleaños a Libros 787

Luego del Huracán María, mucha gente no sabía qué hacer. Muchos se fueron de la Isla, otros cambiaron de industria y hasta hoy día el proceso de recuperación continúa. Pero para los fundadores de Libros 787, no importaba que un huracán categoría 5 haya destrozado la Isla; ellos iban a lanzar sí o sí. 

Ese tipo de actitud y compromiso dice mucho de la familia entera de Libros 787 y el ejemplo que dan al pueblo. Tienen valores y ganas, un término que más nunca traduce al inglés de la misma manera que se expresa en nuestro idioma nativo. 

Su misión de llevar literatura puertorriqueña y por puertorriqueños al mundo es algo plenamente alineado con mi misión como autor y agradezco su apoyo y la oportunidad de llevar mis obras a más sitios. 

Aunque escribo en inglés porque es el medio que mejor he trabajado, para mí la intención es de que gente alrededor del mundo se queden confundidos cuando sepan que soy puertorriqueño. Escribo en inglés porque es el idioma que más consumo pero mi alma late con son de una clave y no un mero 4 por 4. Para mí un mundo puede ser 100 x 35 y siempre me da un gusto increíble ver las grandes cosas que hacemos y que salen de nuestra Isla siendo un cantito de tierra tan pequeño pero tan sagrado.

Por eso te invito a que si en algún momento me has querido leer, que compres mis libros a través de Libros 787. Amazon tiene suficiente dinero y aunque he publicado a través de ellos y mis libros están disponibles en Kindle, quisiera que todos mis libros los vendiera en eventos y a través de Libros 787. Para incentivarte, si pides a través de ellos y me envías una foto con el paquete y mi libro, te regalo cualquiera de mis libros en su versión electrónica, un demo de 3 canciones que grabé en el 2016 en Puerto Rico y un EP de canciones electrónicas en su estado actual (no lo he terminado pero te lo envío con gusto a ver qué te parece).

Para mí, cualquier incentivo que pueda dar para comprarme a través de ellos intentaré ofrecerlo, porque aunque mucha gente dice que hay que apoyar lo del patio, siempre hago la aclaración: hay que apoyar lo bueno del patio y Libros 787 es de la crema, de pura cepa y de lo mejor que tenemos para ofrecer al mundo. 

Saludos y sonrisas,

JD

Coming soon: Magic in Disguise by Katie Salidas

There's always something so very awesome when friends gear up to release a new book. In this case, Katie Salidas, co-host of the Spilling Ink show, cool human, and a proud member of of Gryffindor House is releasing the next installment in her Agents of ASSET series. Seems like my TBR has no plans of getting smaller, and I can't be happier. Below is a bit more about the book, but you can go to the link in the blog post title so you can connect directly with this great indie author. And if you visit, tell her JD sent ya and that he says that "Ravenclaw is just as good as Gryffindor." You may add neener neener to your comment. 

* * * *

The Weapon of Magical Destruction is within her grasp, but will Sage be strong enough to resist its seductive power, and destroy it?

You've marveled at the world hidden under our very noses, discovered the four families of magic:
Terra, Ethereal, Shade, & Elemental, and witnessed the well-oiled machine that is A.S.S.E.T (Anonymous Supernatural Security and Elimination Taskforce).

Now, watch as it all falls into anarchy unless one rogue agent can find a way to destroy the Weapon of Magical Destruction once and for all.

Magic in Disguise is an incredible suspense thriller that promises to keep you on the edge-of-your-seat to the very last page.

Make this book your New Year's Resolution.
Pre-Order Today and be the first to read on January 1st 2019.

Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CY3GCXT/

Haven't started reading the Agents of A.S.S.E.T. series books yet? There's still time to catch the Magic!

A Weapon of Magical Destruction is on SALE at Smashwords.
Get Book 1 for 50% off using the code HG36F at checkout
(Offer good through Dec. 26, 2018)
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/875824?ref=KatieSalidas

Also Available at the following retailers:

Kindle 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CY3GCXT/
iBooks 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-weapon-of-magical-destruction/id1385048839
Nook 
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-weapon-of-magical-destruction-katie-salidas/1128625157?ean=2940155650676
Google Play 
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=HKljDwAAQBAJ
Kobo 
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-weapon-of-magical-destruction


Agents of A.S.S.E.T.
The world is full of magical creatures and artifacts.  The Anonymous Supernatural Security and Elimination Taskforce is on the front line, maintaining the balance of power, ensuring humans remain safely oblivious to the dangerous magic around them.

A Marvel in our lives

Stan Lee passed away recently. Anyone who knows who Stan Lee is and read his work is coping with a couple of things. We’re telling ourselves his health wasn’t doing great, that he was 95, that his wife passed away… we’re all trying to look for a reason to be OK with his passing… and we’ll all continue to fail. 

95 and gone too soon. That sums up part of my feeling about Stan Lee. He hadn’t written in a long time; some people might say… but how did you feel every time you saw him in a cameo in a Marvel movie? What do his characters mean to you?

For me, it’s no accident I sometimes refer to myself as your friendly neighborhood JD Estrada. That’s just one of the quirky things I do that are influenced by Stan. The thing is that anyone who has ever been proud to call themselves a geek is hurting. Some people might call us ridiculous, because comics are “silly”. There’s been quite a lot of that going around and although part of me wants to retaliate, Stan would frown upon that. Instead, he’d laugh it off. Hell, he never took himself that seriously and just eventually realized that he’d done something rather amazing.

As a kid, I had a couple of years of incessant comic book reading, though my gateway drug wasn’t a Marvel comic. Funnily enough, my entry comics were wushia kung-fu comics of Jademan Comics, lore. But through them I picked up Marvel… and DC… and Dark Horse… and Valiant… and Image… and any comic book that caught my attention. 

As a 38 year old, I still recognize the power and value of the stories I read in comics. Some people might label them childish because they have pictures… but we have to remember, we’re geeks. Some people aren’t meant to get it, and with Stan, it wasn’t just OK to not let that affect us… it was cool. He was cool. He was beyond cool. He was the man. 

Seeing so many of his creations come to life, every single time I saw him in a cameo made me giggle. Here was a guy who other people didn’t take seriously and along with Jack Kirby and some other all-time greats, they made the world better through story telling. They taught us values, respect, manners, strength, compassion, equality, tolerance, and so many other lessons. Lessons that have been ignored by many entrepreneurs and politicians and intellectual snobs that look down on comics, rather than embrace them for what they are… another medium to tell a story. And a beautiful one at that. Read Swamp Thing, read the Sandman, read V For Vendetta, Read Watchmen, read X-Men, read Super Man, Read Spider-Man and Dare Devil, and tell me there isn’t something special there and I’ll disagree every single time. 

These characters matter. These stories matter. This man matters. And you read right, matters. Not mattered. Not in the past. Because stories penned by the guy will outlive all of us. Because with great power, we know comes great responsibility even if many who are in power have forgotten this. 

Above all else, Stan Lee was a kind guy. A sweetheart. Some people insist that nice guys never win… and then I see Stan and know how wrong they are. As a creator, I look up to the guy and some people might say that he was like a grandfather to them and some people might think that we lost a grandfather or grand uncle… but that’s not it… it’s worse than that. We lost a friend. A 95-year-old friend who died too soon… but man did he make our lives better. By being more Marvel than man perhaps… or by being a good example of what a good human can be. 

Damn are we going to miss you. 

Peace, love, and Excelsior, my friend. 

#Humans4Humans - Yabucoa edition

Although this blog post has been pending for a long while, I’m happy to have the time to write a few words and then let the pictures speak for themselves. Firstly, all the thanks to Zaida Burgos, my friend in Puerto Rico who helped organize this effort. After Hurricane María, some students in Yabucoa on the southeastern part of the Island needed help with school supplies. And I’m very thankful for all the people who cooperated and offered support via supplies or money. You can read more about it in the original blogpost I wrote. 

People have asked why I’m supporting smaller efforts and the reason is simple, I know who is involved and I know what gets done with the money and supplies. I won't say more than that now because this is a post to give thanks for the efforts made by so many people to help others. Several amazing friends raised their hands when I asked if anyone could help and it goes to show that a little help makes a big difference. I could mention every single person who offered help and sent supplies, but I suspect from how these people are that the main thing is that the kids got the help and I want you guys to know you made a huge difference. Zaida asked me to give thanks to everyone and below is the fruit of the labor. 

So without further ado, the kids from Yabucoa and the fruit of your generosity, my friends. 

Cheers and here’s to always being #Humans4Humans and helping each other out on this ride called life. 

Peace, love, and maki rolls