Why American Gods is the reason my first novel is free

Why #AmericanGods is the reason my first novel is free

#StayHome #StaySafe #NeilGaiman #InThisTogether

https://youtu.be/BFEW2ITUQI4

For the first time ever, My first novel for free

Recently, the ever wonderful Neil Gaiman struck a negotiation to have his novel American Gods available for free online. Turns out that unlike other people with false claims, Neil kind of broke the internet or at least the NetGalley page that had American Gods available. Since then he posted an apology for the technical difficulties, though he's committed to getting that back on.

This is one of several efforts from many people who want to contribute in some way to help everyone struggling during the COVID-19 crisis and weeks upon weeks of being locked up at home doing our part to flatten the curve and ensure the safety of everyone.

So seeing this, I wanted to also offer my first novel for free for this weekend. Although one kind reviewer did compare me to a Puerto Rican Neil,  I'm clear that I'm not even in the same galaxy as he is in terms of impact. Still, some people enjoy my book and another kind reviewer recently surprised me with the above quote. To know that my writing in some way helps someone means a lot because it gives meaning to the effort I put into my works and if it helps people pass the time, then why not?

So this weekend you have Only Human free and all my other eBooks at just 99 cents, because why not? It's a time to find as many silver linings as possible and if my books represents a small happiness to readers, then I did something good and worthwhile. There's a lot to tell about what I'm working on, what will happen in the coming months, and how we can stay in touch, but for now, let's leave this post short and sweet. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via your preferred social media platform or drop a comment on here. Always happy to read from you and be in touch.

Peace, love, and maki rolls

JD

The health benefits of social media distancing

A month and a half ago, if we heard the term social distancing odds are heavily in favor of us not knowing what it meant. Since life happens and reality plays by its own rules, social distancing has become the norm for most of us.  In case you need a refresher, social distancing is defined as “a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures taken to prevent the spread of a contagious disease by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other.” In simpler words, avoiding physical contact and even proximity to ensure we remain healthy. Yet this concept is something that can also apply to our digital selves in this digital era. 

As we all get used to the new normal which isn’t very normal, we all respond in different ways and the name of the game is to remain healthy in both body and mind. Even before the pandemic, social media was already something that people talked about in how it affected them. Quite often, people would take a social media break and even I have done that from time to time, because although it is highly engaging, and entertaining, it can exert a hell of a lot of influence in people and not always bring out the best in them. 

As days grow into weeks and will likely become months while we sort out this health crisis, people will respond in different ways. Some will reach out, some will share humorous things and messages of hope, and others will pick fights over the most mundane things and focus on statistics that increase the worry or share news articles about the people who have died or have been incredibly affected. You can understand why people would go down any of those routes, though it is also important to remember that if we are being affected by what someone shares, we can mute, block, or unfollow them. This might seem harsh because part of our nature might say we need these are times where we need to stick together, but the fact remains that empathy should work both ways and quite often it is not practiced in equal manners. 

You see people standing on their soap boxes, writing kilometric posts, picking fights with anyone who posts something they don’t agree with and it’s something we can all understand if we put ourselves in someone's shoes… that’s how they vent or process the craziness we’re living. But just because we understand doesn’t mean we need to participate or watch the blow-by-blow. 

Hence the possibility that social media distancing is also something we will have to practice now and beyond this crisis. And we can define it as “monitoring and editing the media we’re exposed to in order to avoid content that may aggravate emotional stress to prevent the spread of emotional duress. This does not apply to information we need to know, such as guidelines to ensure our health and safety.” That second sentence has to be added because even though it’s obvious, it needs to be clarified and said explicitly. The content you should edit is the one that doesn’t contain official information that may be beneficial if we all adhere to it, i.e. stay home, practice social distancing, enforce rigorous hygiene habits, etc. The editing refers to picking a fight over a political debate, not reading about conspiracy theories that if proved wrong or right will not make a difference, and generally avoiding people who exercise their right to personal expression in toxic ways. 

It is also important to note, that this isn’t promoting cancel culture, which is basically ignoring anyone who disagrees with you and acting as if they don’t exist. That’s shallow, immature, and solves little to nothing. What is being suggested is to avoid toxicity, being mindful, try and have a positive impact and if someone has a different opinion, either engage in a friendly manner or avoid for the time being. There is a myriad of issues we can fight about… but let’s do it later. Right now seems to be a good time to either know or find out the best way to focus your time and energy and make sure it is to the benefit of you and anyone else in your household. 

Here’s to giving our best, finding our best, and mining any and all silver linings during these odd times. 

Peace, love, and maki rolls

NaPoWriMO #4: Image from a dream

Here’s me yet again trying to catch up with #NaPoWriMo and today was day 4 about images from a dream. It’s funny because you’d think my dreams are always out there, but in comparison to what I write, they border on ordinary lol. Still, sometimes there are some amazing visuals I can enjoy in my adventures in Draem and today’s prompt is just that, write an image from a dream. Below is the optional NaPoWriMo prompt in case you wanted to see it. As per usual, no visuals, just words .

Optional prompt: write a poem based on an image from a dream. We don’t always remember our dreams, but images or ideas from them often stick with us for a very long time.

There but not

There are different ways in which dreams stay with us.

Sometimes a nightmare leaves our skin dry sweat chilled.

Other times the first stretch of the day is with a knowing smile.

But sometimes, 

Not often, 

But sometimes… you feel an emptiness inside,

A doubt that clings on to one of your ribs

And doesn’t feel the need to let go. 

Did I dream that?

Was that real?

You open your eyes

Look around

And find yourself in your bedroom. 

Wrinkled sheets and bedhead confirm it, 

That wasn’t real.

But you can’t help shake that feeling

That for one fleeting moment

You were in a place with people

There was chatter and conversations 

About Gandhi, the economy, and rhododendrons

And everything was there

And you were there

And everyone was there

Except one thing 

Your pants.

NaPoWriMO #3: Words you can see

Here I’ll be catching up on #NaPoWriMo today, because why not? Today’s prompt was a bit more quirky, meaning that it’s a process rather than a theme. I usually write a poem’s title and go from there, though not always. I also often write parting from a topic, or a line, or a stray couple of verses I had in mind, but for NaPoWriMo, I’ll be mixing things up because I think that’s one of the beauties of poetry, you can definitely mix up your approach and try different things. 

So firstly, I’ll copy the prompt, then I’ll compile my ten-word list and then choose words that rhyme using RhymeZone. I’ll write my list later, original words first then rhymes in parenthesis. If it's bold, I used it. If it isn't, I left for another occasion.

Day 3 prompt: First, make a list of ten words. You can generate this list however you’d like – pull a book off the shelf and find ten words you like, name ten things you can see from where you’re sitting, etc. Now, for each word, use Rhymezone to identify two to four similar-sounding or rhyming words. For example, if my word is “salt,” my similar words might be “belt,” “silt,” “sailed,” and “sell-out.” Once you’ve assembled your complete list, work on writing a poem using your new “word bank.” You don’t have to use every word, of course, but try to play as much with sound as possible, repeating sounds and echoing back to others using your rhyming and similar words.

List (Things I can see from where I’m sitting, rhymes in parenthesis):

Cube (Tube, Group)

Mug (Bug, Drug)

Plant (Can’t, chant, rant)

Block (Flock, knock, frock)

Wall (All, shall, squall)

Book (cook, rook, nook)

Pen (Den, glen, wren, ten yen)

Phone (bone, clone, roam)

Picture (fissure, lecture, mixture)

Guitar (bazar, bizarre, lodestar)

Words that found each other

Knock-knock goes the flock wherever you roam

In search of a moment, one you can’t clone.

For ten yen from the men’s den 

The glen wren does sing a pen’s Zen.

The rook peers at the scene from his nook

Then goes back to reading his lyrical book.

He comes across a guitar’s picture

Whose structure results a bizarre mixture.

There’s a storm within that drives you against a wall

An inner hurricane, tornado, sleet storm, or squall.

Every single seed that ends up in a can’t

Came from an excuse we did readily plant.

Its fruit will grow to be a block

That might wear a uniform or a frock,

Or turn to the phone bone’s ring, our manual drug

The one buzzing itch we scratch that damned digital bug.

A group’s fissure mends from a lodestar’s chant

Before the lecture bazar does slip into rant.

NaPoWriMO #2: Poem of a specific place

Here I am, chiming in for day 2 of NaPoWrimo and thinking of a specific place to follow that day’s prompt and had to write about my home spot of Tocones where I grew up surfing. It isn't the most epic surf spot, but it's home... and quite often, that's all you need.

Prompt for the day: write a poem about a specific place —  a particular house or store or school or office. Try to incorporate concrete details, like street names, distances (“three and a half blocks from the post office”), the types of trees or flowers, the color of the shirts on the people you remember there.

Home Spot 

Not all churches need be serene

Some can be cerulean.

Sand for stone 

Saltwater altar

No roof to come between conversations.

Paddles taken

Steps had

A church is a church

If a slice of heaven makes you glad.

One’s devotion

Is another’s desire

One’s connection

Celebration inspires.

A church is a church

If in God you feel 

Connected, elated,

The divine in the real.

Need not have the biggest of waves

Just enough to feel as if you can walk on water

Or at least fly on a board.

Home is a wave

And I wave back at home.

50 before 40

There are plenty of challenges most indie authors face. Sales, time management, motivation, relevance, but one of the most intense struggles we have is to get reviews. This isn’t the first time I write about this though I’d love for it to be the last (crossing fingers). 

Here’s the thing, being an indie author I don’t have a team of people courting influences, bloggers, book reviewers, BookTubers, and bookstagrammers. I’m a one human army in the pursuit of my dreams in relation to plenty of things, reviews included. This means I depend on people like you and anyone kind enough to drop a review. You might be wondering on the title of this post and if you’re wondering what the relevance of the number 50 is, it’s the magic number on Amazon that opens a couple more doors to more readers. If we hit 50 reviews on Amazon, our books start appearing in more searches. Simple enough, right? Not so much.

Still… that’s what I’m aiming for in regards to any of my books: 50 reviews. 

For some context, take into account that I published Only Human in 2013 digitally and have been selling physical copies since 2014. In that time, I’ve sold around 300-400 copies online in total. Might be more, but not sure. From all those sales, I’ve gotten 30 reviews and that’s actually a great percentage. Still, I do my best to earn those extra 20 reviews, even if they’re bad, because I know every review helps. I write about it once in a while, but I try not to pester because people have enough on their plates with their day-to-day lives. I also ask, because I’ve made it a habit to review everything I read. I do that for a couple of reasons. First off, to help others. Secondly, because it helps with retention and reading a review I can remember a LOT of what I’ve read. 

When it comes to music, I may enjoy listening to things online, but I also share videos and tell people about new music, and when I really like something I buy the album, even in this age of streaming. The same with restaurants and I’m pending to write a lot of reviews to help out the places I love once this Corona Times pass. For me, it’s all about sharing the things I enjoy and giving a heads up about the good and the not so good. Some people write reviews just to be catty and nasty and although I see the entertainment value, I’ve only dropped one scathing review of one book because I had it recommended constantly at Borders, in Barnes & Noble, and other websites and when I read it, it was pretty awful. Since then, it’s not to say I haven’t left bad reviews, but I’ve desisted from spilling the tea for entertainment’s sake. It’s not to say you shouldn’t do this, but I’ve stopped seeing value in that approach.

Still, beyond sharing the wealth, I know the difference a review can make. I’ve known to be having a horrendous day only to be greeted with the wonderful surprise of a review, or someone who shared one of my vids or random posts on social media, or a comment, or a thank you note, or a picture with an Estrada Crate, or a shout out, or a mention, or an invitation to a podcast or live panel, or countless other generous things and I feel the need to pay it forward and to also show people I care about their work, their passions, and their dreams. 

Does a review take much time? It actually totally depends on you. Want to dive in depth to the next level? Bring it. Want to leave a one-line review? That also works. Do you think the book sucked? Then give it a 1-star review. Seriously, don’t feel bad and let her rip because if you do, even if it brings the average down, it brings the total review count up and in some way, it still helps. As for the 40… I’ll be turning forty this coming August 13^th and a boy can always dream, can’t he? So what say you, care to share a dream even in these peculiar times? 

As always, a pleasure to have you in this nook of my hyperactive mind.

Peace, love, and maki rolls

Ps: here's the link to Only Human. Cheers

https://smile.amazon.com/Only-Human-Cycle-Book-ebook/dp/B00COMVDY4/

NaPoWriMO #1: Self-portrait poem

I’ll be doing NaPoWrimo, but instead of a long explanation, just going to dive in because the water’s fine. Will only be posting words, no images with these.

Prompt: Self-portrait poem in which you make a specific action a metaphor for your life – one that typically isn’t done all that often, or only in specific circumstances. For example, bowling, or shopping for socks, or shoveling snow, or teaching a child to tie its shoes.

Catching waves

When you surf,

Things don’t always go to plan. 

Sometimes your timing is off.

Sometimes people drop in on your wave.

Sometimes you miss a wave by a mere stroke or two. 

Even with that, you don’t give up,

Because the pursuit is half the reward.

You keep searching.

You keep paddling. 

Because although every wave isn’t epic,

You have to give yourself the chance.

Not because you owe it to yourself,

But because why not?

You look at the horizon and smile

The familiar darker hue signals a set is coming

And although there are no guarantees

The prospect is often enough to remind you

Just how good it feels to be alive

and enjoy the moment.