Ciao a los 30

Si algo aprendí de mi abuelo y de mi madre es de que la edad es un número y no hay razón por la cual seguir el libreto que te tienen listo para lo que se supone que hagas o no hagas. Mi abuelo era un tipazo y la gente siempre se sorprendía de su energía, picardía, sentido de humor y lo mucho que jo$%a. Con Mama, cada vez que ella decía su edad o que era sobreviviente de cáncer, la gente se quedaba bruta. Esos ejemplos los cargo conmigo a diario. Confieso plenamente que el cambio de un año puede ser intenso y mucho más el cambio de una década. Ahora, si algo me alegra de cómo he vivido hasta el momento es que mucha gente dice, “Es que eres el mismo” aún con barba, canas y entradas en progreso. 

Como seres humanos, evolucionamos y puedo darte una LARGA lista de cosas que he ajustado en mi vida en busca de vivir más plenamente y ser un mejor yo. Mejores hábitos de comer, cuidándome después de lesiones, las introspecciones luego de un cantazo de la vida, meditación, valorando el tiempo, etc. Me queda muchísimo por aprender, ahora si algo puedo decir es que siempre he sido tan yo como puedo ser. Soy un ente un poco raro, curioso, creativo, travieso, considerado, a veces medio mal hablado aunque siempre trato de ser caballeroso y considerado y aunque tengo mis lapsos como todo ser humano, siempre trato de tomar responsabilidad por mis acciones y decisiones y de seguir adelante como se pueda. También es bien importante dar de vuelta y ayudar a otros de las maneras que se me ocurran o inventarme nuevas. 

 

Sobre este año, pues qué se puede decir de la loquera que estamos viviendo excepto de que todos estamos haciendo lo mejor posible para seguir adelante. Uso mascarilla cada vez que salgo, me lavo las manos como 50 veces al día y cada vez que llego a la casa, peolo pa’bajo, dejo la ropa en la lavadora y me baño. Ahora, aparte de eso y el hecho de que cada vez voy acelerando la transformación FULL a Monchichi porque no me he recortado, he tenido muchas sorpresas bonitas este año, aún en plena pandemia. 

Real ACTUAL picture of me

 

Entre ellas está el conectar con varios autores de Puerto Rico de un grupo de escritores de horror que conectamos gracias a Libros Eikon y otro sinnúmero de autores que he conocido a través del grupo de Ediciones Enserio y el blog de reseñas We Read. Gente buena, cool, comprometida, con gran talento y mucho corazón. He podido seguir conectando con escritores de a través del mundo y he aparecido en paneles o entrevistas en línea incluyendo Las Mañanas con Joel Rivera y una charla con otro autor boricua, Carlos Daniel. Ahora voy a aparecer en no uno sino dos podcasts, uno dirigido por una empresaria boricua, Yadira Nadal Naranjo, quien corre la página, el blog y el podcast de Gente del Encanto y un podcast de un autor canadiense, Joshua Pantalleresco. Como siempre, sigo compartiendo con mis amigos de Go Indie Now, un canal dedicado al 100% a creadores independientes alrededor del mundo y dirigido por un hermano de vida, Joe Compton. Como si eso no fuese suficiente, hoy pude tener mis libros nuevamente en una librería en Puerto Rico y doy muchísimas gracias a Tazas y Portadas por dejarme tener un cantito de mí en la Isla. Y esto es sólo una pequeña porción de la gente que agradezco por su cariño y apoyo. 

 

Aunque se comienza una nueva década, se sigue viviendo la misma vida. Las divisiones de capítulos, seasons, niveles, o lo que quieras son imaginarias. El trayecto continúa y no es una línea recta. Da vueltas, toma salidas, hay desvíos, hay rutas alternas y alrededor de .0003% del tiempo, todo va según el plan. La vida puede ser un caos y nos puede dar duro, ahora es buena y a diario reconozco el mar de bendiciones que me brinda olas de calidad. 

 

A las personas que me han seguido por años, gracias totales. Se les quiere y su apoyo me ha ayudado a sacudirme el polvo cuando me caigo y a seguir adelante. A la gente que me acaba de conocer, pues mucho gusto y espero que disfrutes de las ocurrencias de un loquillo que no tiene planes de actuar como un cuarentón. A la familia y mis amigos, los quiero y trato de dejárselos saber plenamente porque lo bueno que se desea a alguien uno nunca se lo debe quedar. Y a la gente a través del trayecto de mi vida, gracias por hacer la historia de mi vida una llena, colorida, fascinante y estoy loco por ver qué más inventamos. 

 

Un fuerte abrazo,

 

JD

Tis Estrada Bday Week

Some people might think that when you turn 40 it’s all downhill from there… and you know what? I hope so! Seriously! Have you ever been on a bike or skates and found yourself going down some gnarly hill? It is one of the most fun things you can enjoy while risking bodily harm.  

That said, As I begin Level 40, chapter 40, Part 4, or whatever you’d like to call it, plans for slowing down are nowhere in sight and I have a ton of things on the radar that I want to do as I embrace the opportunity every day to have a good time and have a positive impact. Will life happen? Yes. Does that include times that suck? Of course. 

 

But.

 

We.

 

Can.

 

Have.

 

Fun!

 

So today I’m starting the party so to speak and you are invited to join me. When it comes to indie authors, there are countless things that bring us joy, but if you’re a fellow author, a book lover, or just someone who wants to send me good vibes, there are several ways you can do it. Below is a wish list and any help you can offer is more than welcome:

 

1. Get yerself some books. If there’s ever been an opportunity to catch up on your reading, now is the time. If you need something for a Latinx, middle-grade, urban fantasy, poetry, Caribbean, or kooky readathon, I’ve got 16 books out. Now not all of them are available in eBook form but all of them are available and would love to cuddle up with you in bed. Grab a copy or gift one on Amazon.

 

2. Reviews are life. If you’ve read me for any period of time, you know I’ve talked about this a plenty and that’s for two reasons, real book reviews are hard to come by and I will never go about the easy, disingenuous way of getting a review, i.e. read pro quo, buying reviews, or doing fake reviews. I don’t have hundreds of reviews, but all the ones I have are people who were kind enough not only to buy a book AND read it, but they went the extra marathon and offered a review. If by any chance we hit 50 reviews on any of my titles by the end of the month, I’ll do a giveaway including ALL my eBooks, a $25 gift card from Three Furies Press, and raffle 3 writing sessions where we will talk over your current WIP to give your book, story, or poetry collection idea form, direction, and hopefully get it closer to publishing. This is welcome to people of all ages and in either English or Spanish (as long as you have your parent's permission).

 

3. Join in on the antics. I do plenty of random things online and try to make it worth your time whether it’s something I design, write, film, or record. I have several social media platforms and don’t intend on getting more, SO, if you enjoy the antics of your favorite banana secret agent indie author, then by all means, help me hit some social media milestones by either following or inviting some people to my different social media platforms. But as with everything, for every milestone we hit, we’ll do something fun or help others. 

 

3-A. Facebook – We’re at 886…. Let’s get to 900. It’s a small goal but still a cool one. Would I love 1K? Of course, but I’m not greedy and I am a firm believer that slow and steady wins the race. Besides, with all the toxic BS they post there, I think it’d be nice to share more smile inducing stuff. If we get to this milestone, I’ll do 10 live reads on Facebook live.  

 

3-B. Twitter – We’re at 6,791 followers. Let’s get to 6,825. Why that number? Because metrics on Twitter are as insane as its uncooperative algorithm (or at least uncooperative for those who don’t know how to play the game, i.e. moi). By this I mean that the numbers go up and down. If we hit 6,825, I’ll donate $100 to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. It's a time to pull together and help each other out. 

 

3-C. Instagram – Currently at 1,773. A cool 1,800 sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it? Come on, let’s do it for the gram. I’ll donate $100 to the EB Research Partnership, the largest nonprofit funding research aimed at treating and ultimately curing Epidermolysis Bullosa, a group of devastating and life-threatening skin disorders that affect children from birth. I follow several people on social media who face this challenge head on and if a small contribution can help and also bring awareness, why not?

 

3-D. YouTube – YouTube is a weird creature and for some reason, numbers go up and down and when I post, I lose subscribers. I still want to take this to the next level and if we get over the 600 mark, then I’ll do an Estrada Book event where I’ll take a Q&A, do some readings, and play some live songs.

MORE ways to join in the festivi-teas :) 

4. Make a donation and say cheers to someone you love. If you want to show love and support for me, make a donation to a reputable charity in name of Mom and share on social media using the hashtag #CheersMamaEstrada. 

5. If you know a book club that would like some free eBooks, please let me know. I would be honored to be part of a book club whether with my non-fiction work, my poetry, my middle-grade fiction, or my urban fantasy novels. 

6. Help me get into a library. This has been a goal for a long time and I've come up short 3 times, but hey, fourth times the charm, right? I've tried the steps, I've sent books, and I appreciate the info, but I need help getting into a library. It could be at your school, your local library, etc. Whatever if takes, just help me get inside a library. Pretty please with bananas on top?

And I'm sure we can do more stuff during the week, so stay tuned for random shenanigans. 

 

The first 40 have been pretty curious and I can’t wait to see what the second 40 have in store. As always, thanks for the love, the kindness, the shares, the interest, the smiles, the laughs, for thinking about me when you see socks, tea, or bananas, and for always sharing Peace, Love, and Maki Rolls.

2017 AKA The Year of the Scatterbrain

As I continue to reflect on how the last year went in regards to my goals and life in general, one word that comes to mind is scatterbrain, i.e.: incapable of serious, connected thought. I had several goals in mind and I achieved some of them, but when I look at what I have to show for it, I honestly feel as if I came up short in regards to many things because my mind was all over the place.

I just gave myself a B- in my year end recap and I think a lot has to do with how I went about things. I used the word scatterbrained above not so much because I think I wasn’t disciplined, but because I was trying to do too many things at the same time and focusing on quantity versus quality on more than one occasion, which isn’t how I prefer to go about things. In addition, rather than a sense of satisfaction, I honestly feel really tired, physically and emotionally and that I don’t have as much to show for the effort I put in. It may have a lot to do with everything that happened, but the feeling is there and rather than ignore, I’d rather take a closer look at it.

The year started off weird with all the things that are happening worldwide, politically, socially, economically, technologically, and yes, environmentally. Concentrating was a huge challenge because SO many things were happening. From shootings, to massive fires, to some of my favorite artists dying, to weird things happening with AI that seem like the prologue to a dystopian future, to the surge of cryptocurrencies, racial tensions, to environmental catastrophes that hit home, literally, and lord knows what else.

For two months, I wasn’t able to pick up a book or write about anything that wasn’t related to home. Throughout the last 4 months of the year, I did what I could to raise awareness about Puerto Rico after Hurricane María, to motivate, to encourage people to donate and help, and now that 2018 has started, still half the population doesn’t have power… It leaves a weird feeling in my stomach to know how many people are hurting, how many people have left the Island, how many people lost their homes, their jobs, and unfortunately, their lives. The hurricane itself claimed 50 or so lives, but since Hurricane María, over a thousand lives have been lost and quite probably, most directly linked to the aftermath of no power, no water, no communication, and everything that comes from a place afflicted by a natural disaster. In case you’re wondering what this means, it’s actually quite simple, Hurricane María was a humanitarian disaster, people that didn’t have to die did, and while a lot of people have gone on with their lives, we don’t really have that option. Those abroad and back home are faced with a new definition of normal.

All the meanwhile, the political maelstrom known as 2017 will more than likely continue into the new year, with people focusing on their team "winning" rather than doing what’s best for the country and the world. Every single day there was some sort of horrible news report of awful sounding legislation being passed, including a Tax Reform that will finish what María started apart from shafting the US’s middle class, Net Neutrality being voted against in a ruling determined by 5 people…. Really, so many things are in the hands of so few… In addition, some of the most important artists of my life passed away and some even by their own hand. The amount of intense news during last year was just insane and most people are reeling for one reason or another. And I won't mention other people by name, because they get enough coverage as it is.

For my part, I wanted to write and publish several books and only achieved two. Add to that no book events and you can get an idea of what I felt disappointed in myself. I was able to do NaNo Wrimo and Camp NaNo Wrimo twice and won all three times, but upon having some beta readers take a look at some of those projects or others I’ve finished, it feels as if I haven't done some of them proper justice. I know the purpose of NaNo is just to get words on paper, but to me, that’s not good enough, especially when other projects are from another point in the year. It feels as if I didn’t push certain projects to the point they need to be and that is a really upsetting feeling, but it serves as a lesson of sorts and as an invitation to switch how I’m doing what I’m doing.

Sure I could be hard on myself, but that achieves nothing and actually only distracts and wastes energy. I may not be happy about certain results, but I think I did pretty well considering the challenges and it’s not like I was idle. All I need is a little focus (OK maybe a lot of it), but I am completely capable of that and the discipline needed to achieve all of my goals is within me. So let’s say goodbye to the past year and say hello to the new one. We have a lot to do, and the will to do it; and that's all you really need.

Peace, love, and maki rolls

2017 Report Card

So another year begins and with it that one-week-ish period of introspection where I see how I did in the year in regards to my goals established last January. It was an odd sort of year where I did more of what I didn’t expect to, less of what I did expect to, and where it was all sorts of odd for obvious reasons in regards to my Home of Puerto Rico. This will probably mean I will do things differently from how I did last year, because I wasn’t thrilled with my final results, but that’s another post where I also talk about not busting your own balls. There I will share different types of goals I have and will monitor them a lot more closely, but for here, I’ll copy/paste my written goals from last year so we can see how I did.

1. Publish 2 new poetry collections before February is done. My two publications for 2017 were Black Tie Affair and Roulette of Rhymes. I’m very happy with both and I honestly think I pushed myself in regards to my poetry and will continue to do so.

2. Transcribe, edit, finish, and publish my first YA novel before the end of March. I finished this novel but after some initial observations from beta readers, edited several things and will be looking at it with fresh eyes this year to do it right. That also means a second round of beta readers so if you’re interested in being a beta reader, drop me a line on social media. To make matters more curious, it went from YA to middle-grade, and I think that's actually a great thing.

3. Finish, transcribe, edit, and publish Sci-fi novella before the end of April. I progressed in this but still only around 65% done with the first draft and beta reactions inspire me to finish and then begin the first round of edits before beta-searching again.

4. Daydreams on the Sherbet Shore, Volume 2. I did not finish this goal for 2017 and not happy about that. Did work on one of them, but will be pushing this when the time comes and pushing hard.

5. Noir novel. I didn’t even start this project because my notes are back home in storage… still. As you can tell, not thrilled about the result of this goal for several reasons.

6. Non-fiction book about my relationship to water. Didn’t even begin this one but finished drafts of two others. Not the result I wanted but will be working towards this one when the time is right, not a priority right now since I have 3 non-fics already either done or well on their way.

7. Non-fiction work about my philosophy on life. Peace, love, and maki rolls was my NanoWrimo project and I’m happy with the first draft and suspect I’ll be adding several thousand words soon.

8. Philosophy project. This is still ongoing, but out of my control. Will write again to see if there’s an ETA for it.

9. Blog collection. For Writing Out Loud will be my first release of 2018. Stay tuned for dates. :D

10. Haiku book. Still designing interior but this shall be finished this year most likely.

11. Greek mythology project. Another project I couldn’t begin because my notes are in Puerto Rico. Another result I’m not happy with.

12. Social Media. I think I did pretty well on social media last year but the question arises, how can I make this more efficient and also get more support for my work while I continue making a positive impact. Over 38K likes on Instagram, over 100K impressions on twitter, broke 100K visits to my blog, and progress on all social media connecting with great people. :)

13. More songs. More songs were done and a lot of new ones. This year I’ll continue posting new songs on YouTube and if you’re curious as to what I sound like in song version, here’s a link to my songs on my BookTube/YouTube channel.

14. More interviews. Had several interviews and participations in panels, which is always fun. Will work on this more and look for interviews in local publications and other book blogs. If you’d like to interview me, let me know. In that line, I’ll also be doing more interviews and collaborations for this blog, so keep an eye out for that. :D

15. Book Events. Apart from the Puerto Rico Comic Con, I didn’t have a book event in 2017. This will change in 2018. Period.

16. Puerto Rico Comic Con. Last year was my fourth year in the Con. It’s always a rewarding experience and last year was no exception with plenty of beautiful surprises. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the Con this year mainly to do with a money situation. In short, I do well in shows, but when you add travel to my costs, I went under last year and need another year to save up to be able to do the Con back home and stateside, while continuing to publish work. I will instead focus on events in Georgia and Tennessee and see how those go. Might still have some type of participation in the Comic Con, but only time will tell if I can do what I have planned.

17. Love poetry collection, Heartbreak collection, and more. There will be a month this year where I only work on poetry or at least mostly on poetry. And if you’re wondering, this is that month.

OTHER Goals

- Get more reviews. I got more reviews, but still way under what I need to get any sort of traction. Will see what I can do to improve this.

- Might finally change my blog to wordpress or something else. Still pending…. Grrr……

- Be on the best of year list of at least 10 people. I know I was in the best of list of at least one person. As January progresses, I’ll see if I get into 9 more lol.

- Get nominated for something lol. Didn’t happen, don’t know how to make this happen, any suggestion on this, by all means let me know.

- Grow further on social media but focus on one platform at a time to make sure I reach those goals. I grew on all of them but will be refining my goals for this year to make it easier to achieve.

- I would love to be part of any school/college project. Didn’t happen in 2017 but completely open to it for the new year. We’ll see how it goes.

- Finish writing to all the people from my Comic Con yearbook. This I did and I’m very happy. It’s important for me to be thankful to the people who support me and my writing, especially those who are kind enough.

- Smile more, travel more, be happy more often, share that with as many people as I can while focusing on messages of positivity. Always do my best to share the good but wasn’t a year of much travel. We’ll see how this year goes, but thank you to everyone who has read and supported throughout the year.

So all in all, and also taking into consideration what happened during the year, I’d give myself a B- grade in regards to how I performed in the last year. I’ll be doing an in depth analysis of this a bit further on. Some people might think I’m a bit harsh, some think I’m generous, but giving it some thought, I think that’s a pretty accurate grade in regards to how I feel about my performance… which inspires me to bring up my GPA.

How about you? Any thoughts on your performance this year? Any thoughts on my grade before I give a full assessment? Anywho, thanks for all the love and here’s to an epic year!

Peace, love, and maki rolls.

JD

2017 Estrada Odyssey

Although I see the pros and cons of resolutions, I find it’s a good motivator for at least half the year and seeing my results for last year, it kind of worked for me to put myself in the spot to deliver on what I promised. I may not have tackled all of my projects, but I tackled many and pushed as hard as I’ve pushed with plenty of challenges in the way.

There is the temptation to say I didn’t do X because of Y, but that’s an excuse and that serves no purpose. I did a lot last year and some things didn’t get done. No harm. No foul. No reason to be ashamed. I still did great and did it on my terms and going at it solo for the most part although I had the support of the people that matter the most, without which I couldn't have. 

That semi soppy intro to the side, we’re in 2017 so what’s on my to-do list?

1. Publish 2 new poetry collections before February is done. I’ve finished them and now need to format, fine tune, draft acknowledgements, and forewords.

2. Transcribe, edit, finish, and publish my first YA novel before the end of March. This project was very fun to write and I think a lot of people will enjoy, or so I hope.

3. Finish, transcribe, edit, and publish Sci-fi novella before the end of April. I have progressed in this project. It is the first project I do in first person and my first full blown sci-fi work. I wanted to try something different and I find different aspects to myself the more I work on it.

4. Daydreams on the Sherbet Shore, Volume 2. I am ready to finish volume 2 now and will do so for Mother’s Day to keep up my tradition of publishing something for mother's day.

5. Noir novel. I shall write, transcribe, edit, and publish for the Puerto Rico Comic Con.

6. Non-fiction book about my relationship to water. One of 4 non-fiction projects I shall release this year.

7. Non-fiction work about my philosophy on life. 36 years old is neither young nor old. You can feel either way but I do try to live according to certain life rules and who knows, maybe by putting it down on paper, it will make life clearer and the path to my happiness easier as well.

8. Philosophy project. An email will be sent within this week and an ETA will be given before the month is over.  

9. Blog collection. Still working on the proper format for this book to not just copy and paste it. I believe the words within need some fine tuning and am looking fwd to tackling it in the second half of the year.

10. Haiku book. Finished the text but still tinkering with the design. When it’s ready, I shall release it.

11. Greek mythology project. I shall write this during NaNoWrimo this year (November). More news when the date is nearer.

12. Social Media. Will continue writing and creating for Twitter, G+, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and the blog. If you like something, share it and comment. Pretty please, with maki rolls on top.

13. More songs. I shall be doing more lyrics for songs and buy equipment to better record video AND audio. Anything that comes from this will be a surprise so let's hope it's a good one.

14. More interviews. Already have an interview slated for recording this week and posting in March. If you’d like me on your blog, podcast, or your youtube channel, I’d love to collaborate.

15. Book Events. I shall aim for 3 book events though have no expectations since being stateside makes things a bit more challenging while still a lot easier (woohoo for contradictions). If you work in a bookstore, a school, or a library, I’d love to visit to spend some time with you and yours.

16. Puerto Rico Comic Con. 2017 will be my 4^th year going to the PRCC. The number 4 has special meaning to me and in March will mark the 4^th year since I began my Writer Journey. If you wanted a reason why I’m pushing so hard, look no further. And this year’s Comic Con will have a TON of surprises. Stay Tuned.

17. Love poetry collection, Heartbreak collection and more. I shall continue working on these two collections… while I continue work on two other collections I’ve already started. Expect different approaches and themes.

OTHER Goals

- Get more reviews. Suggestions and volunteers are welcome.

- Might finally change my blog to wordpress or something else. Blogger has issues and people who want to read me aren’t getting notified. Would love to rectify this.

- Be on the best of year list of at least 10 people.

- Get nominated for something lol.

- Grow further on social media but focus on one platform at a time to make sure I reach those goals. I’ll keep working on all of them, of course, but growth will be tackled one at a time.

- I would love to be part of any school/college project. Two students asked if I could for last year and that was a very special thing for me to do. My thanks to Mariexis and Mónica for trusting in me and I do hope their grades reflected that.

- Finish writing to all the people from my Comic Con yearbook. More news on this as soon as I finish this goal.

- Smile more, travel more, be happy more often, share that with as many people as I can while focusing on messages of positivity.

My thanks for reading, for caring, and for being part of this journey.

Peace, love, and deep thanks.

JD 

An exercise in patience

For a couple of months now I’ve had someone harassing me online. I’m not happy or proud about it, but I only regret one thing about the situation. Let me explain.

Around March, I had someone follow me who seemed a tad on the enthusiastic side. I try to be open to everyone, regardless of social strata, gender, sexuality, race, religion, creed, and political views. I work hard as hell to respond to every single comment I receive because I think that if someone was kind enough to leave a comment, the least I can do is acknowledge.

It’s been 3 years since I’ve started connecting with people via social media to promote my work and encourage a community mentality where respect is paramount. On one occasion I had someone who was a bit rude to a fellow reader who commented on a Pacquiao post I did and I asked nicely for them to modify their behavior and they did. In that time, I had engaged with hundreds and possibly thousands of people at varying levels.

I had never full on blocked someone telling them I couldn’t handle the way they were, or how they acted. I have friends who have a variety of physical, emotional, and even psychological conditions. I have friends who have clinical depression, who have been on suicide watch, who suffer from anxiety attacks, who have survived cancer, who have had catastrophic accidents, who have lost loved ones, and everyone has been welcome in my little hubs in cyber space.

And then I came into contact with someone who is overwhelming, who seems to have psychological problems, who has a detached sense of reality, and I tried to be nice, but it got weird and fast to the point that I felt out of my depth, out of control, and completely uncomfortable.

So I made the decision to block this person. I also decided to let them know that I’m blocking them and why I’m blocking them. I wanted this person to have closure and not wonder what the hell happened.

And as usual, life teaches you that sometimes you shouldn’t be nice.

After blocking on G+, I had this person follow and harass on my author Twitter, follow me on my personal account, and then follow me on Youtube.

The person in question then decided to take to Youtube to open her channel and mock me, criticize me, accuse me of plagiarism, and do anything in her power to let people know that I’m bad news and all sorts of evil.

I stopped checking the videos because honestly it does upset me and to a certain degree even frightens me how good intentions can lead to such an outcome and a person who is intent on causing damage. I honestly believe this person needs psychological help. I also believe that people with severe emotional or psychological disorders should get more help and have their access to the Internet limited for safety reasons, themselves as well as other people. Case in point, this person put her WhatsApp phone number and this information can be used against her.

But it is what it is.

I tried reporting to Youtube, but they don’t see anything wrong with her channel. So I got to thinking, maybe Youtube is right. I may not like that they didn’t put much effort to modify the behavior and it truly shows that if you’re not famous, odds of getting assistance are nil. But it did show me that if I believe in freedom of expression, the person in question can say what she wants and I can let my actions and who I am as a person speak for me.

To finish this up, let me also add a couple of tidbits.

If someone makes you feel uncomfortable, block them. It is your right.

If someone seems odd and not in the good way, block them. It is your right.

If someone says something offensive to someone who is your friend, block them. It is your right AND your duty as a friend.

And finally…

If someone decides that they want to dedicate their time to ripping into you, ignore them. It is your right.

To all the other hundreds and thousands of people that have shared so many versions of the word kindness, my love and my best to you.

Peace, love, and maki rolls

My inbox is open

If there’s something I really enjoy from events like the PRCC and book signing events, it’s the amount of writers I get to meet. People of all ages come up to me and want to talk writing, and I love that. Poets, short story writers, novelists, and of all ages and genders.

At these events I also give out my business card like there’s no tomorrow and openly tell people to write me and that I’ll write them back. Many people think I’m just saying that though others have found out I mean what I say. For writing advice, for tips, for thoughts I do my best to be as objective as possible because I know how much I would have liked someone to read what I had to say when I was younger.

It’s amazing how many writers are out there and just need a push. Some aren’t sure what to do, others are wondering if what they wrote is good enough, others still are nagged by self-doubt and to all of them I say, slay those dragons, connect, ask and if you think I can help you then by all means, write. What have you got to lose?

jdestradawriter@gmail.com

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