Writing - No one said it was going to be easy

Being a writer is a challenge in and of itself, self published or otherwise.

For me, the dream is there. I can taste it. The stories flow. The poetry doesn't stop. I take experiences good and bad, and channel them to transform them into something memorable. I've found my voice and expand on it, discover it, invite it to speak up, whatever it has to say, and people read and enjoy.

But being an indie author can be a massively taxing ordeal. In my case, being in Puerto Rico is an added bonus challenge especially since most of my writing is in English, something I've been questioned about for quite some time.

Here's the thing, there are very few book stores in Puerto Rico not dedicated to school texts or religious literature. I'd already gone to a religious bookstore to see how the dynamic was and a good word for it was weird... there was just no chemistry. Today I went to a bookstore that is nearby the University of Puerto Rico and found yet another store that isn't a fit for me.

Part of me is sure that I'm not finding the right places and that same part insists that maybe I need to look elsewhere... as in way elsewhere... off the Island elsewhere.

I've found two places where I've found people who are interested in my writing, one bookstore and the Puerto Rico Comic Con. At the book store, they still have one copy of my novel and some copies of my first poetry collection. I am looking for at least one more bookstore to do another activity and will be getting creative with how I present my work.

That's the thing, I believe in my work. I have the support of a growing number of readers who enjoy and believe in my stories and my words. I have readers in Europe, Belarus, India, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, the UK, the US, Puerto Rico and several other countries and I'm grateful for their kind eyes to read me.

But on a day like today, this is the type of day when you look at what you write and you dissect it and even with a bitter disposition, approving of what you read means the world.

That's me.

That's my voice.

And I believe in that voice.

I'm sharing these words in part as catharsis, in part to do something productive with what I feel inside, and in part to answer some questions to people who have written me asking for writing advice.

You want to know the single most important piece of advice I can give you as a writer?

Don't care about what doesn't matter. 

The main thing you have to believe in is yourself, your words, your story, your voice. If you achieve that you can get through any rough patch and in the end what has to matter the most is your writing.

You don't look to the side, you don't look back, you always look forwards. 

Today I went to a place that wasn't the right fit.

What's my response?

A blogpost, working on the cover of my next poetry collection, submitting a poem for competition, and writing.

No one said writing was going to be easy. And even with days like this, I can't say it's not worth it. Quite the contrary actually.

So forwards dear frands.

Always forwards.

Peace, love, and maki rolls.

Monday Reviews: These Days by Jack Cheng

Time is the most valuable asset you have to invest in your life. Although intangible, it has its own weight, its own personality and cannot be recovered once spent. You can't earn more time than what you have in this life, for however long you live. Those are some pretty deep thoughts to come from reading a book, the thing is that reading These Days, I read myself in one of the characters while being able to compare the value of life experiences.

The details in life, the unexpected, the thrill of success, the pain of failure and disappointment, the elation of joy, the desire to switch an answer after you handed in the test, the exhaustion we sometimes go through, the satisfaction of knowing you did your best and the end result, be it good or bad just for the sake of closure. All of these things floated up while I read.

If I had to compare this book to anything, I'd compare it to a good cup of tea. You see, tea has nuance, it has structure, it is delicate, it has minutiae, it begs to be drunk slowly. This is not a book to blitz through; it's one to enjoy a sip at a time. For me, tea keeps me grounded, it's something I use as a reboot or a stabilizer... it's something that forces me to slow down or get burned. These days is a book that after finishing it is like a wonderful cup of tea. It's a book about time and technology, about how we use the time we have and how technology can either bring us closer or break us apart.

A wonderful read that urges the question, what is the next book going to be about?

The long haul: why I chose to self publish

Thanks to years of work and Amazon, I am a published author.

In today’s world, publishing has become something most anyone can do, regardless of talent, merit, or originality. So a few months back, after another query letter that didn’t get a response, I had an important decision to make, would I insist on writing to publishing houses until I got someone to hear me out or would I self-publish?

The question may seem simple, but it’s not. It’s basically asking if you want to be taken seriously from the get go or do you want to work hard for people to take you seriously. I say this because self-publishing is often looked down upon as a step below large house publishing and I get why that is, there’s no filter and you didn’t have to pass any type of test or prove yourself.

When I made the decision to self publish, there were actually a lot of factors going into it. I won’t say not getting a reply from a publishing house wasn’t a reason, then again, the reality of the matter is that it’s quite likely my query and the book description fell off the edge of the email inbox because publishing houses receive hundreds if not thousands of manuscripts from people wanting to be the next J.K. Rowling. So I had the choice of insisting or going my own way.

That’s when I realized; I’ve spent too much time on the vision of what I want to write to have someone edit it (for good or bad). I’m not saying a book editor won’t help you get your book to a better level (they most definitely can), I’m just saying that to me, that would mean that the process becomes a collaborative effort and for once, I want to be selfish with what I release with my name on it. Did I spend years researching, writing, transcribing (I wrote Only Human by hand), formatting, editing and nurturing my novel to allow the possibility of one person chiming in. For other projects? Maybe? For another book? Quite possibly. But for Only Human and its two sequels in the Human Cycle? No way.

What you get when you read Only Human is my vision of a world I thought up in my head (and there’s many more). It’s a story that runs a gamut of emotions and writing styles, it can be sweet at one moment and macabre the next. It talks about humanity and how much we’re willing to sacrifice in order to help others, even if you’re expendable... even if you don’t matter. It sets up things that will be resolved in a second and third book. It has angels, demons, vampires, wraiths and therians (NOT werewolves). It has sex, it has death, it has dreams and challenges most of what you know, stating that’s it’s all BS. That there is more truth in books by Tolkien than history books. It’s something I could offer people who enjoyed Nightwatch or Constantine/Hellblazer. It’s a book I would read and that’s why I was comfortable enough to release it.

Some of my heroes are great do-it-yourself kind of people, Pearl Jam, Jack Johnson, Bill Hicks and Fugazi come to mind (JK Rowling’s perseverance does as well). Each has a moral barometer that is borderline brutal because each in their own way have walked their path without thinking of the consequences of their choices. They just stayed true to their vision and in my own little way, I self-published because of them.

The reality is that I want to write, and I want to write a lot so having to stop my brain long enough to deal with the uphill battle that is getting the attention of a publishing house is not in the cards right now. Creating is in the cards and enjoying the freedom I’ve NEVER been afforded in a typical job.

In addition, if you read my twitter page, you’ll see that when I talk about my book it’s me inviting people to read it. You will see a lot of content for the blog and a lot of tweets interacting with people around the world. My intention and my mission are to connect to other people. I firmly believe that and although I want my books to be successful and I’m working for this to be my career, my messages will always be an offer to connect with a work that is deeply personal, that grew with me, that wrote itself and corrected me when I thought I could control it, that made me smile and made me cry, that gave me grief as I edited out pages worth of words that weren’t necessary and that is 100% mine.

There are scars hidden between the lines, there are messages of hope embedded into the font and there are thousands of hours invested in a work you can acquire with a click. It’ll last a long while and it has vampire pirates, demons, a mid dimension and its trajectory will take you to places like Spain, Egypt, Eritrea, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

Consider this another of many invitations... it is not a plea and it is not spam. It is an invitation because I believe in my work and I believe you will enjoy it.

I started by saying that I am a published author. Regardless of the level of success I achieve, that will always remain true and you can be part of my life story. You have been most cordially invited.

Cheers,

JD