 Two friends working together, like me and Hector Cruz. Fans, I know I've been posting sparsely. As you may have seen, I was "wrestling a bear" (to quote my good friend Author Steve Carr) for a while, revising the second edition of Wolf Trek. I "finished" last night and sent it to a professional beta reader/editor/magic man. He is looking for plot holes. I know, you are never to pay beta readers, but this dude is a gem. So in your face you damned novelette revision!
The other reason I haven't posted is because I have been in a tired, unmotivated funk, which I am keeping in check. (Yes, I am will see a psychologist if I must because depression runs in my family.) Anyhoo, here's the amazing news. I have had a seed project in mind for a while. I've been wanting to write a magical realism piece about martial artists. Clearly, I don't know shit about martial arts. However, I invited my good friend Hector Cruz to do a joint project with me. He accepted. This venture is incredibly exciting for a several reasons. He's a planner (which means he plots) and I'm a panster i.e. I write without plotting. Big surprise. Right off the bat, after I proposed the project and he accepted, sparks were flying, and I have to say within minutes we fleshed out a good portion of the plot, number of characters, villain, and underlying philosophy. I am so thrilled! Writing life doesn't get better than this. Also, I am happy to announce my first-ever asynchronous book club of The Testaments by Margaret Atwood; please join the fun: https://www.facebook.com/groups/427705934528728/ You can join even if you haven't read the full novel. It's also my first book club! Awesome right? My colleague Alisa just posted the first couple of prompts last night. She's also a gem, and I am blessed that she is a bigger book nerd than I am. That's all I have. Oh, if you haven't entered by giveaways, please do so. You must be a U.S. or D.C. resident to enter. Not Your Abuelita's Folktales https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/1348328e56ec7472 and Mona's Return https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/3698c13e61a3abbb I hope you are having an wonderful writing weekend. Keep dreaming and reinvigorating your writing life! #barrioblues
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 Author Mehreen Ahmed MEHREEN, I KNOW YOU LIVE IN AUSTRALIA. TELL MY READERS ABOUT YOURSELF. I have been living in Australia for about thirty long years. I completed studies in applied linguistics at the University of Queensland, and published a few academic papers in peer reviewed journals such as Cambridge University Press, Routledge, callej.org, ISTE, and more. At this stage, there were no plans to write anything even remotely fiction, because, I was way too occupied with academic stuff. The inspiration for creative fiction and nonfiction came much later. One day, I thought to myself that I also have an MA degree in English Literature, maybe I should think about something along those lines, since I had been a voracious reader of literature, both in English as well as my native, Bengali. Hence, I started thinking of writing a novella, and a few months on, I sat down to pen my debut, Jacaranda Blues. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER? WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST STORY ABOUT? I had known for sometime that people would read what I write. Because my publications began to appear in journals and magazines and my works cited. The more I published, the more supported I felt, and the more inspired I became. I RECENTLY READ AND REVIEWED THE PACIFIST AN AMAZING BOOK FULL OF GORGEOUS DETAIL. YOU HAVE SEVERAL INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED NOVELS. CAN YOU OFFER A GLIMPSE OF HOW YOUR WRITING PROCESS WORKS? I mainly write in stream of consciousness. I like this style, because I feel that a writer is at her best in this mode. Her thoughts are raw, and there is a sincerity about this raw kind of storytelling, which I find closes the gap between reality, and make belief. Fiction by definition is “unreal”. However, we collect our raw material from life, and polish it to make it readable and more acceptable. But a lot also gets lost in that process. Stream-of-consciousness style, closes that gap. OFTEN, YOUR USE OF STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS GETS HIGHLIGHTED BY REVIEWER. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE WRITING TECHNIQUE OR TECHNIQUES YOU IMPLEMENT? Yes, Stream-of-consciousness style of writing, which I have elaborated above. WHAT TECHNIQUES WOULD YOU LIKE TO IMPROVE UPON? Stream-of-consciousness definitely, but also improve on prosody, diction, and overall structure. IN THE PACIFIST, YOU HAD A WONDERFUL BALANCE OF CRITIQUE OF THE RULING CLASS AND TOUCHED ON ISSUES OF CHILD ABUSE, MISOGYNY, AND RACISM. I THOUGHT THEY WERE BEAUTIFULLY BALANCED AND THAT YOU WERE NOT PROSTELYTIZING. HOW DO YOU BALANCE THESE POTENTIALLY CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECTS WITHOUT BEING OVERLY POLITICAL? I touched upon them in great sadness. I find it terrifying sometimes, when I think of the world we raise our children in. I also feel that safety is not guaranteed, neither is this our right. It is accidental. I am not a politician, I am a mother, and I have viewed a lot of these issues from a mother’s point of view, from the point of view of helpless people who neither have power, nor money to change their situations. WHAT THREE KERNELS OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A NEW WRITER? A SEASONED WRITER? The three main issues, I would narrow down, are sincerity, knowledge about what you are about to write, and good control over language. WHAT KEEPS YOU MOTIVATED TO WRITE? Social issues, world views, human condition are some of the factors that help me to continue to write. I KNOW FROM EXCHANGES ON FACEBOOK THAT YOU HAVE A FAMILY, TWO DAUGHTERS, I BELIEVE. HOW DO YOU BALANCE YOUR FAMILY AND WORK AND WRITING LIFE? I have an adult son, and an adult daughter. My family is very supportive, not demanding in anyway, so I’ll always have enough time on my hands to think about writing. I usually find the time, when I feel pressured to write. However, I don’t write all the time, but only when I feel like it. AS YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF YOUR FANS WORSHIP THE GROUND YOU WALK ON, SUCH AS THE AUTHOR STEVE CARR. ARE THERE WRITERS YOU HOLD IN THE SAME REGARD? IF SO WHICH? Steve Carr is a prolific writer himself. You too are fantastic, and profound. I’ve countless number of writers from ICWG (Inner Circle Writers Group), who I hold in great regard. PLEASE, TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS. I am writing a book set in my country of birth, Bangladesh. This book is about a fallen aristocratic family. The narration involves many social and political issues of the time. I am still writing it, so I can’t describe it all. But once the book is finished, I’ll know more about what it is about. ONE LAST FANTASY QUESTION: DO YOU THINK WRITING CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD? IF SO HOW? Yes, I believe so, more than politicians. At the end of the day, it is the politicians, who have and will destroy the world, with wars, plunders, escalated human crises, and what have we? I consider myself lucky to have lived in relative safety. Wholesome art unites people, makes people forget their differences, and gives living a new meaning. WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU ONLINE OR SOCIAL MEDIA? Yes, they can follow me on Twitter: Ahmed2Mehreen, LinkedIn and Facebook. MEHREEN, IT HAS BEEN A REAL HONOR. I LOOK FORWARD TO READING MORE OF YOU WORK! I HOPE WE DO THIS AGAIN SOON. Thank you for your time and effort. Many thanks, indeed and best of luck.  Author Mehreen Ahmed  Read a review of The Pacifist on Amazon.  #WritingCommunity and Friends, I am doing short Amazon giveaways of two ebooks: Not Your Abuelita's Folktales https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/1348328e56ec7472 and Mona's Return https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/3698c13e61a3abbb. You must be a U.S. resident to win.   These last few days have been a real challenge, in terms of my writing. I haven't been able to stick to a daily writing schedule, which gives me the blues. I also had this weird writing funk going on with Wolf Trek, a novelette I am revising for a second edition. I had to outline it and complain to the universe, and that worked. Now, the novelette is flowing. Luckily, I have an amazing editor and writer-friend, Aditya Deshmukh, who gave me some great ideas this morning. I hope to be done with it tomorrow. Revising is such a weird dank place to be in, but once the revision process moves forward, everything is joyful again. However, when I am not writing, I try to do something writing related. Lately, I haven't felt like blogging or vlogging because I was stuck in the writing and revising muck, so I focused on marketing and having fun with memes. These are first attempts. Some of them are silly and funny, but they were motivational. Do you have a Meme you want to share? What do you do when you're not writing? Finally, I am doing a short giveaway of the ebooks for Not Your Abuelita's Folktales and Mona's Return. You must be a U.S. resident to win. Good luck!
 Beta Reading a Manuscript about a Demon and Possession by Author P.C. Darkcliff #WritingCommunity14/9/2019  Photo by Vladislav Vasnetsov https://www.pexels.com/@vladvictoria The manuscript is titled The Priest of Orpagus about a demon that possesses his two main characters.
The demon sometimes takes the shape of an octopus, which is an interesting creature choice, but I won't spoil anymore than that. It is written by P.C. Darkcliff author of Deception of the Damned. I recommend that book, and I can't wait to read the final version of The Priest of Orpagus! That is what I have been doing. I don't want to talk about my writing plans because I'm sorting out my new writing schedule for the academic year. Plus, I say I'm going to do one thing and do something else. For example, yesterday, I worked on my keywords for my Amazon ads and reading this delightful manuscript, when I should have been working on my novelette Wolf Trek. Still, I have been working on the second edition of my novelette Wolf Trek and going back to some fundamental writing basics. I just haven't hit that writing project every day. That novelette didn't do so well the first time I published it, but I hope with a cover make-over, some serious rewriting, and the support of my team, the end product will be amazing. I have faith that it will, so stay tuned for the release scheduled for October 2019. This book review made my week! Follow Daniel Roche. He supports indie writers like us. #WritingCommunity #WriterLift Amazon Giveaway of Not Your Abuelita's Folktales Paperback #WritingCommunity #Giveaway #barrioblues8/9/2019  I am doing a paperback giveaway of not your Not Your Abuelita's Folktales! You can enter here.
I also want to thank my writer sister Carmen Baca for helping me design that awesome video above.  Author Steve Carr. YOU HAVE LIVED SUCH A FASCINATING LIFE, STEVE. TELL MY READERS ABOUT YOURSELF. I'm not certain how fascinating it is. I was born in poverty and raised with four siblings by a single mother who had an eighth grade education. The only books we had in the house for most of my childhood was the Bible and a set of encyclopedias, so I read both the Bible and encyclopedias from cover to cover a few times. I make up what I lack in intelligence with sheer will and determination. Thanks to a high school English teacher who told me I could write, I joined the Army right out of high school to become a military journalist during the Vietnam War era. I didn't go to Vietnam, but instead was given plush duty at the Jacksonville, Florida District Recruiting Command where for about three years I wrote articles for newspapers all over Florida. That launched my career as a writer, although I went years, and traveled extensively, without writing to pursue other means of making a living and to see the world. In college I majored in English/Theater which fed my interests in playwriting, so I went that direction for a few years and had my own stage production company. It wasn't until June, 2016 that I took up writing short stories and since then I've been very lucky to find editors and readers who seem to like my work. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER? WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST STORY ABOUT? I write, but I still haven't fully embraced that I'm a writer. I lack any gravitas at all as a writer. In middle school I wrote a short story that was about thirty handwritten pages long that had something to do with knights and battles. I'm pretty sure that was my first serious short story. I AM ALWAYS IMPRESSED BY THE BREADTH AND DEPTH OF YOUR WORK. YOU ARE ONE OF THE MOST PROLIFIC WRITERS I KNOW, AND I LOVE YOUR WRITING. CAN YOU OFFER A GLIMPSE OF HOW YOUR WRITING PROCESS WORKS? The word “process” always freaks me out because I have a very clear process for submitting stories (as outlined in my Guidebook: How To Get Your Short Stories Published) but no real process for how I manage the activity of writing. I write when I want to write without feeling guilty when I don't. The number of words I write per day really depends on when I have a story scheduled to be submitted by. If I have a real process its an organizational process, knowing what publication I'm writing a story for based on what they want, following their prompt and guidelines, not writing just to put words on paper. AS IS STATED EARLIER, YOUR WRITING BREADTH IS AMAZING AS IS YOUR CHOICE IN GENRES. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE ONE? I love the many forms of the fantasy genre. There's a bit of that in so many of my stories and often it goes unnoticed. Fiction is fantasy, after all. WHAT GENRE(S) WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE IN? I'm not sure I want to be more effective in writing it, but I wish I could grow to like writing romance stories. It's a very popular genre that I'd like to be able to write with some conviction, but it's a genre that I have a very hard time taking seriously, so therefore I mostly stay away from it. EVERY NOW AND THEN I SEE YOUR GORGEOUS WORK THAT DEALS WITH GENDER AND SEXUALITY. HOW DO YOU BALANCE THAT SUBJECT WITHOUT BEING OVERLY POLITICAL? That's an amazingly great question that no interviewer has asked me before. I have never hidden that I'm gay and amazingly in my entire life I have never had one single negative word said to my face, or attacked online, because of my sexuality. I wish I could say that was the same for all LGBTQ+ individuals. The world can be an ugly place for almost anyone in many, many circumstances, so I don't have the right to complain about life being unfair simply because I'm gay. Gender politics is unavoidable when writing about men and women, gay or straight, or any variation in between. My only real political axe to grind is with those that harm others emotionally or physically. WHAT THREE KERNELS OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A NEW WRITER? A SEASONED WRITER? So you're asking for six kernels of advice. For the new writer: (1) Learn grammar, (2) Learn how to self-edit your work, (3) Don't take advice from anyone who knows less about writing than you do. For the seasoned writer: (1, 2 &3) Follow the same advice I give to the new writer. WHAT KEEPS YOU MOTIVATED TO WRITE? There will be a time when I will stop writing. I want to make sure I've said as much as I wanted to say by the time I reach that point which motivates me to continue to pound on the computer keys in hopes that I'm getting it all out. IF YOU WERE TO BE STRANDED ON AN ISLAND (WITH YOUR PARTNER) WHAT THREE BOOKS WOULD YOU TAKE WITH YOU? (1) How To Catch Fish. (2) How To Cook Fish. (3) Things To Do With Fish Bones. HAVE THESE BEEN LITERARY INFLUENCES? IF NOT, WHICH AUTHORS HAVE BEEN? The books and short stories by W. Somerset Maugham taught me everything I needed to know about writing short stories. The plays by Tennessee Williams taught me how to write dialogue. PLEASE, TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS. I have about thirty publications on my schedule to submit new stories to in the next few months. As always, the projects cover almost all genres, and some I have an idea of what story I'm going to write for it, and some I don't. I wish I could be more specific, but being too specific would hem me in. I allow myself the freedom to be non-specific until the very last moment. It's not a writing project per se, but I have a new collection of short stories coming out in October, titled The Very Best of Steve Carr: 50 Short Stories, that is being published as a hardback to be available on Lulu and on Amazon kindle by Clarendon House Books. It contains 50 stories that were written and published prior to March of 2019. I'm particularly proud of this collection because it includes commentaries on the stories by over 85 writers, editors, educators, poets, artists, and friends worldwide. ONE LAST FANTASY QUESTION: DO YOU THINK WRITING CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD? IF SO HOW? The real world and the writing world have a very uneasy relationship, both fearful of being overly controlled by one another. I don't think writing can transform the world, but a world without writing would be transformed almost overnight. WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU ONLINE OR SOCIAL MEDIA? Twitter is @carrsteven960. My Facebook is: https://www.facebook.com/steven.carr.35977 STEVE, IT IS A REAL PLEASURE AND HONOR. I HOPE WE DO THIS AGAIN SOON. Thank you, Jesú. I hope so too.  Coming October 2019. Happy Labor Day Fans and Friends, First of all, I haven't bee blogging as much because I have been revising my novel, and that is a near-meditative state. Productive, but very introspective. I also just started teaching and that takes a lot of time and energy. Nevertheless, some exciting writing things are happening! The second edition of my novelette Wolf Trek is coming out in a few months. I am really happy with the cover, and after going back and forth with the designer, settled on the cover you see below. I am genuinely rewriting a second edition, not just reprinting the original text with a new introduction. Stay tuned! In a week or so, I am having a new Amazon giveaway. For that one, I am giving away a couple of paperbacks of Not Your Abuelita's Folktales. The book is getting decent four to five star reviews. I am as ever intrigued by the four star reviews, but I am happy the book is being reviewed! (You know sometimes these reviews take blood sacrifices.) In the next few weeks, I will also be interviewing some amazing writers. Steve L. Carr and Mehreen Ahmend, both amazing writers. That is actually the highlight of this post! I am also reviewing The Pacifist by Mehreen in a few weeks. Finally, I am nearing 2,000 Twitter followers. I will be giving away one or two copies of my novelettes. So, follow me @drmariajestrada if you haven't done so and join the fun. I hope you are all having an amazing day. My husband is luring me with sushi for lunch, and we are still doing some back to school shopping, so I'm off. Keep living that writing dream. #barrioblues  |
Jesú Estrada
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