Today I’m sharing with you a prequel for SINS OF THE FLESH, my November 2009 release from Grand Central Publishing. This snippet shows you a little bit more about the hero, Mick Carrera, who is quite a complex individual. It also introduces you to one of his sisters, Roberta – or Bobbie as she is known to friends and family. Bobbie is a Marine heading off to Iraq and here’s a secret for you – if all goes as planned, Bobbie will be the heroine in Book 3 of the SINS series.
There are a lot of things that can drain your creativity as a writer, but one of the worst is trying to edit while you are writing.
One of the important things to learn in writing quickly as well as writing effectively is not stopping and second guessing yourself about choices of words, sentence structure, spelling or grammar. Those are all things that can be fixed after the fact.
When you are writing your first draft, let yourself run free. Put down what comes out of your brain immediately. It’s always possible to go back and fix whatever it is that you think is wrong.
If you stop yourself from running free, you may miss creating something really different and interesting.
I will often write vital scenes without stopping (or stopping only a little). I want to get that rush of fresh thoughts down on the paper, especially when it comes to dialogue. Having the right pacing and words in dialogue often come easier when you just let it flow. It’s easy to go back and fill in what may be missing if you’ve got a good rhythm to your dialogue.
So – shut down your internal editor for that first draft. Let yourself explore new things and pour your heart out onto the paper. There will be time enough to fix things once you’ve finished the scene.
The last two Thoughtful Thursdays I’ve been talking about Liberty, but as I mentioned during the blog on Big Brother and Big Government, Liberty is tough without having Life first.
On bigger levels, I hope that our leaders understand what they need to do to keep America safe.
On individual levels, there’s a lot we can do to safeguard ourselves, but today I want to talk about a writer’s life.
It’s not an easy life at times. If you’re not good with handling criticism or rejection, it’s probably not a good career choice.
If you’re in it for the big bucks, it’s probably also not a good choice.
If you’re in it because you have lots of stories in your head that you want to share with others — then a writer’s life is perfect for you!
So how is it that I decided to become a writer? If you’ve checked out my bio, you may know that in the fifth grade my teacher assigned a project – for us to write a book to be placed in a class lending library. The thought intrigued me so that I went home and started writing. When it came time to turn in the book, it was 120 typed pages (My poor mom worked at night for days to get it done!).
I knew then I writed a book, but for far longer than that, I’d had stories in my head.
I remember going to sleep at night and making up stories of princes, intrigue and sword fights (I always was on the dark side). The next night I would continue the story in my head, always moving it along.
After fifth grade, I started putting more and more ideas on paper and that continued throughout high school, college and even law school. So during all that time I was a writer.
Which brings me to the next thing – you don’t have to be published to be a writer. Writers write whether for just themselves or to share it with others. Thanks to the Internet, there are lots of ways to share your stories and satisfy the need to write.
So what made me decided to get published? For starters, and I am dating myself, there really wasn’t much in the way of the Internet back then for everyday people. The only way to share your stories was to go the traditional route of reaching out to a commercial publisher and having them buy your book.
With that in mind, I set out to get published and it took some time. At least six or seven years, but eventually it happened. I never gave up when I got rejection after rejection. I never lost sight of the dream that I had.
I also didn’t quit my day job. Which I guess brings me back to some tips I’d like to share with both pre-published and published writers!
1. Don’t quit your day job. Being a paid writer is an iffy proposition and economic worries will only be a drain on your creativity.
2. Don’t let rejection pull you down. You will not sell every novel you write. No one does (Well, except Nora Roberts although I’m sure she didn’t at first). Think of it as a ball game where .300 is a decent batting average. That’s one out of every 3 and ball players still get picked to play!
3. Learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. You may participate in critique groups or get “good” rejection letters from editors and agents. Be open to changes that are suggested, but learn how to separate bad suggestions from the good. You’ll have to trust your gut about that.
4. Don’t be a diva. Be willing to make changes and listen to what others say, especially editors and agents.
5. Join a support group. There is a reason why AA and Weight Watchers work. You need to be surrounded by people who understand what you are going through and can share their experience with you. They will also hopefully provide information on what’s happening in the industry and help you make contacts. (It is now time for a shameless plug for my local writing group – the Liberty States Fiction Writers – who is holding a marvelous conference on March 13th!)
6. Stay active. Writing is a both a solitary and sedentary life. With respect to the sedentary, try to move around during stints of writing and get some exercise!
7. Don’t lose sight of your dream! It’s not an easy road, but if you turn back, you will never reach your destination.
Hope you enjoyed today’s thoughts on a writer’s life!
I hope all of you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! Through the wonders of technology, I am able to share these Thanksgiving Thoughts and a giveaway while I am probably busy whipping up a batch of Cranberry Maple Muffins to take to my sister’s house for the holiday celebration.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’ve got a new blogging gig over at PowerfulLatinas.com and this month’s theme at Powerful Latinas is sisters – La Hermana. It only seems right to broaden that discussion to families in general.
Families often play a role in what we read and write and so this week’s blog at Powerful Latinas is about incorporating family into our writing. In preparing the article, I had the opportunity to chat with my dear friend and fellow author Julia Amanta – EVENINGS AT THE ARGENTINE CLUB. Julia offered up her thoughts on why family is important in our writing and also graciously offered a copy of her book as a giveaway.
So please take a moment to stop by and visit with me there to learn about sisters and family in our writing. Just click here to visit and remember to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway for a copy of EVENINGS AT THE ARGENTINE CLUB.
I know I’m going to spend the weekend writing and working on some materials for our new writing group, the Liberty States Fiction Writers. But in between work, I hope to sneak in some relaxation and fun.
So where do I look to find out what’s going? Well, I pick up a local paper, but I also check out the Internet for events. You can too! Here are some of the places where you can find out what’s happening in your area:
Also, you can visit your local state or city website. It will often have a calendar of events and suggest sites of interest. Here are few for those places close to me:
This Thoughtful Thursday is about a question I am frequently asked? What do you in-between books? The answer is that you hope you’ve got something else contracted!
But seriously, what I do is start research on the next book and work on other proposals to be sent out by my agent. I’m always working on a new idea because for every book I am lucky enough to sell, there are at least one or two that end up gathering dust at my desk. Sometimes even though I think it’s a rocking book (like UNDEAD UPRISING!).
So the first answer to the question is: Always be preparing another project for consideration. Even if you’re in the middle of working on books that are contracted, keep your creative mind going, even if it’s to just to jot down some story ideas that you can flesh out later.
The second answer is: Get to work on the next book you need to write.
This spring and summer was blessedly busy for me. I had to finish two more book in THE CALLING vampire novels – ARDOR CALLS and VENGEANCE CALLS. Also had to do copy edits and galley proofs for SINS OF THE FLESH. And in the midst of all that, I was busy writing the next book in the SINS series – STRONGER THAN SIN – as well as researching that book.
Third answer: Spend some time researching your next novel.
For me, researching STRONGER THAN SIN meant long walks through some of the shore towns where I planned to set the novel. Snapping photos of places where I might be putting the hero and heroine so that I could get a real feel for the places. I’ve always thought that it’s important to really let you get a sense of the place and am always delighted to hear from someone who visits one of those towns that they felt like they knew it because of something I put in a novel.
So far in STRONGER THAN SIN, my ability to move them around has been limited, but I’m working up to allowing more and more scenes where the hero and heroine will be walking along the same streets that I visited and sharing their views of some of New Jersey’s delightful shore towns.
In STRONGER THAN SIN, most of the action will be taking place in Bradley Beach, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove and Spring Lake. For today, I’m sharing with you some pictures of Ocean Grove and Asbury Park. I’ve got to head down the shore again this weekend and work on adding some shots of Spring Lake and also, the wonderful tent city area close to the Ocean Grove auditorium.
As the immigration crisis reaches the boiling point, once-peaceful Latino protests explode into rioting. Cities across the nation are in flames. Anglo vigilantes bent on revenge launch drive-by shootings in the barrios, wantonly killing young and old. Exploiting the turmoil, a congressional demagogue succeeds in passing legislation that transforms the nation’s teeming inner-city barrios into walled-off Quarantine Zones. In this chaotic landscape, Manolo Suarez is struggling to provide for his family. Under the spell of a beautiful Latina radical, the former U.S. Army Ranger eventually finds himself questioning his loyalty to his wife—and his country.
Please welcome Raul Ramos y Sanchez, the author of AMERICA LIBRE. Raul has been gracious enough to vist with us and answer some questions. Please also check out the excerpt from AMERICA LIBRE as well as the video trailer.
A chat with Raul:
My sources tell me AMERICA LIBRE started out with a different name. Tell us about that and the timeline of getting your first novel published.
You’re like James Lipton with these inside sources! Yes, AMERICA LIBRE began life as MANO A MANO. Thankfully my agent talked me out of that title. Like most authors, my path to publication was not easy – or quick. I finished the manuscript in the summer of 2004. AMERICA LIBRE was released by Grand Central Publishing July 29, 2009. That five year span is an indication of how difficult it can be just to find a publisher—and a lot of work remains. Getting published has been a very gratifying experience. Still, I see it as only the first leg of a longer race. I have a lot of work remaining to make sure AMERICA LIBRE is a marketplace success.
How many rejections did you receive?
Wheh! I lost count. What I remember most about my first attempts to find an agent or a publisher was that it seemed the stack of rejection letters was approaching the thickness of my manuscript. Amazingly, after months of mailing query letters without any luck, I went to a writers conference and got offers of representation from three agents in a single weekend. Even after finding an agent, though, a lot of hurdles remained.
What kept you writing?
I’ve always felt the height of a barrier is an indication of the reward on the other side. I knew going in, getting published would not be easy. Nothing worth attaining ever is. But I had an example that helped sustain my perseverance. My mother arrived in the Bronx from Cuba in 1957 with a few words of English, a seven-year-old son, and enough cash to get us through a couple of months. Few people would have bet on her chances of one day starting her own business, much less raising three children who would go to college and become successful entrepreneurs. My mother never gave up. She worked relentlessly to give her children a better life despite many setbacks and disappointments. Her example showed me that the willingness to overcome adversity is what divides those who reach their dreams from those who will always wonder what might have been.
Have you ever thought about doing a film about AMERICA LIBRE and if so, what did you do about it?
One the first reviews of my manuscript came from a professor who told me he could “see†the story even as he read it. Maybe it’s my background as a visual artist, but from the very beginning readers have commented that AMERICA LIBRE seems an ideal story for a film. I never did this consciously, but looking back, the novel has a lot of cinematic qualities: strong characters, romance, lots of action. We’ve already had an option offer from a small indy studio in Los Angeles, which my agent advised against, and a nibble from a major studio. (I should mention these experiences inspired me to post a poll on my author’s site asking visitors to vote on the star they’d like to see in the major roles. For anyone who’d like to vote, go to www.RaulRamos.com and scroll down a bit in the lower left side of the page.) In any case, I would love to see AMERICA LIBRE as a film. I’m hopeful the right deal will come along.
In conclusion, I’d like to thank you, Caridad, for inviting me as a guest on your blog. Hanging out with a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author is a rare privilege. I value your very generous support and wish you continued success with your wonderful work.
Thank you so much Raul for visiting. In chatting with you, I’ve learned what a positive role model you are for people everywhere. I’ve always believed that with hard work and determination you can overcome adversity and you are a true example of that belief in action. I wish you all the best with your writing career!
The trouble had started two weeks earlier. Enraged at the fatal police shooting of a young Latina bystander during a drug bust, a late-night mob descended on a Texas Department of Public Safety complex and torched the empty buildings. By morning, a local newscast of the barrio’s law-and-order meltdown mushroomed into a major story, drawing the national media to San Antonio. Since then, the presence of network cameras had incited the south side’s bored and jobless teenagers into nightly rioting.
Seizing the national spotlight, the governor of Texas vowed looters would be shot on sight. Octavio Perez, a radical community leader, angrily announced that force would be met with force. He called on Mexican-Americans to arm themselves and resist if necessary.
Disdaining Perez’s warning, Edward Cole, a twenty-six-year-old National Guard Lieutenant, chose a provocative location for his downtown command post: the Alamo.
“This won’t be the first time this place has been surrounded by a shitload of angry Mexicans,†Cole told his platoon of weekend warriors outside the shutdown tourist site. A high school gym teacher for most of the year, Lieutenant Cole had been called up to lead a Texas National Guard detachment. Their orders were to keep San Antonio’s south side rioting from spreading downtown.
Now Cole was fielding yet another call over the radio.
“Lieutenant, we got some beaners tearing the hell out of a liquor store two blocks south of my position,†the sentry reported.
“How many?â€
“I’d say fifty to a hundred.â€
“Sit tight, Corporal. The cavalry is coming to the rescue,†Cole said, trying his best to sound cool and confident. From a two-day training session on crowd control, he’d learned that a rapid show of strength was essential in dispersing a mob. But the colonel who had briefed Cole for the mission had been very clear about the governor’s statement.
“Your men are authorized to fire their weapons only in self-defense,†the colonel had ordered. “And even then, it had damn well better be as a last resort, Lieutenant. The governor wants to deter violence, not provoke it.â€
Lieutenant Cole had never seen combat. But he was sure he could deal with a small crowd of unruly Mexicans. After all, he had eight men armed with M-16A automatic rifles under his command. Cole put on his helmet, smoothed out his crisply ironed ascot, and ordered his men into the three reconditioned Humvees at his disposal.
“Let’s move out,†he said over the lead Humvee’s radio. With the convoy underway, Cole turned to his driver. “Step on it, Baker. We don’t want to let this thing get out of hand.†As the driver accelerated, the young lieutenant envisioned his dramatic entrance . . .
Bullhorn in hand, he’d emerge from the vehicle surrounded by a squad of armed troopers, the awed crowd quickly scattering as he ordered them to disperse . . .
Drifting back from his daydream, Cole noticed they were closing fast on the crowd outside the liquor store. Too fast.
“Stop, Baker! Stop!†Cole yelled.
The startled driver slammed on the brakes, triggering a chain collision with the vehicles trailing close behind. Shaken but unhurt, Cole looked through the window at the laughing faces outside. Instead of arriving like the 7th Cavalry, they’d wound up looking like the Keystone Kops.
Then a liquor bottle struck Cole’s Humvee. Like the opening drop of a summer downpour, it was soon followed by the deafening sound of glass bottles shattering against metal.
“Let’s open up on these bastards, Lieutenant! They’re gonna kill us!†the driver shouted.
Cole shook his head, realizing his plan had been a mistake. “Negative, Baker! We’re pulling out.â€
But before the lieutenant could grab the radio transmitter to relay his order, the driver’s window shattered.
“I’m hit! I’m hit! Oh, my God. I’m hit!†the driver shrieked, clutching his head. A cascade of blood flowed down Baker’s nose and cheeks. He’d only suffered a gash on the forehead from the broken glass, but all the same, it was as shocking as a mortal wound. Never one to stomach the sight of blood, Baker passed out, slumping into his seat.
Cole couldn’t allow himself to panic; with no window and no driver he was far too vulnerable. Mind racing, he stared outside and soon noticed a group of shadowy figures crouching along the roof of the liquor store. Were they carrying weapons?
“Listen up, people. I think we might have snipers on the roof! I repeat, snipers on the roof!†Cole yelled into the radio. “Let’s lock and load! Have your weapons ready to return fire!â€
On the verge of panic, the part-time soldiers fumbled nervously with their rifles as the drunken mob closed on the convoy, pounding against the vehicles.
The window on Cole’s side caved in with a terrifying crash. The rattled young lieutenant was certain he now faced a life or death decision—and he was determined to save his men. With the radio still in hand, Lieutenant Edward Cole gave an order he would forever regret.
“We’re under attack. Open fire!â€
When it was over, twenty-three people lay dead on the black pavement beneath the neon sign of the Rio Grande Carryout.
*****
Take a moment to watch the exciting trailer for AMERICA LIBRE. Also, everyone who leaves a comment by midnight EST on Friday will be eligible to win a copy of Raul’s novel.
There are a lot of things that can drain your creativity as a writer, but one of the worst is trying to edit while you are writing.
I know I’m going to spend the weekend writing and working on some materials for our new writing group, the