A Year In The Life - 2015

A Year In The Life – 2015

Happy New Year everyone! Is it too late to say that? 2016 is well underway and I've been thinking about 2015 and the ten most memorable moments from last year. As a result of that reflection, here is my annual A Year In The Life post. Enjoy and best wishes for 2016. 

  

My father-in-law’s death.  

This wasn’t the first death I’ve experienced and it’s not likely going to be my last but it was the first death that directly affected me and my immediate family (my wife, son and I). It was also the death of someone closer, to me, with the exception of my own lola, than any of the other deaths I’ve known.

This obviously affected me because it affected my wife and my in-laws. It still does. One doesn’t get over the death of a loved one so quickly. This death didn’t just affect me in a peripheral sort of way as his son-in-law, however. You see, my wife’s family and my family have been close for decades and our fathers had been friends since the 1950s. My wife and I have known each other since we were kids and, when I still lived in Hong Kong and she lived in The Philippines, I was often the guide when they came to visit. I’d show them and him around, taking him to the right store to buy exactly what he was looking for and to the best local places to eat. During our excursions, he always made jokes and teased me. He was cordial and, as the years went on, when my wife and I were still just friends and on through our marriage, I learnt more about my father-in-law. His kindness, fearlessness, curiosity, generosity, intelligence, faith in God and sense of service to others was unlike that of anyone else I’ve known. In my life, alongside my own father, my Taekwondo masters and my secondary school basketball coach, my father-in-law was someone I admired and looked up to. He is, without question, someone worth emulating; a standard bearer for all men, young and old.

Trying to find something positive from this, I know that he is no longer in pain (he was sick off-and-on for several years before he died) and that he is in Heaven, shaking hands again with the late Pope John Paul II, and exchanging discourse on the state of the world we live in with The Holy Family – Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph – to whom he was passionately devoted. We miss him – my wife, son and I and the entire family – but we take solace knowing that we are better people because of him and comfort because he is watching over us.

My son’s thank you.

Maybe it’s his age and his innate shyness or, perhaps, it’s the poor parenting job I’ve done so far but my son gets quite shy about saying “thank you” even when he knows he should. As a result of that, I’ve developed a slight concern that either I truly have done a poor parenting job or my son is a bit of a selfish ding-dong. Well, some of those concerns were allayed last summer. Summer being what it is, there is less money coming in and, at least, the same money going out with the monthly bills.

There was a day in July when my son and I were kicking around our PS3 and rented a couple of games. We played them, enjoyed them and, when the rental period had run out, they were gone. My son asked if we could buy them and download them. I turned him down citing their cost – one was $59.99 and the other was $29.99. A day or two later, I was in Target and I found both games, on some crazy mega sale. The $59.99 game was down to $19.99 and the less expensive one was available for $9.99. I decided to pick them up and I rushed home before my wife and son returned.  I put them on the top of our game CD pile and said nothing when they got home. I did, though, text my wife that I’d picked them up on sale and I told her not to tell our son. After they’d been home for a while – say, an hour or so – our son finally noticed them. He spoke slowly, moved to them in the same manner. “Hey…um…those look like…” Then he picked them up, as if he wasn’t sure they were real.  He held them up to his chest with their jacket covers facing me. He had a big and confused smile on his face. Then I smiled. Then he cried. It was nothing loud or hysterical but quiet and heartfelt. It was almost as if he was trying to hold back his tears. Then he sat down and my wife told him to thank me. Instead, he put his head down and let his tears quietly flow. Again, she told him to thank me but I told her it was okay and that he was already saying it. In fact, his response was more meaningful than any spoken form of gratitude he could’ve given me.

Studio 509.

No, this isn’t a disco from the 70s (although if my wife and her business partners/friends read this they might get some ideas of running disco night fundraiser event). Instead, Studio 509 is said wife and partners’ fitness studio that they opened last year. All three of them already worked there when it was owned by somebody else (who now works for them) and named something else. What happened was he wanted to sell and they wanted to buy - something that all three owners’ husbands feel should have happened many years ago. While this isn’t directly something I was involved in (other than installing a few hooks and curtains), this involves my wife. She’s happier, making more money and I’m reaping the benefits of both. More than that, I feel the pride that my wife is now a business owner, which has come from her hard work there (before and now) and how much the clientele (and community) rate her and her partners. Well done, ladies! Keep up the great work.

The F.A. Cup.

If you know me, you know the answer to this question – What football (soccer) team do I support? Answer: THE ARSENAL. I became an Arsenal fan, in my mind anyway, through an absolutely ridiculous way. As ridiculous as it was, however, (it’s a possible discussion for another blog post) I’ve been loyal to the core and I’m a Gooner through and through. So, when we  (yes, we) won the F. A. Cup in 2014, after having not won anything since 2005, I was elated. Then, to win it again a year later and in dominant fashion (4-0 over Aston Villa), on the same day I completed my first 10K race in years, I was more than overjoyed. Naturally, I wore my Arsenal jersey for the race and I wasn’t the only one. I saw another runner and a race volunteer at a water station wearing theirs.

Super Essex Conference Champions – Again.

Well, this might be an obvious one but why not? In 2014, my team and I won our first volleyball championship. Last year, we won it again – albeit we shared the title with Millburn, the only team that beat us in the division. Honestly, Millburn and us (Columbia) were the two strongest teams in the division in 2015 and when we lost a close match at Millburn I knew right away that we’d need some luck again to win the title as solo champions. I also knew, however, that the other teams in the division weren’t as strong as in 2014 so we might not get so lucky with one of the other teams beating Millburn. More than that, I knew that we’d have to win our remaining conference games in order to, at least, share the title and that included a home match against Millburn at the end of the season.

Well, to say that my team did the business is understated. We beat the other schools and when it came to hosting Millburn, wow! We advertised this game immensely and the gym was filled to the brim with pro-Columbia supporters. Parents were drumming against their seats, every time we scored the spectators roared. The principal, an assistant principal, the athletic director, other coaches came to cheer us on. In a word, it was electric.

I found out after the game that one of my captains said this to her teammates before the game – “We’re not losing” and we didn’t. At one point in the match, this captain’s rival on Millburn was caught saying “What the f**k!” (silenced by the roar of the crowd but easily lip-read) when she made a big hit that my captain blocked. The ball bounced back to the Millburn girl who tipped the ball back onto our side (thinking she’d won the point she turned to celebrate but snapped back around when she realized she hadn’t scored) only for my captain to recover quickly and dig the ball for one of my other hitters to tip back over the net for a point.

Dare I say it, we did nothing wrong. Both teams played brilliantly but, on the day, we were the more brilliant. It was a match for the ages and what I call My ESPN Moment. Tensions were high, both sets of girls played their hearts outs and the winning point couldn’t have been more perfect than it was. One of my seniors, who’d struggled with serving for two and a half seasons, was poised to serve. She bounced the ball, as she always does, and that’s when I looked to the Millburn side and saw a gap. Their usual main passer moved back an extra step. Why? I couldn’t tell you but it was enough for anyone paying attention to see and make them think about serving an ace. I turned back to my player and wondered if she’d seen it. Then I wondered if she was going to go for the ace (I felt 50-50 about it, to be honest). You can see what happened here in this clip. (Courtesy of Sarai Roberts © 2015).

Of the 2015 Varsity, the majority of them are graduating. For 2016, we’re moving up to a harder division (so is Millburn) and we’ll be facing tougher competition. It’ll be a rebuilding year for sure and one that will likely come with more aches and pains than we’d like but such is the way of school sports – four years max and that’s it. As for the 2015 and 2014 teams, thank you.

Montauk Mayhem.

This was an experience, to say the least, and something I should probably turn into a short story. With the generosity of one of my wife’s friends, we’ve been enjoying a Montauk vacation every year at the start of the summer. This year, we had trouble with one of our cars – the car we usually drive to Montauk – and it made for some interesting adventures. The day we got there, the Check Engine light came on. It had been coming on sporadically and we had the car looked and everyone said it was fine. We were 300-plus miles away from home so we decided to have it looked at. Of course, there’s only ONE mechanic in Montauk (or one that was open) and it was booked. Being out-of-towners and sounding desperate, they took us in. We ended up leaving the car overnight with them and they discovered the problem but the part would take three or four days to get there. We got to Montauk on Thursday, brought the car to the mechanic Friday morning and we were scheduled to return to New Jersey on Saturday. What ended up happening was we drove the car back to our friend’s chalet, cabbed around Montauk and had the car towed back Saturday morning. I rode with tow and my wife and son took the LIRR to Manhattan and the NJ Transit back to New Jersey. Thankfully, the tow driver was a personable guy and not grumpy from having to do a Saturday morning pick-up for a 300 miles single-way journey.

A couple of days later, we had the car repaired for a grand total cost (towing, miles, repair, tolls) of about $700! On the positive side, I got some good writing material. I learnt a bit about a long-hauler’s life and the drag racing circuit – two of the driver’s previous forms of employment. If we go to Montauk this year, though, I may consider taking the train the whole way. Maybe.

The Wind-up Books Chronicle and Asian Books Blog.

I had two pleasant writing-related surprises in 2015. I’m working on my second, third and fourth novels (none are related to the others) but my first book, Back Kicks And BrokenPromises, came out in 2012. For me, it’s out there and, in a way, I’m done with it. I’m not doing any major promotion for it and I’m working on new books. Well, twice this past year, I was emailed about my Back Kicks. Asian Books Blog, a Singapore-based books website, emailed me and asked to do an interview. Naturally, I agreed. I may have put Back Kicks to rest, so to speak, but I’d have been a fool not to accept ABB’s invitation. Click here for the interview. The interview even got me on the shortlist of their 2015 Lunar Book of the Year Award. I didn’t win it but, at one point, I was leading in votes.

The other surprise came from another online books blog, The Wind-up Books Chronicle. This site wanted to do a review of Back Kicks and, again, I gave the go ahead. I sent the reviewer a copy of my book and she took it from there. Click here for the review.

Ed Lin.

I got to have lunch with Ed Lin in 2015. For those of you who don’t know who Ed is, he’s an award-winning Chinese American author. Ed isn’t just an award winner. He’s the only writer to have won the prestigious Asian Literary award, given by out by The Asian American Writer’s Workshop, twice. I blogged about my lunch with Ed previously so, instead of re-writing something, you can click here for my insights on our meal together.

Breaking My Son’s Heart.

In 2015, I signed up to run in the 2016 Disney World Half-Marathon. I was going to use the year training to regain my fitness and we were going to make a little family vacation out of the trip to Disney. Naturally, my son was excited when we told him about it. Unfortunately, due to my father-in-law’s health taking a turn for the worse, we decided to cancel the trip. At the time, we didn’t know how much time my father-in-law had and the doctors even told me wife that he was likely to have several months left whether he recovered or not. Sadly, this ended up not to being the case. However, with that in mind, we cancelled the Disney trip for several reasons. We thought, if my father-in-law was recovering, that we might go to Manila for Christmas to celebrate a final one with him. We also had to be prepared for an eleventh hour trip if things got worse.

My wife was in Manila with her father and family when I told our son our decision. We were preparing for bed and brushing our teeth when I told him. Naturally, he was gutted. What child wouldn’t be? Tears filled his eyes and he was worried that it would be forever when we could go again. I promised him that we will go soon and I intend to keep this promise. I also explained his lolo’s condition and how we had to be there for his mother and his lola and the rest of the family. He understood all of it and accepted it. There were more important things happening at the time and he knew that cancelling the trip was the right thing to do. But here’s where this becomes really momentous. After hugging me, he looked up at me and said “What about the race?” I said, “What about it?” His response: “I know you really want to run it.” I did and I wanted to give my Donald Duck medal to my son. My tears had also gotten wet with tears when I initially told him we weren’t going to Disney but, when he said this, it was all I could do to stop my tears raging down my face like the Pagsanjan Falls.

The Force Awakens.

Do I even have to write anything? Ha ha! I was born in 1969, I’m a child of the late 70s and 80s and I am a crazy Star Wars nut. I’m a martial artist and The Jedi Order is the samurai of space. I was a member of the Star Wars fan club in the 1980s and I still have many of my Star Wars toys from back then. So, again, need I say more?

Now, I’m counting the days until Rogue One comes out in December and Star Wars Episode VIII comes out the following year.

May The Force Be With You.

Rubbing Elbows With A Star

With author Ed Lin 

at the Hill Country Chicken Restaurant 

on Broadway.

My goal as a writer is to be able to write and sell books that are entertaining, educational and mean something to my readers. I'd love to break out with some level of mainstream success (I use the word 'success' loosely because depending on an individual's perspective the word can connote different things) and, ideally, be in a position to give up my day job and write full-time. I also wouldn't mind breaking into the contemporary Asian American writing scene and, God and luck willing, be spoken of in the same breath and with the same respect as, say, Don Lee, Lisa See, Susan Choi, Jhumpa Lahiri and Ed Lin, just to name a few. Lofty aspirations, I know, but aspirations I am working to fulfill albeit with a lot of (self-imposed) stress and anguish. 

Until recently. 

I contributed to a crowd fund last fall to help finance the publication of an issue of Hyphen Magazine, the premier magazine of Asian American culture, goings on, art, music and literature. As a result of my financial support, I was pleasantly surprised that I'd won lunch with the esteemed  Ed Lin, the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards (AALAs) and the author of Waylaid,  This Is A Bust and Snakes Can't Run. We met at Hill Country Chicken (1123 Broadway, at the corner of 25th Street and near the Flatiron Building) on a wet and cold February Saturday, a few days after one of the multitude of snowstorms we had last winter. Having won three AALAs and looking at some of Ed's pics online, he looked like a very serious fellow. I am, too, but not in the way I judged Ed to be based on his accolades and the focus of his expression. So, while I was excited for our lunch, I was a touch nervous but, as soon as I shook his hand, all my apprehensions left me. Ed, you see, is a funny, easygoing guy. Naturally, we talked about writing. We also talked about 1980s video games, movies, Ninja Turtles and food. We talked about our day jobs - he's a journalist, I'm a teacher - and New Jersey where we both grew up. 

We're both serious about our writing but meeting Ed and hanging with him for an hour or so, I was reminded that writers - not all of us, anyway  - are stuffy high brow literati. And we don't have to be. We're real people who write about real things and fantastical things. Ed, of course, isn't the only successful writer I've met and many of the writers I've met seem like regularly people too. I'm also too old and experienced in life to get star struck but, as I pursue my writing career with serious conviction, sometimes I forget to take a moment and enjoy what life has put in front of me. Thanks to Ed Lin, just from his demeanour, I've started to enjoy those everyday moments with a fresher perspective. So, not only do I need to thank him again for some of the best fried chicken I've ever had, I need to thank him for being who he is,  for 'keeping it real.'

Thanks Ed. 

A Writer's Conundrum

First of all, I have to apologize. It's been ages since my last post but there's a good reason for that. I've been busy. 

As Chinese New Year approached with The Year of the Ram charging towards us, I looked up what the Monkey's (my sign) prospects are in the Ram Year. "Early productivity with minor financial challenges." Oh yay! And, oh yay. Not. 'Productivity' can mean so many things but I like to think that having a plan and accomplishing things towards fulfilling that plan is a form of productivity and, in the end, it will yield results. The consequent concern, then, becomes when those results actually happen. Those results - securing a literary agent, getting my YA fantasy novel picked up by a publisher, becoming a working writer - haven't happened yet but I've been making some effort and, hopefully, some headway into achieving those things. 

With the Ram whispering in my year, I've been feverishly sending queries and pitches to agents on an almost daily basis. However, with a full-time teaching job, a son to raise, a family to spend time with, workouts to improve my health and fitness, a second job as a coach (it's spring season so Outdoor Track and Field is in full swing and I'm one of the Throws coaches), my time for writing is at a minimum. Here lies the conundrum. I've been working hard on trying to secure an agent and/or publisher. That, unfortunately, leaves me little time to do any actual writing. 

I'm not asking for anyone's sympathy or a pity party and, perhaps, it's the OCD that runs in my family that's making focus largely solely on the business end of my writing career but I can't seem to find the balance between the business and the creative sides of being a writer. So, my fellow writers, how do you do it? I'm asking because I'm open to suggestions and when I'm not creating I feel like something's missing. Honestly, I get pissed when I don't get to add any words to my current manuscript. So, please, if you can offer any real world tips, send me a comment or an email. They'll be received with great appreciation. 

As for the "financial challenges" the Monkey could have this year, who knows? Challenges don't have to be negative, after all, and if it's worth mentioning I'll write about it in a future post.

Confidence and Passion: A Writer's Essential Allies...or, How To FeelGood And, Hopefully, Succeed At A Pitch Slam

It seems that the idea of change is on my mind. In one of the latest posts in my food blog, Panlasa, I talk about the changes in the way I make some dishes now compared to how I was taught to make them years ago. Here, I'm going to talk a little about the agent pitch session at this year's Writer's Digest Conference and how it has changed and how my tactical approach to pitching my work to agents may have also changed since the first time I participated in it in 2010.

I've participated in the pitch slam three times now. The first was, like I said, in 2010. That was the last year when it was part of Book Expo America (BEA) and Writer's Digest hosted BEA. The subsequent pitch sessions I attended were in 2011 and just this past August. In 2010 and 2011, I'd pitched my first (and, so far, only published) novel, Back Kicks And Broken a Promises. Unfortunately, it wasn't published through an agent, with a bestseller-making bid war and with the engine of a big traditional publishing house behind it.

When I pitched in 2010, I'd really done it just to get the experience. But I'm not going to lie. I did hold on to the dullest glimmer of hope that something might happen and I wasn't going to turn it away if it had. I'd have busted my butt to finish and polish my novel. The conference hosts's recommendation was for an author not to pitch unless his book was  finished or, with utmost certainty, the author knew exactly where his book was going. The pitch session was also part of the conference, not requiring a separate fee. I decided to pitch two agents. One is Asian. I chose her, yes, because of that. I'm Asian and Back Kicks has an Asian American protag, is strong in Asian themes and is set as much in Asia (Singapore and The Philippines) as it is in America (New Jersey). This agent did ask for a submission but she obviously passed and, naturally, I was bummed out. But, I was okay with it. I hadn't felt a strong vibe with her and, really, my novel was only about two thirds done. The other agent I pitched that year, who I pitched because she's from New Jersey, also passed but she was very pleasant, encouraged me to keep writing and said she'd welcome future queries from me.

In 2011, Back Kicks was finished and I was fully ready to put it out to the world. The agents I pitched were very receptive and gave my book - its pitch, anyway - some very encouraging and flattering words. Three of them - I pitched five in the time I had - said the story reminded them of Junot Diaz's Pulitzer Prize winning The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao. All five agents requested pages and/or the book's synopsis. Alas, they all passed. So, feeling that my book was ready to go out and wanting to put some closure on it, I self-published it through Abbott Press, the then brand new indie publishing arm of Writer's Digest Magazine, in 2012. A year later, I made further revisions and updated my book with Abbott. Now, I can say I'm truly done with it. I'll still promote it and such but, in my mind and heart, it's a done deal and I can't and don't want to change it further. The agents I pitched in 2011 were YA generic, literary or adult fiction focused. 

This time, I didnt just go in with the idea of a book or a newly finished manuscript. I went in with my heart and my mind. Huh? Back Kicks, like many first books, is semi-autobiographical. This can work both positively and negatively. For me, while there is a story with sub-plots, arcs and strong characters, I think it worked against me. I never like talking about myself. In typical writerly mystification, I have self-confidence and self-esteem issues and I don't think my life is very interesting yet I can write about parts of it, albeit fictionalising it, and share it with the world. So, because of my lack in self-confidence and, perhaps an artist's self-loathing, I likely didn't present myself all that passionately about my own book. 

In 2014, it was a lot different. For one thing, I thoroughly researched my targets and went with the agents who, based on their bios provided by the conference organisers, were close to being a 'perfect fit.' What I've written is a YA fantasy auctioneer called Sky Warrior. It's a fun, educating and entertaining novel that I would want to read, even if I hadn't written it, and wish were a movie. There's nothing high falutin' about Sky Warrior. There's multiculturalism, action, martial arts, magic. What's not to like? Perhaps the difference in 2014 is that I'm coming to terms with what I want to write and not what I think I should be writing. At least for me, talking about and reading Back Kicks was like touring my own head. With Sky Warrior, it's a case of being taken somewhere far away and very different from where real life lives.

I pitched five agents last August. One was a movie producer and she asked me for a business card. Her partners have since passed but we're keeping our lines of communication open in case her partners change their minds and if I have anything else she might like. Two agents passed at The Pitch Slam but their bios didn't state they weren't into 'high fantasy,' which is what one of them called my novel. They both complimented me on my pitch, however. The other two were super excited. One, after I finished my pitch, said, "You had me at gung fu." Naturally, I was jazzed. I've since followed up with her and I'm still waiting to hear back. The other one was even more enthusiastic and we discovered that our sons both enjoy Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender. I've followed up with her and she replied and she asked me to give her more time and said she'll get back to me soon. That's better than getting the broom. 

So, if I can be so bold as to offer any kind of advice about pitching to agents, it's this: be passionate and know who you're talking to and/or know who you want to talk to. Nothing may come from what happened at The Pitch Slam last summer. Of course, I'm hopeful something will especially in light of how enthusiastic the agents I pitched responded to my novel. But, if nothing does, I know I can go with Sky Warrior to other agents feeling confident and passionate about it. And, nothing is more contagious and fostering in trust than confidence and passion. 

Literacy, Literacy Everywhere - Characters

Literacy, Literacy Everywhere - Characters

Left to right: Me, Elisa Pupko, Peter Mercurio (school principal),
  Honi Wasserman (school media specialist)

For years, since I was a child really, I've written. Since the early 1990s, in fact, when I was getting paid for articles I'd written as a freelance journalist, I've called myself a 'writer.' Since the mid-1990s, when I started writing screenplays, going into the 2000s, when I started earnestly writing fiction, and today, with one indie-published book under my belt and on the verge of finishing my second novel, I've been working on becoming a full-time writer. In addition to, hopefully, being able to support my family that way, I've also tried to establish, within myself and those with whom I interact - inside and outside of the writing community - a writing identity. By that, I mean for people to see me, first and foremost (outside of being a husband, father and martial artist), as a writer. I often describe myself as a "writer trapped inside a teacher's body." I'm a teacher by trade, as the saying goes, but in the land of Hard Work And Perseverance and it's close neighbor, Where Dreams Come True, one day, what I do and who I am will become one.

Well, my writing identity took a major boost last month when I spoke at my son's school. My son is in kindergarten and I was asked by one of the class moms, who's a writer herself, to be one of three speakers at the school's launch event for its annual Academic Fair. The theme this year was 'Literacy, Literacy Everywhere - Characters.' The other two speakers were Elisa Pupko, a New York-based actor and founder of Treasure Trunk Theatre in Brooklyn, and the school's media specialist, Honi Wasserman.

Each of us presented for about fifteen minutes during which we shared our own take on the theme. Honi read from Dr. Seuss and Gary Paulsen, extolling the virtue of books. Elisa shared pictures from several of her acting experiences and discussed how she uses elements like a play's setting (location, era), costumes, her characters' age, their physical appearances, limitations and their social statuses to inform her interpretation of a role she's playing.

Me, I discussed how literacy is a skill but more than that, to borrow from the rock group Queen, how literacy is a kind of magic. And, I truly, mean that. I didn't simply use such a 'ruse' to get the K-2 and 3-5 audiences to buy into what I was saying. Literacy - reading and writing - is magic. Words take you places, let you be other people, do superhuman things. And that's when you read a book. When you write something and create worlds and people and put them together in interesting, educating and entertaining ways, you become the magician. 

Discussing creativity and imagination
with an excerpt from my favourite book,
The Little Prince

I explained to them that my creativity came from many places and how I expressed that creativity with poorly written short stories and unfulfilled story ideas when I was as young as nine or ten. I recalled to my listeners that my brother and I grew up playing with action figures. (I'm a guy so I have to say 'action figures' but, really, they were dolls.) We had eight inch dolls of superheroes and movie characters from The Planet of the Apes (the original) and the original Star Trek series. They were made by Mego. I also had a GI Joe and my brother had dolls of Steve Austin and Jamie Summers. For those of who too young, that would be the main characters from The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. 

Anyway, at first, my brother and I played with them as they were. Captain Kirk was Captain Kirk, Supergirl was Supergirl and so on. Eventually, however, we started creating different characters for them and we would rearrange our bedroom so it would become another world. One time, we folded our mattresses and turned them into mountain ranges. One of our Klingon figures was the town's mayor. We wrote newspapers for the dolls to hold and 'read' and we even cut out tiny monetary notes. What I didn't realize at the time was that I, with my brother, was being creativity. I was even more clueless that my creativity would get me to writing screenplays and novels and speaking in front of impressionable young people. So, basically, I told them that anything and anyone can spark their creativity and imagination. 

I also emphasized that they must do everything they can to prevent from losing their imagination; to remain a child when reading and writing. To illustrate this, I read from my all-time favourite book, The Little Prince. I read from the opening section. To prevent a spoiler - and if you haven't read this wonderful book or you haven't read it in ages, make sure you do so now - I'll just say I read the part about the boa constrictor and the hat. 

Finally, I offered a bit of writing advice with a more practical bend. Since the theme was characters, I told them that character is action. I told them it's better to show their character being good - or bad - instead of merely writing or saying so.

Funnily, as things work out, as I was sharing my pearls of wisdom, I found myself feeling that I was talking more to myself than to my son and his schoolmates. Grown ups, you see, like myself can be such fuddy-duddies. We say "Stop!" and "No!" too often and we want things to be just so and exactly what and how they were intended to be. And, ironically, I think we become more fuddy-duddyish when we become parents, albeit without realizing it or intending to be. So, whether you're five, like my son, or forty-five, like me, remember these things - literacy is magic, don't lose your imagination, character is action, don't be a stick in the mud - and live by them. As writers, remembering these things is invaluable to our process and what we do. As readers, they make the book's enjoyment that much more meaningful. And, if you can enjoy reading and writing with a refreshed childlike innocence, you'll participate fully and enjoy another crazy thing: life. 

Happy creating everyone!

A Writer's Editor - RIP Monica Harris

It's strange how people affect us, impact upon our lives and leave some kind of indelible impression. And, I'm not referring to the people we've known the longest or the most intimately. Sometimes, more than we might realise at the time, these individuals are people we've met only a few times or, in some cases, only once.

I was reminded about this just a week ago when I checked my email and found one from Twitter. I get these often, as I'm sure many of you who have a Twitter account do. It's an email suggesting people for me to follow; the suggestions generated by some program that analyses trends, hashtags, followers, those who follow you, etc. Well, one of the suggestions was MHM Editorial Services (@mhmedits). It'd been a while - probably a year or so - since I'd last thought about MHM but I recognised the name immediately and my initial thought was "Don't I already follow this account?" So, I logged into my Twitter account and checked it out and, just as I suspected, I already follow @mhmedits. I further learnt, however, that MHM's account is no longer active due to the death of its account holder. Likewise, MHM Editorial Services is no longer operating.

Upon discovering this, I felt like I'd been kicked in the gut and slapped in the face. MHM Editorial was an editing business run by Monica Harris. I met her at the 2009 Book Expo America and a few months later we met at the lobby of a New York hotel where my sister-in-law and her husband were staying. My wife came into New York with me. She had breakfast with my in-laws and I had a meeting with Monica. 

A few weeks before our meeting, I'd emailed Monica the first ten pages of my novel, Back Kicks And Broken Promises. She was more of a content editor versus a line editor but she did offer suggestions in syntax and caught some typos as she made useful comments on the various red flags she found in the book's plot, character motivation and dialogue. As most editors do in this kind of situation, Monica went through these pages for free. To edit more would've required a proper business arrangement which, after considering my self-publishing budget, I could not pursue. In spite of this, Monica more than welcomed my emails that were full of general questions on publishing. She also, even months after our meeting, willingly accepted and promptly answered my questions asking for further clarification of the comments she'd made on the pages she'd read. To me, this showed a true dedication on her part of being a writer's editor; being more concerned about the writer creating the best work he or she can produce and understanding what he or she needs to do than performing quality editorial services and writer support just for a buck. 

As insightful as Monica was with my manuscript, she was also ahead of the curve when it came to self-publishing. In the last ten years or so, independently publishing one's own work has grown and become less taboo. Anticipating the growth of indie published books, Monica specialised in serving the independent author, leaving her editing posts at traditional publishing houses and forming MHM Editorial.

I didn't know Monica very well, at all. I only met her once. But, the integrity in her approach to my work and the dignity she offered me as a green first-time author, has left a lasting impression on me; so much so that, when I found out she'd died, tears pooled at the bottom of my eyes. I felt like a friend had died, albeit one with whom I'd lost touch.

I'm an indie author hoping to break into the mainstream with an agent and a traditional publishing house. Thanks to Monica, I'm less ignorant about the entire process and I feel more secure about my work and vision being my work and vision. For that, I thank her. And, whether you're an indie or a traditionally published author, I hope your editors possess the character and love of her craft the way Monica did. 

RIP Monica Harris. The publishing world, especially that of the indie author, misses you deeply. 

November - The Writer's Month

November - The Writer's Month

 

 

It's November 1st and, in addition to it being All Saints' Day, it's National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. I participated in NaNoWriMo last year and I 'won' it. I wasn't the sole winner. If a participant finished the first draft of a novel, at a minimum of 50,000 words, you were considered a 'winner.' Most novels, really, are 70,000 to 80,000 words long but 50,000 is absolutely doable in thirty days and becomes the seed for revisions, which can include making the novel more complex and reaching the bench mark 80,000. I'm actually in the process of finishing revisions for the novel I first drafted during last year's NaNoWriMo (Born From A Stone, book one of my Sage Of Heaven series) and I'm challenging (pressuring?) myself to also finish the first draft of another novel, Aliens Among Us, which is book one of my series of the same name.

 

I discovered earlier today that November is also NaBoPloMo. (Say that out loud a few times. Doesn't that sound like you've just come back from the dentist, tongue swollen and numb from novocaine?) Anyway, NaBoPloMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. If you're reading this, you're likely a blogger also. And, diligent bloggers, of which I am not one during the months of August through October because of a packed schedule, put up new posts several times a week, if not daily. Well, just as NaNoWriMo helps me with the discipline of sitting down to write and work on my current projects, NaBoPloMo will help me keep in touch with my subscribers. And, the goal of NaBoPloMo is for participants to post a new blog everyday. Like NaNoWriMo, NaBoPloMo has a site where you can register and get more traffic to your blog and through which you can make connections. Check it out here.

 

Really, NaBoPloMo is, in my opinion, an extension of NaNoWriMo. While WriMo is focused on writing a novel, both are about writing. That's why, with two global reaches to promote writing and reading (let's face it, both are reaching all areas of the world thanks to Twitter and other social media), November has become, for me, 'the writer's month.' Add to this that I took my first Gotham Writer's Workshop in the fall and this time of year is truly all about writing. Of course, I write all year long but there's something special about this time of year that jump starts or adds an extra spark to my involvement with words; not just as an author but as a reader, too. Maybe it's because we're going to be falling back an hour and enjoying less daylight and spending more time indoors. Maybe it's because it's getting colder and we'll be cozied up with a blanket, a warm dog at our feet, logs crackling behind you in your fireplace. Whatever it is, the next few months we'll all be spending more time inside and for many of us that means more reading and writing.

 

Good luck to my fellow writers, whether you're participating in NaNoWriMo and/or NaBoPloMo or not. After all, it's about showing up and putting the words down that gets the job done.

 

Happy writing!

Writing Progress

This time of year is usually my busiest. The start of school (I'm a teacher in my non-writing life), catching up with any and all changes to how things are happening at work (this year, it's all about Student Growth Objectives (SGOs) and International Baccalaureate (IB), coaching volleyball (in New Jersey, volleyball is a fall sport) and trying to find time to write. This year, there's the added responsibilities that come with kindergarten, which my son just started, and I'm also exercising more.

So, it's with equal amounts of enthusiasm and relief that today - actually, less than an hour ago - I finished going through my WIP, Sage Of Heaven, and making revisions. My manuscript will go through more revisions as I make the changes in its Word file but, nonetheless, it's getting closer to what I call a working draft; a draft I will feel comfortable workshopping to willing readers (Alex London, author of Proxy said he'd be willing to read it so I know it'll go through, at least, one exceptionally talented set of eyes which are, in turn, attached to a very talented and creative mind) and one with which I can solicit agents.  

I'm planning on having the new Word doc ready by - hopefully before - the end of this month so I can devote November to NaNoWriMo and get the first draft of book two of the Sage Of Heaven series writen or book one of my Aliens Among Us series completed. The volleyball season will be over by the time NaNoWriMo starts and I'll have more time to devote to writing so this is doable. I did write the first draft of Sage Of Heaven through NaNoWriMo, after all.

There's still loads more work to be done with my current manuscript, especially if it does successfully garner me an agent, but I am breathing a sigh of relief that its current round of revisions is completed because, honestly, I wasn't sure they'd get done before the end of the year. So, for you fellow writers out there, especially those like who are not (yet) fulltime writers and who wear multiple hats that it's difficult to reconcile each one, rest assured that if a slow poke procrastinator like me can finish something then all of you can - and some.

Happy writing all!

Nurturing Young Writers

My afterschool Creative Writing prorgam started out as a club for which I got paid a small stipend of $420 per six-week (once a week) session. After being informed that I needed to have at least six members in order to get paid, it's now purely a volunteer endeavour. (Right now, I have three students.)

And I love it. 

I've written since I was about eleven - the age of my youngest student - but I didn't have the priviliege of having my stories critiqued by fellow writers nor, outside of my English Language and English Lit classes, did I have the opportunity to learn about the craft of writing. Even then, in Language, we learnt basics (metaphor, simile) and in Lit it was about plot, character lists, setting and theme. My workshop is open to all kinds of writing because I don't have the time, unfortunately, to run separate workshops. Really, though, writing and creating stories is the same regardless of the kind of writing you do. Ultimately, I'm teaching what I know about the creative process and not just about form, style, voice, POV, structure, etc. Furthermore, with raw, young writers, it's about the commonalities of character development and "show, don't tell" that we're concentrating on.

I don't mention this to pat myself on the back for providing a free writing workshop. That's not why I'm writing this post. What I do want to say is that it's been a tremendously rewarding experience. It's been inspiring, too, and adds a boost to my own writing projects. I've managed to maintain daily writing, since I 'won' NaNoWriMo last November, but sharing what has been shared with me about writing, from what I've learnt from places like The Gotham Writer's Workshop, helps me keep on my toes. As a result of running my workshop, I've become more diligent about reading my Writer's Digest and Publisher's Weekly subscriptions for anything that might help my students develop in their writing pursuits. I've also become extra motivated to finish some of the projects I'm working on. And, giving my students suggestions and ideas, I'm able to look at my own plotlines and character motivations with a more discerning eye.

What's really exciting is to listen to my students talk about their work. They have grand ideas about being the next Michael Bay or Peter Jackson or Christopher Nolan and about the second and third books of their dystopian/scifi novels, even though the first one isn't near being finsihed. I don't say this condescendingly, the way some adults with experience and/or expertise in an area sometimes do when young people talk about their goals and dreams in that same area. Rather, I am genuinely excited to hear what they have to say because their enthusiasm is contagious and it reminds me of when I started taking writing seriously and how I had the same dreams. Now, wiser, I still have those dreams and aspirations but they're tempered with understanding. I've had some some success and more failure but, yet, I forge on. Moreover, some of the students in my workshop are really tuned in and have great instincts as far as character developement and character motivation are concerned. One of them, the screenwriter, has a fantastic idea that he's obviously been thinking about and plotting for a long time. And, my dystopian writer, has some unique storylines that the fans of Divergent, Legend, The Hunger Games and Twilight will enjoy. The ideas she has, as far as I am aware, have not come up in any recent works of popular YA fiction. She's really on to something and I'm proud to be helping her develop her voice and writing style and her story; especially as a fan of some of those books I listed.

Running this workshop, which I try to run like a Gotham Writer's Workshop class with 'The Booth' as our critiquing format, has been a great way for me to share what I've learnt about writing and, hopefeully, a way for some young people to get closer to realising their own hopes and dreams. It's my way of giving something back to the writing community that has welcomed me into its membership. It's also made me realise that, while I still have much to learn, I have already learnt a lot. Last week, with only my screenwriter's work being critiqued, I helped him get through some major stumbling blocks and there were several 'lightbulb' and 'Aha!' moments that will move his story forward. It was a fantastic session-each is only an hour long-and it made me feel like I was in  the writers' room, collaborating ideas, for a movie or TV show. It felt good, for me, to help him breakthrough. This class has also reinforced the importance of sharing your work; of talking it out and workshopping pages. Writers need each other. 

Last school year, 2011-2012, I ran one Creative Writing workshop and I had two students. This year, I have three and we're in our second six-week session. The writing is pretty good, too, and with each submission it's getting better. It's exciting to see students come in with their own ideas, some more fleshed out than others but all with great passion and enthusiasm. For those of you  reading this post who are writers, and you don't already do so, I encourgae you to run a program. Some of you might do so professionally already, as a writing teacher in an MFA program or through a workshop like Gotham. Some of you might be freelanceers, like me, who still have a day job and spends early mornings and late nights getting your pages written. Whoever you are, remember why you started writing and, when you meet a young person who writes or who expresses an interest in starting, make sure you help nurture his or her passion for it.

Happy writing all!

One Year On - Ten Things I Learnt The Year After My Book Came Out

 One Year On - Ten Things I Learnt In The Year After My Book Came Out

A year ago, on 7 February, my debut novel, Back Kicks And Broken Promises, came out. After years writing and creating several versions of the work, and after thoughtful feedback from fellow writers, I decided on first person POV and a linearly told story. Also, after some positive responses, over three years of trying to solicit an agent but failing to do so, I decided to self-publish and get my book ‘out there.’ Overall, I’m happy with my decision to go indie but, as with anything else, hindsight is twenty/twenty and there were some lessons learnt.

Here are the ten most influential things I learnt about the publishing process and myself, as a writer, over the last twelve months. For those of you who’ve already published, indie or traditional, they might be lessons you’ve yet to learn or they might be things that happened to you as well. And, if that’s the case, feel reassured that you’re not alone. If you’ve yet to publish, maybe my experience may benefit you as you forge ahead in publishing your own work.

1. Believe in myself. When I began the publishing process, and after my novel came out, every discussion I had with a rep from the publisher, every production item I approved (cover, inside layout, etc), every email I sent to a bookseller, I left with feelings of doubt. I second-guessed everything. After all, who would want to read anything I’d written? What did I know about any of this, having never done it before? I kept thinking that anyone I tried to promote my novel to would think that I was just some guy who wrote a book - and, everyone can write a book, right? Big deal. But, once I calmed myself down, I reminded myself that I’d taken this book through three rounds of workshops at The Gotham Writer’s Workshop in New York City, one of the best (my and others’ opinions) and most respected writing programs around. I’d done the hard work. No one panned my work and some of my fellow writers even picked out sections they really liked. I also realised that my book does not define me as a person. The book that came out last year, Back Kicks And Broken Promises, is fiction, while also being semi-autobiographical. In that regard, it is very personal. I also put a lot of my life into the writing and production of the book but, even then, if it’s hated or loved that doesn’t meant I’m hated or loved. As a writer, I can be judged by my work and how it moves the reader but it doesn’t define me as a man.

2. Promotion is hard. I knew, going indie, that I was going to be responsible for the promotion of my book. Even some traditionally published authors have to do their own promoting. From what I’ve read and heard at conferences, it’s the big names - the Kings, Rowlings, Meyers, Picoults, Franzens, etc - who get their publicity done for them. Even then, some of are still doing their own promoting. Many of us who indie-publish still work a day job (and maybe a night or second part-time job) and, like everyone else, we have other parts of our lives that need to be taken care of. So, promoting one’s work can, sometimes, be that ‘extra’ thing to be done at the end of an already long and arduous day. Nonetheless, it has to be done. A Facebook page, a website, a blog and a Twitter account are the minimum you’ll need. You’ll need to build your platform; the 'who you are, what you’re about' centre of your writing and public persona. Do all of that even before you get your book into a publisher or agent’s hands.

3. Print out pages. I thought I was being efficient when I reviewed the PDF copy my publisher sent me on my laptop. Papers can get bulky and we’re in the ‘e age’ anyway, right? On some level, too, I thought I was saving money. However, looking back, I regret not printing out a hardcopy. PDFs don’t always look like a Word document. They’re not brightly lit. It looks like the page in a book and, sometimes, on the screen, unless you magnify a lot, they can be hard to read. Add to that, I probably need a new glasses prescription and I do most of my writing at 3am, with tired eyes, so I was bound to make mistakes and miss things. A writer will always miss stuff in his own work. That’s normal but it doesn’t help when he doesn’t review the final copy the properly. As a result of my efforts at being efficient, I discovered some typos in the final product that I need to correct. And I will correct them but that’s another out of pocket expense with the publisher. If I had printed out pages, I might have caught more of the errors I missed.
4. Have a budget before you start (It doesn’t have to be a big one). When I decided to self-publish, it was the end of the summer. It wasn’t until the following December and January when I had to start paying for things. The money was there for the publishing process. It’s the after stuff where a pre-determined budget comes in handy. Revisions (beyond the free first round), promotion, entering contests for self-published books, paying for book reviews (from companies like Kirkus Indie or Blue Ink) are where the budget will really be needed. Treat your writing as a business, if you’re looking to make a profit, from the start and not just after the book comes out.

5. POD (Print-On-Demand) pricing can be prohibitive. I published through Abbott Press, A Writer’s Digest Company, and I’m very happy with what they did for me and for my book. Probably, the only thing I wasn’t happy with is the retail price of my books. The ebook, at $3.99, isn’t bad. The hardcover, though, at $39.99, and the paperback ($22.99) are not so favourable. It was explained tome that the number of pages of my novel and because of the POD mode of publishing, the cost will be higher than traditionally published or small press books per unit for the reader. Outskirts Press, another POD company, has an option that allows the author to price his own book but it has limits and will reduce royalties. Even with this option, the price to the consumer is still on the higher end. If I indie-publish again, I might go a different route. Amazon’s Createspace, I believe, allows the author to determine his book’s prices but I think they specialize in ebook and paperback formats and not hardcover. Or, I might try a fixed run at a small press or something in the middle, like Book Baby. So, before you publish, make sure the end retail price is not going to price your book out of sales. Good writing will trump a high retail price but we live in leaner times and consumers are tighter fisted with their resources.

6. Learn formatting and industry specs. I mention this, specifically, because of my book’s cover. I’ve gotten a lot of praise for my book’s cover. And, after reading it, you’ll see how it fits nicely with the plot and theme. What I learnt about a book’s cover, when I got my feedback from the judges of The Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards, is that a book’s title should be readable from six feet away. This makes it better seen on a bookshelf, which is key if the book makes it onto a shelf in a bookstore. Unfortunately, I didn’t know this and, while my book is aesthetically and stylistically appealing, it doesn’t meet this standard.

7. Make connections. Writing is a very lonely profession. The people around me - my wife and my close friends - have been, and continue to be, very supportive. However, unless they’re also writers, I don’t think the people around us can truly appreciate the isolated and internal way of life being a writer is. Having said that, however, unless you’re Forrester, Sean Connery’s character in Finding Forrester, writers need support from other writers. Whether it’s to promote each other’s books, beta-read first drafts, offer suggestions to battle writer’s block, writers need writers. We can find each other on Twitter but, more specifically, connections are also made in website communities like The Independent Author Network, Your Book Authors, Goodreads, Scribophile, and others. More than the tangible benefits you can get from being connected to other writers, there is the sense of community you’ll feel. In addition to be pursuing a, naturally, lonely endeavour, writers also need validation. This doesn’t mean we need to be told our work is brilliant, whether it is or isn’t. Rather, it’s reassuring to know that our efforts and reasons for writing, as varied as they are, are worth something and that we are not alone, even if we’re lonely. Through the connections I’ve made and re-made since my book came out, I and/or my book has been featured in two newspapers, a magazine and reviewed once. At the time of this writing, Back Kicks And Broken Promises is being reviewed, for free, by Indiereader.com thanks to a connection I made.

8. Always have a copy of your book with you. You never know when you might be in a position to promote your work. You never know whom you might meet someone who has contacts and can/will/might talk about you and your book. Sometimes, though, you do and you’re not prepared. Last year, after reading Legend, I emailed the author, Marie Lu, to tell her how much I loved the book (her debut novel) and that I’d written a review of it. She was very flattered by my review and since then we’ve had some Twitter and e-mail exchanges; enough, I think, to the point that she might actually recognize my name. Well, shortly after our first email exchange, she gave a reading and book signing with three other authors in New York City. When I lined up to get my copy of Legend signed, Marie looked at me with recognition, probably from my Twitter picture. As we chatted, she asked if I had a copy of my book. Ugh! I didn’t and I kick myself (metaphorically) every time I think about this episode in my life. Having had a copy of my book to give her might not have led to anything but, then again, who knows? The worst part about this story: I’d thought to bring one then I decided against it, fearing I’d come across as presumptuous. Then, I decided to bring it anyway but I left it on my dining table.

9. Enter contests. Apart from the chance you might win or place - and many contests come with some kind of publisher/agent contact as a prize - you often get valuable insights into your book and/or a review of some kind. Most require some kind of entry fee (see Number 4 above) but it’s not usually so large that it’s unaffordable. I participated in NaNoWriMo last November and I completed the challenge. I ‘won.’ I finished writing the first draft of a novel in thirty days, which has jumpstarted my writing and there are even tangible prizes that come with it. I can get free copies of my book from Createspace and there are several discounts for various writing resources, as well. So, contests and challenges are beneficial.

10. Believe in my work. As soon as my book went live, butterflies lived inside me for a good two weeks. I was filled with anxiety that no one would buy my book. I’m pretty sure that’s common for every writer. More than that, however, were feelings that the entire reading world would buy my book and call me out as a hack or fill my blog comment form and email inbox with challenges to every thought, word, reference, you name it that I put to paper. My fears, so far, haven’t come true. My book has made some sales, although VERY modest numbers, and no one has taken me to task on the content of my book. It’s fiction, after all, and semi-autobiographical at that. Even if someone were to come at it/me, I’ve come to accept that (and I knew this before) some people will love my work, some will hate it, and some will be indifferent to it. Either way, I wrote a book that has received more words of praise than otherwise and I did so with full commitment of mind, heart and soul. I hope it will entertain, educate and touch the minds and hearts of its reader and, from the feedback I’ve gotten, it has done that.

So, that’s what I’ve learnt about writing, publishing and myself since my book came out a year ago. As I work on my next book, the first in a Chinese-American fantasy series, I have some wisdom to turn to and an awareness of things to do, do better and to avoid. I don’t plan on indie-publishing for my next book, but I didn’t either for my debut novel. Hopefully, I’ll catch the proverbial break and get agent representation and a book deal. In the meantime, I’m going to tap my keys like the rest of us.

I hope what you’ve read here is useful in as you pursue your writing endeavours. If you have insights of your own, please share.

Happy writing all!