Category Archives: Blog

Today’s awesome writing links

My assistant as she sleeps on the job. 

Life has been a whirlwind. Since publishing in the Guardian and on Latino Rebels, I’ve come to find out that I  love writing commentary.

Like that’s any surprise.

But it’s been amazing seeing the reaction to the pieces and, in a weird way, to this blog. It’s ironic that writing for other sites bring traffic to this site. I’m not quite sure how it happened, but I’m happy for it.

I’m still working on the post I promised you, the how-I-did-it post on how I wrote the commentary in the Guardian. That’ll be up shortly.

Until then, I figured that I’d give you some links and websites I’ve been reading lately for various things. They range from writing a synopsis for your novel (I’m not really looking forward to that) to an article about Yoani Sanchez. I’ve written about her before. 

Enjoy the links and happy Friday!

What the webisphere said about women yesterday

Every woman deserves a glass slipper. What’s yours?

Yesterday was International Women’s Day and like many of my fellow sisters, I celebrated by being as awesome as I am normally.

No, really.

I celebrated this global day to the feminine by doing what I always do — work and write.  (Awesome is optional usually.)

But I couldn’t let the day go by, even belatedly, without sharing some interesting links I found in the webisphere about/for/written-by women. Most of these links I’ve tweeted out, but they are worth revisiting.

So, here are the women-power links to celebrate womanhood across the globe. Enjoy the read!

Feliz cumple, Gabo!

El Maestro
I always know what today is even if I don’t look at the calendar. 
It’s about a month after my birthday but it’s also Gabriel Garcia Marquez birthday. 
In between work assignments, I’ve been reflecting on the man whose work has influenced me most as a writer. Then I thought about his brain.
In July we heard that El Maestro has dementia, according to his younger brother. It runs in the family. He’s had it for awhile. He’s no longer writing. 

This makes me sad but not in the way you think. Yes, this is a great loss for literature. He is titian of Latin American literature and his words have bettered humanity. However, I feel for him as a writer — he’s been robbed of his stories, his voice.

What else is there if there isn’t that?

I’ve lost my voice before, the stories didn’t come. This was the time in my life when I lived myself into a corner. I’ve slowly dug myself out.of it through the years. I’ve fallen and climbed and fallen again. I’ve won and lost so many times. But I’ve come back from it each time, stronger. The voice more concrete and defined. The stories bountiful.

There’s not coming back from dementia.

I think of El Maestro’s brain and I mourn for his voice because it gave me mine. His dementia is my dementia.

But today is not for mourning. Today is for celebrating. Happy Birthday, Gabo! And thank you for it all.

PUBLISHED: The US south should embrace Latinos if it wants to economically ‘rise again’

My first commentary on the GuardianUS

I am so excited about this!

My first commentary was published in the Guardian US today!

I’m so excited about this I can barely speak. I’ll do a blog post about how I put this together at a later date. I just wanted to give y’all the news first!

So click the picture, or this link to get to the commentary. Read, comment, share!

Writer Visit: 10 questions with Sujeiry Gonzalez

I met Sujeiry Gonzalez at Latism in Houston in October. She was on a panel about writers and their path toward publication.

What’s so interesting about her is that she is a force of nature. She self-published her book, Love Trips: A Collection of Relationship Stumbles, and she uses it as her mission statement — she wants to help women with their relationship woes.

Love Trips is a collection of essays she’s written over the years about relationships, the ups and down and all the crazy and wonderful things in between.

I had a chance to read her book, which was equal parts hilarious and insightful.   She’s on the blog today talking about the it, her future plans, and her path toward publication and being a one woman band.


1.) How did you get the idea for the book?


My book is a collection of personal essays that I began writing in 2005 after a major break up. While in graduate school for writing, I lost who I thought to be the love of my life. I said to myself, “What better way to heal than to write my story, express my feelings, and admit to my mistakes?” I began a blog. The blog became “Love Trips” when it was picked up by MiGente as a relationship column. And now it’s a book! It’s amazing what heartbreak can do if we allow it to teach us something.
2.) Which essay what the hardest to write and why?
“Backtracking” had to be the hardest. I can write about my exes and joke about how many mistakes I’ve made but my father is a touchy subject. Abandonment is a painful subject. That story literally took me back and takes readers back to a time when I was just a child – a little girl who wanted her father to love her and to be consistent, present.

3.) The essays seem to have a very conversational tone, why did you decide to write it this way?
I never made a conscious decision to write in a conversational tone; it’s just who I am. If I’d write more formal or with less humor or use big SAT words, it read as inauthentic. And one thing I am is authentic.

4.) How did you approach putting this collection of essays together?
It took years! 6 to be exact. I sifted through my stories – the heartbreaks, bad sex, great sex, and flings – and decided to tell a story about a woman who is seeking love in all the wrong places yet is resilient and hopeful that she will be loved. I wanted the message to scream: You are lovable! You are worthy of a King because you are a Queen! I chose stories that told that story and followed chronological order.

5.) You’re a self-published author. Tell us a bit about your journey and why you decided to go this route.
I decided to go this route because authors who are not self-published still have to put in a lot of work. Most publishing houses do not give advances anymore. Authors, self-published or otherwise, have to promote themselves and build their audience. I’ve been doing that for 6 years. So, I thought to myself: do I scout for an agent and wait months or years to do this, or do I just go for it and do it myself? I’m a go-getter by nature so I went for it.
It hasn’t been easy. Self-publishing is work and it is expensive. You have to give away books to be reviewed and to receive press, which means you’re paying for books and shipping costs hoping that someone with clout will give your book attention. Getting the media on your side is very important. Peaking their interest is what gets you and your book on the map, and that’s when you really sell. Selling isn’t a skill that everyone has. I do my best.
It’s not easy process but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I am really proud of Love Trips and all the blood, sweat, and tears that I’ve put into writing and publishing this book. It’s my baby and nothing can take that away from me.

6.) If you had to chose an essay in your collection that was so “very you”, which one would it be and why?
I’d have to say “Easy Prude.” It has a lot of humor, and I am hilarious. It uses the Spanish and English language, as I do in everyday life. The title in itself is an oxymoron. That’s because I sometimes feel like a bit of an oxymoron, though I interpret it as being balanced. “Easy Prude” discusses what it is to be a sexual Latina partnered with being una buena Catolica. How to balance the liberal and independent Americana that I am with the traditional, family oriented and sometimes submissive Dominicana that I also am. This story speaks volumes. This story is me.

Love Trips is available on Amazon.
Click the picture to purchase.

7.) What is the universal theme you want your readers to walk away with?

The universal theme is one of love – love for self, love for others, and love of learning and awareness. I didn’t love myself enough to know that I deserved a love that is respectful, supportive, and accepting. I settled for whatever was giving to me at the time. I didn’t think I was lovable enough to ask for more.
Many women go through these growing pains; I am not alone in this. So, Love Trips really speaks to all women, and even men, who need a reminder that healthy love exists. It says, “Don’t give up. Don’t give in.” Bounce back. Be resilient. But first we have to know ourselves, love ourselves, and as I often say, become “self-first.

8.) Writing nonfiction comes with a pitfall, one tends to write about the people they know. Have you’ve gotten any backlash from  people in the book?
I haven’t received any backlash, actually. You’d be amazed how many people want to be written about. I have also changed all names but my own. So, their identities are safe.

9.) What are you working on now?
I am working on an ebook about love and relationships. The working title is Love in 2013: How to Get It and Keep It. I am going to use my anecdotes as I did with Love Trips but this time I am going to ask readers to answer questions. That way they can evaluate where they are and what they need to do to be in a healthy relationship. It will be more tip oriented and very direct. It’s not a book for those who like things sugarcoated!
I am also continuing my work as a relationship writer for various sites, like MSN Latino, and as a relationship coach. I give relationship advice to singles and couples alike on LoveSujeiry.com. To Ask Sujeiry, they can email me at asksujeiry@lovesujeiry.com. I answer questions on Mondays and Wednesdays.

10.) What was your biggest lesson on your writing and/or publishing journey that you can share with us?
The biggest lesson has to be this: support comes in various forms.
As a relationship writer and expert with a good sized following, I assumed that those who love my work and who’ve followed my career would buy Love Trips. I actually expected it. That’s not always the case. When you’ve given of yourself freely and for free for years, people don’t necessarily want to pay for it all of a sudden. I’d been writing online for 6 years before publishing Love Trips. For 6 years, readers could read my content without spending a penny. So, it was upsetting at first when my sales didn’t reflect my unique monthly visitors. Then I realized that it is still support. My followers and fans still read my content and share it. That keeps me employed as a freelance writer and a relationship columnist for various sites.
As for those who purchased and will purchase Love Trips, I thank you wholeheartedly. It is such a rush to read reader reviews on Amazon. I love receiving emails and tweets from readers who say that they’ve passed on Love Trips to friends and have read it cover to cover, over and over again. That is also support. And support is priceless.

What every creative person should do right now

Here’s the thing about being creative, your brain is always working. Really there is no such thing as a vacation when it comes to the creative brain. It constantly seeks opportunities to voice itself.

Today, while at home for a visit, I performed one of the most mundane and eye-rolling tasks — a visit to the laundromat.

It’s not that I don’t like washing clothes. Actually, I don’t mind it. It’s really one of those chores you can do while doing something else, which makes it one of the best chores to multitask.

But something about sitting in a laundromat until clothes are done makes me want to hit myself with a bat.

So under those conditions, in the middle of the drying cycle, I took out my iPhone and did a little photo essay.

I don’t pretend to be a fantastic photographer. I don’t pretend to be a decent one. But I am creative and it was fun expressing myself through the lens, even if I was out of my element.

Doing this–learning to express myself using another tool–is something I think every creative should do…right now. I had to express myself and tell a story through photos rather than a pen. By stretching those under (or never) used muscles, I was able to notice things like the old woman staring off into space surrounded by three Army bags of clothes and families doing their laundry. I wondered what her story was, what she was thinking about, whether those Army bags belonged to grandchildren…and whether they were alive.

My brain began to think of her as part of a short story. The picture will help remind me of it, an additional help for my future narrative.

The above collage is the fruit of my brief labor. It’s not the greatest pictures but they do tell a story, one that I found not with a camera but with a photo lens.

Location:Houston,United States

The tool every writer needs


It’s not difficult to understand why so many people turn away from a life of writing. It is not the sexiest thing to do.

I know you think I’m crazy but a book tour is sexy, yes. So is getting that masterpiece to print and watching it do well on . That’s all sexy. But the act of writing, the sitting down and doing the work, is about as sexy as watching paint dry.

But writers, no matter how experienced they are, need this one tool that will help them not only be better writers but stay toward the path of sexy.

Every writer needs a cheerleader, preferably a cheerleading squad. There needs to be a core of people who believe in you slightly more than you believe in yourself.

Note that these people are not the ones who critique your work. These are not the people you tell about your writing in hopes of guilting yourself into finishing that story. These are not people who give you tough love.

No, the cheerleader only has one function. They cheer. That’s it. These are the people you tell about the possible agent or the fact that you’ve submitted a piece somewhere. These are the intimate inner circle.

And because they are the inner circle you only need a couple. Maybe three. They don’t need to know each other, they just need to know you. They have to believe in you. They are the ones who tell you you’re awesome and that you deserve to be publish. Not only do they say this, they make you believe it. BELIEVE IT.

B-E-L-I-E-V-E I-T!

Because when you do, and the cheerleaders have done their jobs, you are unstoppable. Yes, the cheerleader will save the world but first they will help you save yours.

Cheerleaders. Get some. Trust me. They’re awesome.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

An ode to my writing cheerleader

Writing is as much about skill as it is about confidence.

Confidence is something you gain as you continue to write, as you gain feedback, good and bad.

But you can lose that if there’s no one in your corner.

I write this as I’m in my hotel room in New York City, reading a note that saddens me. One of my dear editors has passed away. His name was Kevin McGrath and he was fighting cancer. I learned of his battle on Facebook. He told the world, step by step what was going on– his treatments, the course of action, how he was facing it all.

The cancer news shocked me.

I sent him comments through Facebook to keep his chin up, that it was all going to be okay, that it was caught early.

See, besides being there for him and wanting him to be well, I was doing exactly what he would do. I was being a cheerleader. He was mine not too long ago.

I was an over eager reporter in my youth. I wanted to know more and learn more that my skill level allowed me to. I wanted to eat the world with a spoon even if it meant choking on it. He saw that in me during our first meeting, when I was flown out to Wichita, KS for a job interview.

“I really hope you come here,” he said.

I did. He impressed me. He was able to do an outline for a five inch narrative story on the back of a business card. I wanted to do that, to learn it, to master it. There was no doubt that it was the right move.

He helped me move into my apartment when I knew no one. He was able to corral me when I was doing myself more harm than good.

And, above all, he knew that writing was my passion and that I needed a cheerleader. So, he became mine. Even when a source was cussing at me on the phone, I looked at him for direction. He cheered me on and let me know with a look that I needed to be professional.

He wanted so very much for me to succeed, despite myself. When I thought a story was done, he kept tweaking and adjusting, working the language and the words until they produced something beyond what I could accomplish on my own.

My cheerleader lead and taught by example. Kevin was my coach and like all good coaches do, he gave me confidence. I was a writer. Though many people probably disagreed with him, he had no doubts. I was meant for a life of words and he cheered me on.

Kevin McGrath was in my corner so when I heard of the cancer I was in his. Cancer was eating him from the inside and I knew that it was no match for this cheerleader. He would win. I was sure of it.

When he would update his status on Facebook, I commented, I liked. I wrote. But it wasn’t enough.

There is one less writer in the world, one less wordsmith, one less editor.

A world without Kevin McGrath, once unimaginable, is now a reality.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not still cheering for him.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Centre St,New York,United States

Writing tips for those so inclined

Something happens when you force yourself into a writing vacation, things seem clearer and muddled at the same time.  My students know this as ambiguity.

After completing NaNoWriMo, I forced myself to not write for the entire month. Not even a blog post though part of me started posts and never finished them. I’ve been working on the same newsletter entry for weeks but I told myself that I needed to take a break. 
But a recent blog post on another blog took me away from my vacation. Of course, I’m not one to throw mud and start a blog war. That’s not my style but I will say that I found a post bad mouthing NaNoWriMo and its participants to be pretentious and self-serving. 
It doesn’t matter how good of a writer you think you are, never bad mouth others who are on a writing journey. 
Yes, I’ve described this writing thing as a journey. It is. No one wrote a perfect short story, novel, or poem the first time they did it. It’s a journey to get better, to become better, to become storytellers. This is a craft and an art, the more you invest in it the more you get out of it even if it’s to write crazily every November to have nothing, something, or everything come from it. 
So, in the vain of other writers who are WAY better than me, I’ll give you some my my writing tips, which are more like lessons. Some I’ve learned recently while others I learned the hard way. Afterall, not only is this blog about my writing journey, it’s about yours, too. Whatever lessons I can give you I will gladly share. 
Ten years in newsrooms has showed me that writer’s block is a myth. No, not a luxury but a myth. When you have a deadline staring you down, there’s no room for writer’s block. You sit down and you write. 
I know that I’m lucky to have had that reporting foundation. I’ve drawn from that well several times in my writing. While I’ve had to relearn some lessons as a fiction writer, some reporting skills still hold water. This is one of them. You can’t have something that doesn’t exist. Sit down. Write. 
2.) Find stories or be in a position where they find you.
This means being open to writing about things you don’t know anything about but are willing to experience or do the research. Part of writing is learning and you need to be constantly learning, whether its a language class or learning bee keeping, getting out of your comfort zone from time to time opens you up to a story you won’t have written otherwise. 
3.) You’re always writing, even if you’re not writing.

This lesson here came in part from reporting and in part from one of my advisors. The story behind it is when my advisor was sitting on the couch doing nothing, she was upset because a neighbor interrupted her. She was writing though she didn’t have a pen and paper in her hand. She was thinking, mulling over what she just written, listening to herself. That’s so important to know that even when you’re not in the physical act of writing your brain is still writing and digesting.
This is something I learned as a young reporter. After covering an assignment, the drive home would be for thinking out the lede–the first graph or couple of graphs that hooks the reader. In the 20 or so minutes it would take me to drive back to the office, I’d have an idea of what to write for my lede and, if I was really good, I’d know the structure of the article I was to write. 
Have no doubt that your brain is in this writing thing with you!  
4.) It is not about word count or page number — but it is! 
There’s some thought out there that one shouldn’t focus on word count or page number. I agree to a point. Yes, you should focus on the quality of your work. However, because the first draft is about getting that bad boy on paper, a word count and page number is an amazing thing. It gives you a physical manifistation of your goal.  
Unless it’s something like NaNoWriMo, I don’t have a word count or a page number goal, but I like seeing my progress and I’m happy to say that I completed five pages or 2,000 words. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. Although the number doesn’t mean anything to anyone else, to me it means progress and triggers something in my head that says yes, you are actually getting stuff done. It’s the analytical part of my brain that needs to be feed once in a while. 
So, because your first draft is just one big word dump…
Books are written in revision. I completely believe this. Having a plan will help with the revision. I’m developing mine and change it a little more each time I use it.  
I’m not a fan of revision, so I have to…
6.) Push through it.
When I didn’t want to write, I did it anyway. When I wanted to quit, I tricked myself into writing even if it was 500 words. Forget the folks who tell you that they write when inspiration hits them, write when it doesn’t. Writing is a discipline, a muscle, a verb. Inspiration doesn’t get words down on paper, siting in the chair and writing does. Push through whatever is blocking you and get it done, even if you think it’s garbage. You can’t revise something that doesn’t exist.
There you go, folks. Six piece of knowledge that I’ve learned and relearned and have severed me well. Hope this helps! Write On!