Category Archives: Blog

Writing advice from Rick Bragg

Since I’m preparing for my trip this week, I didn’t get a chance to write a post for today. However, I did run across this great video from Rick Bragg giving advice for those just starting out in this writing gig.

It’s pretty sage advice and I agree with 100 percent of it.

Want more advice? Sign up for my newsletter! Or join me here on Nov. 17th where I’ll give you some tips on creating awesome characters!

Will write soon!

Published: Minvera Rising

I am so excited to finally see the finished product of Minvera Rising!

The first chapter of my novel, After the Smoke, was published in the inaugural issue of this amazing literary journal.

Started by my friends and fellow Goddard alumni, the journal seeks to be a place for women writers. The theme of the first issue was “Beginnings.”

How fitting is that theme? To begin some thing means to end some thing else since there truly can only be one beginning.

I gravitated to this theme because I had just ended a journey that had forever changed me–earning my MFA. To some, going down that path is only about getting a degree, but for me it awakened me, it flicked on a switch. It answered a question. Did I have what it took to be a writer? Yes. Definitely.

Now my journey is about how to do that in the real world. I have to define for myself what it means to truly be a working artist–this is my new beginning.

I can’t express how excited I am to see this first chapter in print. It looks good! Hopefully it won’t be my last in print either.

Meanwhile, an update on my writing. I am slowly working on a novella, expanding a short story I forced to become a short story. Never a good idea. Never. Ever.

I plan on returning to my novel, which has been completed but in  desperate need of some line-by-line editing. That will have to happen in the New Year.

Then there’s always NaNoWriMo.

Here’s what Minvera Rising’s cover looks like.

How to create characters 101

Join me on Nov. 17 to learn more on developing awesome characters. I’ll be teaching a lesson LIVE on the site at 10 a.m. CST Saturday Nov. 17. 

What’s more interesting than a global Frosty shortage? Well, lots of things but to your character that maybe the only thing they think about.

Just in time for National Novel Writing Month, I put together a 10 minute video lesson on how to sketch out your character. It’s my first one so please be kind!

Since I’ll be in Houston this week attend the Latinos in Social Media Conference (#Latism) I thought I’d do something special for you guys and for those who are taking the NaNoWriMo plunge next month by writing their novels. I have yet to decide if I’ll join you.

So, this tip I talk about to sketch out your characters is one I’ve written about before but I wanted you guys to see it in action. The goal, motivation, conflict chart was taught to me by my creative writing teacher, Sally Hammer, many moons ago. She in turn read it from Debra Dixon’s book. This chart is extremely helpful because not only does it start giving you the the bones of your character but also helps you create layered characters. Also, if you notice, it’s starting to give you some plot at the same time.

Whenever I draw one, I like to use a sketch pad because it’s just big enough to draw the chart and small enough to plan on your desk. Some folks like to use butcher paper or a poster board. It’s up to you how you do it.

I like this technique because it clears some things for me. I love creating characters and I often create them on the page. However, sometimes the character gets all jumbled in my head and I don’t know what the character will do next. That’s when I use this chart. It sets the character (and me) straight and I learn exactly who they are so I can proceed accordingly.

I suggest using this chart for at least two of your characters–your protagonist and antagonist. Remember one person’s goal is another person’s conflict. They are linked and because they do, they can drive the narrative of your story.

This chart is one of several tips and exercises I have on creating characters. I’ll be teaching them on an online lesson Nov. 17th. Through the magic of a hangout, we’ll be able to do some work on your characters! No need to go to Google+, I’ll stream the lesson right here on this blog. I’ll let you know on a time soon.

Write on! Let me know how this works for you!

To NaNo or not to NaNo?

I am in a pickle. 

I’m looking at the calendar. It says Oct. 19. I know that in less than 15 days, the clock will strike midnight on Nov. 1 and I’ll have to decide whether I will join the thousands of thousands of others down the path of insanity called National Novel Writing Month. 

I’ve written a novel. I did it in a year and a half. I thought that was crazy but 50,000 words in one month?  

Crazy? I don’t think so! NaNoWriMo is a tradition for writers. Some use it to jump start a new project while others need to get the writing juices flowing again. For me, it’s a combination of both. There’s nothing like starting a new project, the hope and promise of what it could be, how it could still be what you envisioned.  But there’s also something about getting out from under the cobwebs and doing something different. Both of these appeal to me. 

You know what else does? Kinship. This is the first year that my area gets its own group! In the past, I’ve had to join the statewide municipality. This year, there is a Shreveport/Bossier City group which is 35 people strong so far. Why is this exciting? It’s a chance to be part of a community, to get a built in cheering section for your novel and what not. It’s also a chance to attend local write-ins, which means it’s dedicated time and space to write on this little novel that I’d like to finish. 

All I have to do now is decide to take that step. Do I go for it? Do I not? 

If I do decide to go down this road, then I have other decisions to make quickly–what to write.  I’ve got some options. 
Finally write that novella

I’ve been wanting to write a novella for a couple of months now. Depending on who you ask, 50,000 words is about novella length (a little longer if you go with the conservative count.)  

So this would be a chance to get it done. Finally. I already have an idea in mind for the characters and the plot. Of course I would use Scrivener to write this masterpiece since it’s easier for me to write longer pieces in sections. Scriverner allows me to do that in a way Word or word processing programs don’t. 

Detective fiction

Confession. I’ve tried NaNoWriMo before and I’ve lost each time. Each time I’ve tried to write this masterpiece I’ve done a detective novel. I have this character already, Jennie Manning, who I know forward and backward. At this point, we have two unfinished adventures together. What’s a third one among friends? 

Here’s the thing with this idea–I don’t have a plot for this. None. At all.  

A thought did occur to me that I could rewrite one of the two adventures since I’ll have to rewrite them anyway if I were to finish them. Also, I’m a different writer now than I was when I originally wrote these tales. So everything would be different except the basic plot points. However, it feels more like recycling and not in the spirit of NaNo. 

Noir or noir-ish fiction

I became jealous when, while working with a student on their writing, I suggested they write a sci-fi noir story. SCI-FI NOIR? Where did that come from? Does that really exist? Who cares! It sounds awesome and I instantly wanted to write it. Forget that I have no story line, or characters, and that I’ve never written sci-fi in my life.  It sounded super interesting. 

Go literary or go home

My MFA makes me a literary trained writer. I can write such pretty words. Here’s the thing with that…literary takes forever (depending on who you talk to). There’s lots of thinking and feeling and soul barring in this process. I tear myself apart so I can put myself back together again. 

This does not appeal to me at the moment. It doesn’t appeal to me until at least January. 


As you can see, I’ve got much to think about before Nov. 1. What would you chose? How are you getting ready for NaNoWriMo? 

Your (writing) transformation needs courage


I’m writing this post from thousands of feet in the air though I started it at the airport in Houston. I am on my way to Washington D.C. to moderate a panel on hyper local news sites.

It sounds exciting but the cool thing about traveling, at least for me, is the down time. There is nothing else to do but write and read and eat and shop between flights. You are a captive of time and space, so you might as well make the best of it.

You also come across ideas that during a normal day would whiz by you like so many other things do in our hectic lives. So, I was glad I was in my layover state of mind.

I saw this on Facebook.

“Starting a Transformation Journey often means making changes to our habits and routines.” –Chris Powell

I love Chris Powell and Extreme Makeover. I’m a huge fan. But I’m a bigger fan of this quote because its not just about weight loss, it’s about over all transformation.

And that’s a good word. Transformation. It means to change from one thing to another. It denotes a process. It’s not a day to night type of thing. It shouldn’t be, it’s meant to last.

So transforming yourself from the hobby writer to the for-real writers a process. It takes a mind change, a habit change, a priority change. And it takes courage because this process is scary as hell.

What’s the difference between the hobby writer and the for-real writer? It’s the difference between a hobby cook and a chef, a karaoke singer and a siren, someone who just excerises and someone who works out– purpose and focus toward a goal.

I think this quote hit me because I’m refocusing on myself, my blog, and my writing. After feeling lost in what my purpose as a writer was, a sudden flash came to me. I long since stopped thinking about writing as a hobby. I thought of it as a craft. Now I think of it as a calling, as part of my life, as something I need to do to make me feel good.

It’s similar to exercise like that, where the goal is important — weight loss, energy, feeling better. There are goals for writing.

For me, the goal is to be happy, to be heard, to live by my pen. To get there, I need to transform. I need courage.

So what is your writing goal? What will your transformation entail? Better yet, are you ready for it?

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:S Terminal Rd,Houston,United States

On being (Afro) Latina in the South

Photo by: a untrained eye, Creative Commons.

In a world full of fried chicken and cornbread, it’s hard to be lechon and black beans.

 
Yes, I used a food reference to compare being Latina in the South. It was the only way I could think to communicate how its like to be in a place like northern Louisiana when you’re more like a Caribbean sunset.
 
There I go again. Let me explain before the metaphors take over.
 
My longtime blog readers know two things about me (among several). One, I am Latina though I don’t write about it as often as I would like. Two, I live in the South. I like living here though it is difficult being different in a land of relative sameness. I love that it’s 80 degrees today and in Washington D.C., where I will be tonight, it will be in the lower 60s.
 
But rarely do I write about both. I figured it would be better to stick to being a writer and a writing blogger. However, since I expanded the scope of this blog to include my writing life, this is fair game. You remember what I’ve said about truth and writing, right? 
 
Being Latina in the South ain’t an easy thing, home skillet.
 
While the Latino community is the fastest growing segment of the population, it isn’t growing everywhere in the South. In north Louisiana, there are Latinos. I see them in the grocery stories and at Wal Mart but not in large enough numbers to feel comfortable. Not like Houston though I know that’s not a far comparison. I have another. In Wichita, Kansas, the Latino population is growing. When I lived there, I was slightly more comfortable being Latina–I was part of the local MANA group, I had (have) Latina friends, and I had my favorite spot to go if I was a bit home sick.
 
The midwest and parts of the South are the new frontier of Latino growth. And by new I mean newer. That frontier was fresh-out-the-box new five years ago. But Shreveport is not Wichita, or Atlanta, or New Orleans or any other major southern or midwestern city where growth is measured by the new Mexican restaurant down the street. There are only three race/ethnic categories in North Louisiana: black, white, and everybody else. Where do I rank?
 
Now this is where it gets, for lack of a better word, interesting–the Afro part.  I am Afro Latina. That means my hair curls into a kink. My skin is dark. My lips are full. That means, when I walk out the door every day I have to make the transformation from Latina to black.
 
In the South, both new and old, I am a black woman. That means I  have inherited a past, a stereotype, and a point of view that is not my own.  My ancestors were never slaves in North America (Central and the Caribbean, yes) and I don’t always want to eat fried chicken (neither do black folks but the stereotype is still there).  That means I also have to work twice as hard to prove myself equal. When I am pulled over, I will always have to wonder was it because I did something wrong or because I am darker than the person pulling me over. There are parts of the area where I don’t travel to after dark.
 
These realities we not completely strange. There are part of Houston I don’t drive to at night. That’s simply because it’s dangerous. I did work twice as hard in Houston, yes. That’s because I had something to prove to myself, not because I wanted to disprove a stereotype. When I’m pulled over in Houston, I know why.  I’m not saying Houston is a utopia, far from it. It’s different, that’s all.
 
The stereotypes that I now live with were not things I dealt with when I thought I was colorless. These things are now my reality as an Afro Latina in the South.
 
It would be easier to just assume my role as a black woman and melt into the background. Yes, it would be easier but it would be lie. I am black and Latina. I can’t accept one and deny the other simply because others choose to put me in a context they understand or refused to expand beyond their personal borders.
 
So, I eat cornbread and fried chicken, which thankfully I like. I each smothered pork chops and red beans and rice like I’ve always had it. I melt in just enough until I come home and lose myself in a world of salsa music and novelas.  I adjust and readjust, constantly balancing between perception and reality.
 

A balancing act. This is what it’s like to be (Afro) Latina in the South.

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The definition of fearless

Sofia Quintero, Photo by Cosmo for Latinas

Today, I am thinking about being fearless and what that means.

I understand the basic concept, to act without fear.  Fearless is acting in the face of fear, giving it the middle fear, and defying it. This I understand; there are several examples I can cite from the top of my head.

But what does it truly mean to be fearless?

I asked my friends this question and a couple of them gave me answers. Some were just being “smart”:
[View the story “What does it mean to be fearless? ” on Storify]

I think fearless doesn’t have a definition. Instead, it is a list of people who are tested and rise to the occasion. These are people who are made of steel, though they may not know it.

I think Sofia Quintero is fearless.

I must disclose that I don’t know Sofia personally. We know some of the same people in a seven-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon way. But I know of her and I follow her on all the appropriate social media platforms. Obviously, she is a writer and an artist.

I learned that she had breast cancer in a round about way. I think it was during one of the times I went peeking on people’s profiles and pages on Facebook.  It’s one of those things where you have five minutes to kill before a meeting so you’re wondering who are these wonderful people who don’t have to go into that meeting.  Anyway, I saw a picture of this beautiful woman without any hair. It took me some time to realize that it was Sofia. I wondered if her baldness was something that was in protest of something or maybe a Locks of Love type of thing.

I was wrong. I knew I was, but I wanted to explain away the image in front of me.

Photo by Cosmo for Latinas

She was diagnosed with cancer in Jan. 2012.  She faced something that has claimed so many women and men, has changed their lives, has changed or scared them in a way few bounce back from.

Did I mention that in that picture she was smiling?

As I dug more, I saw she was writing personal essays about her cancer journey for Cosmo for Latinas. (Which I have yet to get since I live in Louisiana. I don’t get Latina either. But that’s another blogpost.)

I read her first easy and she wrote something extremely profound:

We always know the truth because the body is a terrible liar.


How many people would have chosen to believe the lie? I would have. I would have told myself that those lumps in my breasts were nothing. I’d hold on to that lie until my insides were rotted through because it’s easier to believe the lie. The lie is beautiful.

That’s not what a fearless person does. They knew the score, the consequences, and know they may not make it but they fight like hell. They. Fight. Like. Hell. Are they afraid? Yes. I’m sure they are scared beyond belief.  They are fearless because they are not afraid to fight. That’s what fearless means.

For me, an athlete, a singer/rapper, a movie star may make the pages of magazines and grace blogs, but who I want to know about are fearless women like Sofia. They set the gold standard for the rest of us mortals.

And it’s that gold standard that we all should try to achieve.

Maybe fearless does have a definition. Maybe the folks at Webster’s should make room for Sofia’s picture right next to it.

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