The Latest Addition

Kali, The Food Goddess: Vols. 1 & 2 is now available in e-book form. Like its print counterpart, it combines the first cookbook (A Compilation of Delightful Recipes and Memories of Food) with a selection of entries from the online column; and the second book, Fruits of the Family Tree. Also, a few new recipes have been added for this edition.

I linked and bookmarked the sections for easy maneuvering within the book. I was going to create a hyperlinked index but my level of sadomasochism was relatively low this week… But more importantly, this is hardly necessary given the search capabilities of most e-readers. It’s just not necessary.

Each version requires a different kind of formatting and I want to suggest to all those starting at this self-publishing thing never to do formatting when sleep-deprived. You tend to forget simple things and commit the same silly mistakes again and again.

The book is available at Smashwords, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It will roll out to international online retailers in the next few weeks.

This ends the repurposing project and sets me free for new projects -- except for the damned press release. For some reason writing a press release for the cookbook seems like an impossible ordeal. I’m sure if I stop fretting about it some brilliant idea will occur to me.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

In other news, I was inspired recently to add another story for Because She Was a Woman and there’s some cage dancing involved. It’s not what you think, though.

I have an end for The Scent of Honeysuckle so that I may have it ready by Halloween after all.

There is a project in the works to encourage memoirs writing and I will share details once that gets going.

The intro to the steampunk-inspired series is ready to go and I am not entirely sure what I am waiting for, except that I wanted to finish the other projects first. I also want to finish the first installment so that there is only a short wait between the intro and the first full length book.

As things tighten at my end, I hope the royalties increase, though that is still not the sole or even the most important goal in my experiment. Now I can concentrate on some promotion and editing, and ideas to conquer a few new genres I have not yet tackled. 

Tiki Tiki? Yeah, we got that!

“¡Voy p’al Tiki Tiki!”

That is just a fun thing to say.

Tiki tiki is Cuban slang that is used across the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and means talk, dish, the constant blah-blah-blah about everything and everybody, hands going a mile a minute to match the mouth…

Tiki Tiki Blog is an online production from Carrie Ferguson Weir and an amazing group of talented Latinas (some of whom, like me, have confusingly Anglo names just to prove the point that Latinas comes in all sizes, colors, and accents).

Starting today, Tiki Tiki is running a fun excerpt of the English/Spanish hybrid short story La Chancleta and you can read it here.

News, News, News!

I have been running myself ragged!

Being a self-publisher is exhilarating, freeing, and a positive joy. It is also exhausting.

The last couple of weeks, I was feverishly reformatting books and repurposing titles to create paperback versions for the folks sans e-readers. I intended to do this and got side tracked in the myriad of projects I have going. I had started the process and completely forgot to follow through.

No sweat. The time is here!

The cookbooks have been bundled into one tome, and a few recipes have been added.

Kali, The Food Goddess: Vols. 1 & 2

List Price: $5.99

6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm) 

Black & White on White paper

120 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1477555965 (CreateSpace) 

ISBN-10: 147755596X 

BISAC: Cooking / General

https://www.createspace.com/3892282

The mini-memoirs, and the two shorts based on true stories have been bundled into one tome each (one in Spanish and one in English—this one is still under review).

Remembrance of Dingbats

List Price: $5.99
5" x 8" (12.7 x 20.32 cm) 
Black & White on White paper
140 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1477566879 (CreateSpace) 
ISBN-10: 1477566872 
BISAC: Biography & Autobiography / General

https://www.createspace.com/3894047

 Cuentos y Recuerdos: La Colección Latina 

List Price: $4.99

5" x 8" (12.7 x 20.32 cm) 

Black & White on White paper

92 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1477554630 (CreateSpace)

ISBN-10: 1477554637 

BISAC: Biography & Autobiography / Cultural Heritage

https://www.createspace.com/3892094

The first novel that started this whole business is finally out in print. I thought of adding the tag line, “Because sometimes the boss has it coming…” but restrained myself.

Justified

List Price: $6.66

5" x 8" (12.7 x 20.32 cm) 

Black & White on White paper

194 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1461088813 (CreateSpace) 

ISBN-10: 146108881X 

BISAC: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General

https://www.createspace.com/3563038

I did make the decision to publish through CreateSpace, which means the paperbacks will be available exclusively through Amazon.

The experiment just got switched into high gear! Of course, this also means that I have doubled my work because there is a ton of marketing to be done that I didn't account for because I forgot I was doing this and then I became obsessed with getting it done...  

Check out my personal blog at The Temple for more news about the new name for the enterprise (Amapola Press).

Beach Reading!

Justified is now available in print! You can get a copy at Create Space, and use code Y8FN23QM at checkout for a 15% friend's discount. The title will also be available at Amazon next week. So those of you without an e-reader can now enjoy the misadventures of Edmond Styles.




[UPDATE]

Cuentos y Recuerdos: La Colección Latina incluye Recuerdos de Antes y Entonces, Una Noche con B.B., El Velorio de Maya, y La Chancleta (en ingles). El libro en tapa blanda esta a la venta en la tienda electrónica.

Writing Life

There is no downtime when you start writing. Almost every moment becomes corollary, although sometimes the lines between cause and effect is so thin it is almost invisible.

Of course, this should give folks some pause about their behavior, because all eccentric conduct makes for a good story and I’m on a roll. (There is some interesting drama going on in Facebook and there might be a graphic novel in there somewhere…)

In the meantime, I am busy writing the ghost story, the crime novel, and even started some thing new with the detectives from Justified. I’m not sure if the last thing will go anywhere, but for the moment I am having fun with it.

There might be a special promotion for La Chancleta. Details are being worked out and I will alert you all once it is green lit. I am very excited by the prospect!

The next launch will be a print-on-demand version of Justified – which will be the same as the e-book edition. A “new” title will be added to the print editions, Cuentos y Recuerdos: La Colección Latina – it will include the three translated e-books, Una Noche con B.B., Recuerdos de Antes y Entonces, and El Velorio de Maya. As it is the Latin American bundle, I also included La Chancleta. I may also do the same with the English versions (bundle them into one volume).

Yes, I will bundle the cookbooks into one tome.

I realize that not everybody is ready (or as eager as I am) for e-readers and some of you feel a little left out.

The print editions will be available exclusively at Amazon (US, UK and Germany). Why? Because I do most of my business with Amazon and I doubt that adding to that distribution for print will make that big a difference right now. I may revisit this later and change accordingly.

Details as they develop…

La Chancleta

There is no Latino who hasn’t heard the word chancleta in their life and few who haven’t been the victims of a lesson whose moral included a chancletazo. To some, even well into adulthood, the mention of it can cause a cringe and a twitch, as well as the primordial urge to flee. Nothing more than a simple sandal, a chancleta is a disciplinary tool meant to shock not harm, but it does inspire fear, respect and the very real threat that it if leaves the foot it will strike and find you for your offenses. This is the story of one such chancleta, told tongue-in-cheek in English and Spanish, and the Holy Trinity that is The Way of La Chancleta.  

* * *

This was fun to write and I did it for my high school friends, many of who are now living in the States but whose roots are deeply in Puerto Rico. I wrote in English, but the important bits are in the requisite español.

You need not be bilingual to enjoy the story, but coming from a bilingual Latino household adds a little nuance that can’t just be explained. It’s one of those priceless things…

The story combines two stories: one is a teenage shenanigan from a former co-worker’s kid and its aftermath; the other is a story I overheard on the bus one morning as I left my step-father’s apartment in the Lower East Side. The rest, the details, are cultural tidbits that add flavor – like sofrito.

*  *  *

La Chancleta is the story one such chancleta, told in English and Spanish. It is available at Smashwords* and will become available at other electronic retailers in the coming weeks.

*Blog readers may download the e-book for free by entering the special code provided below at checkout:

Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: RJ37U
Expires: May 25, 2012

The Case for Bilingualism

I was born into a bilingual world. My parents, following in the family tradition on both sides for at least four generations, were a multicultural and multi-ethnic couple. My mother, fluent in both English and Spanish, helped me reach that same level of bilingualism.

My maternal grandparents made sure I did not lose either language even as I immersed myself in Spanish while living in Puerto Rico.

I learned to read and write both languages simultaneously, although my grandfather was more apt to read to me in English and my grandmother in Spanish.

When I began to write creatively I did so in Spanish mostly because it was the predominant language and I found its nuances and vocabulary, its very mechanics, a natural way to express my emotional state. Spanish is a very emotive language, as are all Romance languages, and I was able to express my passion in its sweet musicality.

As I got older, I began to write in English as well. English, I found, was very versatile and adaptive. Humor and sarcasm just sounded naturally snarkier in English.

The work I have done in the last year towards my self-publishing enterprise was originally done in English. It happens to be the language I use most and the fact that it is internationally used across several continents makes my work very accessible to a large number of potential readers.

But I owe a great deal to Spanish, the Mother Tongue. I fell in love with storytelling and poetry first in Spanish. Culturally, I define myself as Latina – except when forced to answer marketing surveys and some days I choose Pacific Islander just for kicks.

Most of my friends, though relatively to fully bilingual, are Spanish speakers. I wanted them to read my work too! So I translated three off my e-books for them.

This expands my market of potential readers and buyers. The first two efforts, especially because I have not written in Spanish in years, were mostly literal translations. The third was more poetic.

I still want to write something in Spanish and, as I mentioned earlier, it cannot be something trite. I want it to be meaningful.

The case for bilingualism is simple. Spanish can afford me the opportunity to tweak the essence of the work, the tonality of it. It may still include a dash of humor, but it will involve a different voice. It expands the writer’s ability to express ideas with a different emotional tenor.

More importantly, some stories can be retold in many languages, but their true essence has a language of its own. Therefore, when first written, each story must be told in the language in which they were born. To deny the story this, is like denying a good song a brilliant arrangement.

A story at its core is unplugged; picking the right language in which to tell it makes it symphonic. It’s a sketch compared to a painted canvas.

Now everyone is lucky enough to share my multiculturalism, but I encourage all writers (and readers as well) to learn a second language that speaks to their inner passions because reading, writing and conversing in a second tongue gives the soul a full orchestra (or a full palate with multiple tools) in which to experience and express life.

And this is very important: you should always be able to cuss in more than one language. It is essential for every writer to be able to spew maledictions in as many colorful ways as possible. It is a step towards sanity.

On any given day, the ability to look up at the heavens and curse your own limitations can be easily expressed thusly: “Dammit!” -- but there are some days when only this will do: “¡Carajo!”