The power of writing

The books are scheduled to arrive in a couple of weeks, and everything, so far, seems to be going as planned. I’m halfway through compiling the final review mailing list. And, best of all, I’ve got a couple of folks from Quiet Earth who have agreed to review the book! Considering how stacked the odds are against me that Solstice will be reviewed (the industry is very biased against self-published works), it’s great to know that at least two people will review the book! ^_^

With mid-July almost here, I’m getting really excited about launching the official marketing campaign for Solstice. In fact, last night, I completed a new trailer for it. It’s a shorter teaser trailer emphasizing the Scribe aspect of the novel (i.e., that, in this story, people called Scribes can make anything they write come true). The main trailer, which is now 100% ready to go, focuses on the apocalyptic aspect of the story. I’m planning a third trailer, another teaser, that focuses on Io, the main character. For this one, my brother is lending his vast creative talents. He’s going to (hopefully) render some images of Io that I can then put into a trailer, so I’m really excited about that. Hopefully, the three trailers, put together, will provide a real sense of what the story is all about, and pique the interest of those who see them.

The question now is, do I launch the first teaser trailer on YouTube and my web site, or do I wait a bit more? Decisions, decisions ^^;;

One decision is made, though! I’ve decided that, even though the books will be officially available in bookstores, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com in October and November, I’m going to launch an “early bird” sale on September 15 (the day of Mexican independence, no less). People who want to get the book immediately can buy it direct from my web site. By then, the Tragical Mirth Publishing site will be fully enabled to process credit card and Paypal transactions on a secure server, so I’m hoping the early bird sale will drive enough people to buy it from me directly.

Some stressful times are coming, no doubt, but at least I’ve rid myself of one source of stress ^_^ I quit the band I was in. A bad combination of financial disagreements, alcohol issues, egos, and the prevailing homophobic/semi-racist attitudes among the senior band members made me realize that I was better off moving on. When something as fun as playing music stops being fun because of the people you’re with, you know you’ve reached your end. So at least I don’t have to worry about that anymore ^_^

Which is good, because I’m really getting into my new novel. I completed Chapter 7 two days ago and am at around page 91. What’s weird about it is that it’s a complete departure from Solstice. If I build any kind of fan base with my first novel, I wonder if I won’t shock (or disappoint) them once the next one comes out. Whereas Solstice is a dark, apocalyptic drama, the next novel is a comedic satire. Whereas the heroine for Solstice is this tough, kickass woman named Io, the heroine for the new one is this mousy, timid woman named Liliana who’s hopelessly clumsy and can barely utter a single sentence without stammering and stumbling! ^_^

Still, it’s a novel that deals with something that I feel is very important: namely, Hollywood’s portrayal of people of color. As a Mexican-American, I’ve always been kind of disappointed at how Hollywood chooses to portray not only Latinos, but essentially any person of color. For the most part, we’re either invisible, or we’re stock characters, or we’re comic relief, or we’re criminals, or we’re token characters. The new novel is my way of addressing this. And although it’s meant to be funny, its deeply satirical tone argues that the situation itself is hardly funny.

I guess that’s the one thing I love about writing. When you write, you can write anything you want. I remember when I first started writing “seriously” (i.e., novel-length stuff). Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that serious! After all, my “first novel” was actually a 500-page Anime fanfic (based off the Slayers series) called Nightmares in the Apocalypse (sheesh, am I obsessed with apocalyptic stuff or what? ^^). But even then, I saw writing as a way of telling the stories that I wanted to hear. Of telling the stories no one else was telling. It was then that I truly realized what a wonderful, and powerful, thing writing was. As a writer, you have complete control over the storytelling process.

And when you control the storytelling process, you control everything. You know how it’s like when you’re reading a book, or watching a movie? And something happens, and you wish it hadn’t, or you wish it had been different, or you wish the ending had been better, or you wish the dialogue had been sharper, or you wish the characters had been more likable (or less likeable, depending on your mood)? Well, when you write, it’s all up to you. You decide where the story goes, what the twists are, what the characters will say, and you alone determine the ending. And, well, you decide who the characters are. And that, to me, was one of the most alluring things about writing from the moment I started writing that silly fanfic all those years ago.

I mean, in Solstice, all my main characters are people of color. Io, the main protagonist, is Mexican-Japanese. Her partner, Yuniko, is Japanese. Io’s boss, Anika, is African-American. The other two main characters, Jai Lin and Viala, are Lao. A couple of people asked me why I made, say, Io Mexican-Japanese. My answer: why not? ^_^ Besides, I’m Mexican-American, so of course I wanted a character that reflected and upheld my ethnic background. But I also deeply admire the histories, cultures, and languages of Asia, and I wanted to reflect that as well. When you’re the storyteller, and when you control the narrative, you can make the story, and its characters, reflect the things that are most important to you.

And, frankly, I don’t think there are enough heroes/heroines of color out there in mainstream media, especially films. I don’t see a lot of heroes/heroines out there that make me think, “Oh wow, now THAT’S a strong Latino/a!” Solstice was my opportunity to introduce a few at least. And I’m hoping my next novel continues to do so (Liliana, after all, is also Mexican-American ^_^).