Book and Bass Banter ^_^

Things just seem to be getting busier and busier these days. That’s hardly a surprise, I guess. With just a little over a month before Solstice’s release, it’s only going to get busier ^_^

Still working to promote Solstice on the Internet. It’s kind of cool, though, that when I do a Google search for it, more and more results are hitting. I guess, slowly but surely, I’m getting the word out. I’m also hitting a lot of forums, started a new blog at a science fiction site, and generally making myself more visible out there. It’s not easy willingly doing so, given my relatively introverted nature, but I guess it’s gotta be done ^_^

Some reviews might start hitting soon too. Quiet Earth now has Solstice in their “upcoming reviews” list, and one person in their forum has already given some props to the three sample chapters. It’s weird when you see someone other than a friend or family member say good things about your writing. Hopefully there will be more ^_^;

Also went into a Barnes and Noble this weekend to start inquiring about a book signing. Since authors are encouraged to do local book signings, and since you might want to have one scheduled before contacting the local press about your work, I figured it was time to do so. The manager hasn’t gotten back to me yet, but the man who handled my request did look at my flier and enthusiastically said that my book seemed very interesting. So who knows, maybe the cover will do the job of attracting readers, huh? ^_^;

My new novel is coming along as well. I’m at the 170-page mark already, which is far quicker than the pace I had with Solstice. Unfortunately, I’m realizing that novel is becoming a bit more autobiographical than it should be. Which might not be too bad in and of itself, except that the novel is a first-person narration, and the speaker is a woman ^^;; My girlfriend jokes that either 1) I want to be a woman, or 2) Liliana is me in drag. *shudders* Not a pleasant thought ^^;; Anyway, the story is very close to my experiences as a writer of color, so I guess a little bit of autobiographical overlap is unavoidable.

This last weekend was pretty cool for another reason. I mentioned before that I’m now in a new band, Big B and the Magic Bullets, with my good friend Brian. Well, we played this Saturday at the Detroit Blues Challenge. And we didn’t win, but we played very well, I think. In fact, people were dancing, and cheering very heartily between songs. And Brian tells me that the feedback from the people who spoke to him was generally, “You guys should have won.” And, well, considering we’ve only been playing together for about two and a half weeks, our performance was pretty amazing.

What makes me very happy about this whole thing is that I’m now officially part of the band, and I’m with a group of musicians that are both talented and good people. It’s nice to play with a group of guys that don’t say stupid, racially insensitive things at every turn, things that, for the sake of retaining band harmony, you don’t say anything about. That’s what wore me down so much about my old band. Between the constant homophobic banter, and the racially condescending remarks made by one member, and the alcohol/ego issues with the guitarist, I felt that I was biting my tongue all the time. I found myself putting up with crap, just so that I could play gigs. I was glad to leave the band when I did.

And yet, I knew I was going to miss playing gigs. I don’t know what it is, but when I play live, I feel, well…alive. When you’re playing music, and the crowd gets into it, it’s very much a natural high that makes you grateful to be able to do the things you do. And, having been so socially introverted for most of my life, I liked that I was able to partake in something like that, and experience a kind of nightlife I’d never known before but that I’d always wanted. I knew I was going to miss all that, and I did. I missed the feeling of driving to a gig, of sitting back and watching other bands play, of just hanging out and feeling that sense of excitement as show time drew closer. I’m excited that I’ll get to play gigs again, and this time with friends.

I guess I’m just grateful. When I found myself having to leave my other band, I’d felt as if something great was yanked from me. I’d felt that I had been robbed of something I’d worked hard at because of other people’s idiocy. And I’d felt betrayed, first by a drunken guitarist who was happy to boot me despite my standing up for him before, and by a drummer who, despite frequently whining about the guitarist’s alcohol and behavior problems, chose to cast his lot with him rather than with me. But now, with the right people, with people who appreciate music for what it is (a passion, not a ticket to commercial success) and who genuinely enjoy just playing it (instead of just drinking at shows), I feel like I’ve regained that which I lost before.

Now, if my girlfriend jumps in and works up the courage to sing with us, that’d just make the whole thing even sweeter ^_^

Wow, this time I really yammered! So sorry about that. I guess I better get back to work. I have too much to do (including answering some e-mails, especially yours Tsubashi-san! ^^). I promise not to babble on so much next time! ^^;;

Really, not much has happened

I'm a bad blogger, I know. But really, nothing much has happened in the past almost-month. Really. So what if *whispering* the books got in and I have a bunch of them in my basement as I await the long-awaited launch date for Solstice. So what if *muttering* I updated my web site and started promoting it across a bunch of forums and web sites and begging everyone I know to visit it and pass along the URL. So what if *muttering* I'm playing in my great friend Brian's band, Big B and the Magic Bullets, and we're playing at an upcoming Blues band competition ^^; So what if *muttering* I e-mailed none other than Lisa Alvarado, a great and prolific Latina writer, who has graciously offered to review Solstice? And really, who cares if *muttering* I started up an art page with deviantart, because I figured it was time I started promoting some of Solstice's characters among people who might actually appreciate their origins? ^_^ And, oh, who cares if *muttering* I'm almost at page 150 of my new novel? ^^;;

So really, as you can see, nothing much has happened.

Ugh...

In any event, the date is fast approaching when Solstice will become available, and things are moving along. While it's proving harder than I thought actually spreading the word of mouth, I'm still hopeful that, eventually, it will get out. I already have three people lined up to review the book, and I mailed out close to 30 review packets on the day after the books arrived. And the new trailers I posted on my web site and YouTube will, I hope, at some point start making the rounds. Just have to be persistent.

And within the next week or so, I'm going to start *gulp* contacting my local bookstores to *gulp* inquire about doing book signings. That should be a fun, if terrifying, experience. But it's a big thing. And who knows, maybe then, it'll actually finally hit me that I have a book out. Because, frankly, it still hasn't hit me. When I got the books (after waiting around all day for the carrier to show up...without a forklift! Thank goodness for my girlfriend and some great neighbors, who helped us take all 74 boxes into the house! ^^), I reacted as if I'd gotten a set of guitar strings or something in the mail. The next day at work, my friend Leda (who actually designed the book's cover, and her husband did the painting) asked if I was excited. When I responded in a strangely nonchalant manner, she said, "DUDE! You gotta show some excitement! Cmon!!" ^^; I guess I've been so tied up with the logistics of all this, I haven't found the time to get excited. Oh well. Some day soon, maybe.

For now, I'll keep at this promotion thing. Because it's true what they say about publishing a book; the real work begins AFTER you get the books printed and delivered! Now you have to actually tell people you HAVE them...and that's not as easy as it might seem ^^;;