Book to Movie

It's the dream of a lot of writers to see their work up on the big screen. Imagine, your book brought to life, maybe populated by well-known actors portraying your carefully crafted characters. I know that plenty of writers are purists and abhor the idea of their work appearing on the big screen. Hey, I totally respect that! I have to admit however that I think I'd LOVE to have my writing made into a movie!
 To that end I took a chance and submitted my novel to the Latino Books to Movies contest. Well, to my pleasant surprise I was eventually notified that I'd won "Honorable Mention" in the Drama category! Shortly thereafter I had to create and submit 10 double-sided color copies of a promo page for my novel along with 10 copies of my novel. Now supposedly these things are going to be in turn submitted to people in the movie industry.
 Yes, so I'm excited about the possibility of my novel being made into a movie. Sorry, but I really like the idea!
 Got my fingers crossed!
 Hope to see you at the movies!

Happy Holidays... Now Write!

In seven or so minutes Christmas will be over. About a week later the New Year will be counted down and ushered in. Then that will pretty much be it for the major holidays. People will have eaten, drunk, partied, gifted, and made resolutions until they've had their fill and then some! But you fellow writer should also be ABSORBING. What do I mean by that? It's a fact that stress levels during the holidays soar sky high, making the holiday season a time not just for giving and rejoicing, but also a time of intense human drama and interaction. Raw emotions are often on display, and almost every spectrum of the human condition is played out in the open. In other words things are laid bare all around you that could, and even should, be considered grist for the mill. You as a writer have no choice but to file away some of these for later use in your writings, whether it be poetry or prose. Something from the holiday season should find its way onto your pages... without naming names of course.
Feel free to consider this advice a Christmas present from me to you.
Feliz Navidad.

A Writers Retreat

Hey, ever been to a Writer's Retreat? Yeah, me neither. Don't get me wrong, I've always wanted to go but there were two things about doing so that I've always found to be Writer's Retreat prohibitive...
1. The cost
2. The fact that I would then have no excuse as to why I'm not writing.
  Like a lot of my fellow writers, I seem to have inherited a muse that is easily distracted, or that downright procrastinates when there's work to be done. Dirty dishes, unopened mail, social media... all seem to have that siren's call effect on my muse when it is presented with the challenge of a blank page.
  But what would my excuse be if I'm actually at a place where all anyone is expected to do is write? No distractions. No reason, real or imagined, to procrastinate. I would be expected to WRITE! And not only that, but there would be other writers present whose mere presence, in my opinion, would fill me with guilt if I were not toiling away at a new story or novel every minute that I was there.
  So, why am I anguishing over this? Well, because I was recently notified that I won a 4-day, 3-night stay at the "When Words Count" writers retreat in Vermont. It is a prize that is at once thrilling and terrifying! Thrilling because as I've said, I always wanted to go to a writers retreat. Terrifying because now I'll no choice but to face down that blank sheet of paper and write. This is probably all Colleen Vito's doing! Sorry, inside joke.
  So, in a couple of months I'll be on my way to a beautiful farmhouse in rural Vermont, my muse kicking and screaming all the way. And there will be no distractions. No procrastination. No excuses. I am going...

to write.

October 1st, 2011. My fledgling organization, the Latino Authors & Writers Society, was having its first writer's conference.
  The conference took place in a fancy building on Third Avenue with an auditorium, classrooms, sign-in area, and catered food and drinks. One of the speakers, as I'd mentioned before was the great poet and essayist; Louis Reyes Rivera.
  His was definitely one tough act to follow. But our Keynote Speaker was more than up to the task. He started out with his background, then segued into what drove him to become a writer and the particular obstacles facing Latino(a) writers trying to get published. That Keynote Speaker was Judge Edwin Torres, author of Carlito's Way (among others).
  Judge Edwin Torres was eloquent, funny, witty, informative and inspiring. He waxed nostalgic about a childhood that seemed so typical for many of us that it brought many of our own childhood memories to life. He shared writing secrets and urged us to keep writing and work towards bringing Latino literature to the fore.
  He was great and I appreciated the favor he did for my organization. He refused an Honorarium, saying that he was happy just to support a Latino organization. Especially one that was for Latino literacy and literature.
Cool.