Check it out!

Check it out man! This was a common colloquilism of the '60s and '70s that was often used when you wanted someone to take a closer look at something or listen more closely to what was being said. Check. It. Out. That simple piece of advice is never more important than when it comes to your writing.
  When you write for publication, whether it's fiction or non-fiction, you are in essence asking the reader to trust you. You're like a doctor, lawyer, engineer, architect... a person who is being trusted and relied upon to know what he or she is doing. A reader is often going in blind when they delve into your writing, and they trust that you respected them enough to do your research long before you declared your work "finished." To not check your facts is the height of literary hubris. Even in fiction, although you are asking the reader to suspend belief whilst they're caught between the covers of your next bestseller, few things are as jarring or disappointing as coming across a glaring inaccuracy while you're reading.
  I'd like to present two examples of what I mean (no doubt you can remember a few you've come across as well):
  1. A very well-known author, a master storyteller in fact, once wrote a story which featured New York City as the location. This author did only a minimum of research into that location even though he didn't live in that city. As a result, once his story had been published, he and his publisher received a load of missives from disappointed and even angry readers who felt let down by the many geographical inaccuracies that were in the story. I believe (see, I didn't do my research here) that the same story also featured someone screwing a silencer onto their revolver. A glaring error since a silencer cannot be screwed onto a revolver.
  2. This next one is a little personal. Many years ago (before I started working for NYC Transit), I was employed by a Wall Street insurance firm. While there, one of my jobs was writing and editing insurance forms and contracts. One of my co-workers was an aspiring novelist and she would occasionally bring parts of her manuscript over for me to read. One day she announced that she had finished her novel, and so she printed out several copies of it and handed them out to co-workers. I put my copy away in my desk drawer figuring I would read it later at my leisure. A couple of days later I saw her in an animated discussion with some other co-workers about something in her book. When she spotted me she called me over and announced to everyone that I would vindicate her and her writing. "Lopez," she said, proudly puffing out her chest in anticipation of my answer. "Isn't it true that Puerto Ricans eat roaches and consider them a delicacy?" Mortified and insulted, I sputtered and spluttered in the negative. The would-be author was confused since this practice among Puerto Ricans was common knowledge in her household (a household devoid of Puerto Ricans by the way) and was something told to her by her parents since she was a little girl. "You," I said. "Should have done your research before putting something as inaccurate and potentially inflammatory in your book." She kept insisting that she thought this particular practice among this particular people to be an absolute fact.
  Well, I don't know if she ever removed that from her novel or if she ever became a published author, but I do know that as writers we have a responsibility to our readers to research our information and check the facts before we declare our work finished and ready to be presented to an unsuspecting world.

Be Mean!

If you're a writer (and if you're reading this I imagine that you must be), then you know how important it is to create believeable and compelling characters. Sometimes good or even great characters are the result of intense soul-searching, the cobbling together of variuos acquaintances, or even a labor of love.
Either way, many of us put a lot of work into the creation of our literary characters. Then once we create the perfect character(s) for our story or novel, we become enamored and protective of them.
That just makes it harder to kill them.
Sorry, but oftentimes it is our best characters whose death propels the story forward. You don't want to, in fact every fiber of your being screams out for you to have mercy. But somewhere in the back of your mind, you know you just have to be MEAN and do him or her in. Stephen King is a strong proponent of this, urging writers to, "Kill your darlings." Manuel Melendez did a great job of this in his novel, "When Angels Fall," by killing off the detective in his story almost at the book's end.
So yes, please work hard at creating your endearing, believeable, loveable, and realistic characters. Then be mean and kill them.

To free or not to free, that is the question

It is apparently the nature of humankind to try and obtain the coveted, but ever elusive, freebie. Oh, you know what I'm talking about. It turns out that if you're a person with a skill (doctor, lawyer, plumber, artist, writer, etc.), folks want you to share what you know.
  I've been guilty of it in the past, and just chalked it up to me getting some helpful tips... which they were. But some folks don't know when to quit and insist on more than mere tips. If you crochet, they want full-blown lessons and even free yarn. If you write, they want free critiques, editing services, or even your *ahem* help in writing their book or novel.
  So what do you do? That's entirely up to you, there's nothing wrong with sharing some knowledge or passing along some helpful hints. But there is something wrong with being taken advantage of. Your hard-earned skillset, whatever it is, deserves to be acknowledged and rewarded. The same way you wouldn't expect a car mechanic to fix your car for free (unless you got the hook-up), is the same way that folks shouldn't expect you to speak, critique, edit, write, or teach without some sort of honorarium or financial remuneration. The late and venerable poet, Louis Reyes Rivera of the National Writers Union, was a strong and outspoken proponent of this. Unfortunately many uninformed people consider those of us that work in the arts to be indulging in hobbies rather than actual "work", so they don't understand why we'd like to get paid.
  Ultimately it's your decision of course, but I'd urge you not to sell yourself, or your art, short.

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.