Summer 2024

After two years of effort, with thanks to my editorial staff and the CALMA Board of Directors, the Anthology Ramas y Raíces: The Best of CALMA is in the rearview. Being me, I kept worst-case-scenario-ing every step along the way. In the final days, I lost sleep worrying about books arriving with the pages completely screwed up, or in boxes that had been run over and left in the rain. However, both IngramSpark and KDP did a great job. The difference between the two: the colors of the covers from IS were deeper, richer. Their cost, about $5.60 a copy, vs KDP, about $4.80, but with faster delivery. The Lakewood United Methodist Church graciously offered a venue for our book launch, which was SRO. To justify that my belief in bad ju-ju was not unfounded, shortly before the event, the air conditioner conked out. Fortunately, we had a spell of cool weather, plus I set up fans throughout the gallery and ran around handing out bottles of chilled water. Such are the chores of the jefe editor.

At the book launch, Manuel "The King of Chicano Noir" Ramos, reads his short story.

Moving forward. I picked up another ghost-writing assignment. Perhaps the last for my writing career. I'm almost done with a short story for a humor-horror anthology on tropes. Working title: Writing Jingles for Genghis Khan. On my next post, I'll be far enough along in my big WIP, a mystery-crime novel, to share some info.

Spring 2024

If you're itching to dive into the world of Felix Gomez, vampire-detective, Iraq War veteran (supernatural noir at its best!), here's your chance. HarperCollins is offering books 1-5 free on Kindle Unlimited. But this offer is limited from now through June 30, 2024. Click on the titles and that'll take you straight to the deals.

                      Nymphos of Rocky Flats    X-Rated Bloodsuckers      Undead Kama Sutra

                                                 Jailbait Zombie           Werewolf Smackdown

In other news, I'm working on a couple of short stories. One is about a monster. The other, when tropes go wrong. Both should be fun, though in different ways.

Here's an update on the CALMA Anthology. We're in the final editing process and fingers crossed, by the end of April, I should have release date and news about the book launch.

 

Winter 2024

 Lot's going on. What's coming up shortly is my first-time trip to Superstars Writing Seminars in Colorado Springs. While I've attended many other writing conferences before, this one focuses on the business of writing, a topic many writers shy away from. 

"If I wanted to talk business, I'd be a business major, I just wanna write!" 

The truth is, while fate may shine on one-book wonders like Harper Lee or J D Salinger, the rest of us ink-stained mortals need to figure out how to earn a living. Even if you've been blessed with a hefty advance, eventually, the money runs out and paying the bills becomes a challenge. Many writers leverage what they've learned into teaching but the real champions, to me at least, are those who can keep cranking out the words and using them to put food on the table.

Superstars offers panels and classes on promotion, marketing, networking, and yes, how to be a better storyteller. The faculty includes heavy-hitters in the fantasy/science-fiction genres such as Kevin J Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Jonathan Maberry, Gail Carriger, Jim Butcher, and Kevin Ikenberry, plus editors and literary agents. Since the theme is the business of writing, we'll be selling our books at the Bookstravagansa.

Previously, I had mentioned that I was the Jefe Editor for the inaugural anthology from CALMA, the Colorado Alliance of Latino Mentors and Authors, Ramas y Raices. The project is moving along. We're in the process of final edits to the Advanced Reading Copy and I'm pleased to share our bad-ass cover, designed by Kathryn Renta of Latchkey Artist. Book launch, Summer 2024. Stay tuned.