About my books

First Book: 

 

Second Book:

 

 

About Ria:

She’s who I wish I were.

 

About Gwen:

She’s who I really am.

 

About Bruno and Bong Gu:

It all really happened.

 

 

About death:

There’s this recurrent, almost lingering theme that death is around us all, always. That’s how I always feel. Existence is scary. Even though I still manage to wake up every morning and pull myself together, being alive is terrifying and writing is a way to deal with it.

 

About ayahuasca: 

It all really happened.

 

About writing: 

Everything was written while on the road, sometimes I rented rooms for a few weeks, sometimes it was hotels, sometimes couchsurfer’s houses, buses, eateries and a few week-long boat rides in the Amazonas. 

 

About formatting: 

I tried scrivener and johto but neither worked very well for me, then I tried e-calibre and found it much easier and neat.

 

About book covers:

I chose my favorite scenes and send them to a professional artist from Fiverr together with an exact description of the characters and what I had in mind. The artist did a great job both times and then I sent them to someone else from Fiverr to give it color and then I added the book title and my name on Paint and used an online service to add pixels to it so that it would meet 1400 pixel criteria to be accepted into most publishing websites.

 

About promotions:

I used Canva and facebook ads for everything.

 

About finances:

I’m still a few hundred dollars down and didn’t even manage to break even but it was totally worth it and I would do it all over again anytime.

 

About motivation: 

I have never had a problem finding motivation because writing is my hobby, not my job, so I write when I want to and because I want to.

 

About music:

Some music I listen to while writing action scenes.

Some music I listen to while writing relaxing scenes.

Some music I listen to while writing dialogues.

Some music I listen to while writing about traveling.

 

About social media:

I’m only active on instagram, I seldom use facebook, have no twitter, and rely heavily on pinterest for inspiration and information.

 

About my lifestyle:

I teach English and Spanish online through Skype and that’s what pays for all the bills, living and travel expenses. In my free time, I dance, drink beer, eat pizza, play video games, read, and write at home.

 

 

Best friends stick together

During my trips I’ve seen countless stray dogs abandoned by their owners by the side of the road or the outskirts of towns and I was enraged every time I heard the excuses people used to justify abandoning their pets:

 

– That they have to move or go traveling and it’s difficult to travel with a dog.

 

– That they don’t have space.

 

– That they don’t have time.

– They have behaviorar problems.

– Moving to a place that doesn’t allow pets.

– It’s too big now.

– It’s too expensive.

 

– I call bullshit on all of them. So what if it’s difficult? We don’t stop doing something just because it’s difficult. ‘Difficult’ is how we grow, it’s how we learn things. Life is difficult, relationships are difficult, everything is difficult if we so choose it to be or if we choose to see it that way.

 

So yes, whether it’s difficult or not you’re right, but you don’t just abandon a living being that adores you and would give their lives for you because it’s ‘difficult’.

 

– So what if you don’t have space? You just make space or look for a space. You know your dog doesn’t need a lot of space, Bong Gu and I have been homeless for about two years now. We slept outdoors for the most part of 2016 and we never thought it was difficult. It was an experience that’s for sure. Maybe it was difficult but we didn’t notice because we were too busy having the time of our lives.

 

– So what if you don’t have time? You just make time! I’ve had about 10 jobs since adopting my job and she came with me to each one of them. I know it’s difficult but we find a way because we have to and we want to and it’s well worth the effort.

 

 

– They have behavioral problems? So what? Teach them, train them, understand them. Learn to bond and connect with them on their level, educate yourself so you can educate them. It’s difficult? So what? Just do it anyway.

 

 – Your new place doesn’t allow pets? Well, Just look for a place that DOES allow pets. You wouldn’t abandon your child because your new place doesn’t allow children. 

The way Bong Gu and I go about finding a place to live/eat/sleep/shop etc. Is the following, we go anywhere and ask:

“Can I come in with a little dog?” (To a restaurant/shop)

“Can I stay here with a little dog?” (To a hotel)

“Can you take me with a little dog?” (To the bus/boat/train/taxi/car driver)

So what if they say no? There’s always another restaurant next door, another hotel a block away and another car/bus coming after it.

– So what if it gets big? Animals grow, it just means it will be able to protect you more. It means there is more of him or her to hug and cuddle, it means more love for you.

– It’s expensive? I don’t think so, dogs can eat rice, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, any kind of meat, and lots of inexpensive grains, tuberculous, beans, fruits, and veggies. Your dog doesn’t really care what it eats, they are adaptable like that, and they’d rather eat little but stay with you than eat a lot but missing you badly.

There were times when all Bong Gu and I had to eat were rice, lentils, and bananas but we made it through. It wasn’t much more expensive to cook for just me than it was to cook for the two of us.

 If it’s difficult we find a way and we do it anyway.