This month’s update will be shorter, as most of November was occupied by my fall coaching job, which has now finished. Despite the hectic end of the season, I was able to get some writing done.
Working on this next version of the manuscript has been interesting. While I have a pretty good idea of how I want to use magical realism in my story, there are aspects of writing in this genre that I’m still trying to work out.
For example, how do I make the extraordinary world feel more magical without making the scenes seem too fanciful? How do magical characters interact with the world around them? Are they there all the time or only under certain conditions?
Answering these questions takes a bit of exploration and self-examination, but I’m happy with my progress so far, and I can’t wait to share it with you.
If you are an early reader, you should have gotten an email from me detailing how you can access the first three chapters of my rewrite. I will upload a couple of additional chapters in the coming days and email you again when they are ready.
Finally, I’ve been preparing for the Under The Volcano retreat in January. I sent in my deposit, booked my tickets, and have a place to stay, so it’s getting real! On a related note, I have been meaning to thank Paloma for telling me about the program and encouraging me to apply. I’m very much looking forward to this experience, meeting the other attendees, and making progress on my manuscript while I am there.
In my last update, I wrote about Where There Was Fire by John Manuel Arias, which takes place in Costa Rica. Despite having a little trouble getting into the story, I ended up enjoying it in the end. I don’t want to give too much away, but I really liked how the author showed the impact a massive entity, like a US corporation, can have on one family.
I also read Brown Enough: True Stories About Love, Violence, the Student Loan Crisis, Hollywood, Race, Familia, and Making It in America by Christopher Rivas, which wrestles with Latino/a identity and what it means to be a brown person in the US. I got a lot out of this book, and my only real complaint is that I wish this book had come out years ago when I was less secure in my Latino identity.
Now that coaching is over, I can get back to my writing. I, of course, have a few other projects to work on as well, but I really hoping to finish rewriting the first 12 chapters of my book before my trip to Tepotlzán.
Sincerely,
Nelson/Roberto
Over the past month, I have been working on upgrading the technical infrastructure that powers my website and several other websites that I manage. While on the surface, this may seem like a distraction from my work on the book, it is an important step toward getting back to my writing.
While the spring coaching season is often very busy, I’ve also had some distractions to contend with that have made it harder to write. Since I don’t have a lot of news on the writing front, I thought I’d share some links to some of my work and a video that was sent to me.
Throughout most of January, I participated in the Under the Volcano writing residency in Tepoztlán, Mexico, which was an unforgettable experience that I will reflect on for some time. The remarkable people I met there inspired me to continue developing my craft.
