Let's Get [Wilde] and Update (P.S: I'm bad at updating)

This blog post is long overdue. I'll start it off like I always do. (the rhyme was totally unintentional)

Okay, so hello everyone!

I haven't updated in a few months - completely going against my promise of updating at least once or twice a month, but I've been very busy! For starters, back in May, I pitched a novel to Geoffrey Knight of Wilde City Press and it was accepted! So my novel Red Rose (Blood) of the Deadly Rose series will be released in about 9 days. Woot, woot!

The last couple of weeks I've been working on the editing and other processes which come with publication. So that's been an endeavor, luckily I was given an amazing editor (shout out to Val!) so it's not as cringe-inducing as it probably would have been, otherwise.

I've also been working on another two novels which are almost done and I hope to submit them to Dreamspinner Press and Harmony Ink Press, respectively. So here's hoping that goes well.

In total, I have about 2-3 novels/novellas to be completed before the end of this year (not counting the ones previously mentioned) so it's going to be very hectic. I don't mind because writing is my passion and if I don't get these stories out, my imaginary friends will kill me...or I'll be committed. I'm not sure which one, yet, the jury's still out on that one.

Another part of my crazy year are the two side-projects I've been working on for awhile. I can't talk too much about them right now, but I will in due time. I apologize, but I feel like it's bad luck to mention them now, something about counting chickens before they hatch, or whatever. Just know the projects are cool to the tenth power.

The last thing I can talk about is my work AKA my real life, boring job...of misery. So for those of you who don't know, I deliver newspapers during the night. Which means at any point in time from 12 AM to 6 AM, I'll go to a warehouse, collect the papers, put them in plastic bags, and then spend the next 1 1/2 hours zooming down different streets throwing them to whomever bought them.

It probably wouldn't be so bad if my fiance and I (we work together, luckily, so anxiety is reduced by 75%) weren't the youngest people there and 90% of the people who worked there didn't act like they were still in high school. I'd probably write some of our experiences down as stories but most people probably wouldn't believe they were real >.>

So I guess that's all for now. I'll be updating this more frequently as my work load lessens.

As always, lots of love and applesauce! <3

Happy (Un)Father's Day - The Blog Where Michael Goes Off

Hello Everyone!

I'm blogging right now because I'm unable to sleep and when that happens, well, my mind races and goes places it generally shouldn't/wouldn't normally. Anyway, today's an important day, or so I've been told. It's Father's Day. Yay, how awesome, right? Well, maybe for people who actually have one.

Before you go jumping to conclusions about immaculate conception and what not (I'm not the second coming of Jesus, I'm sorry!) let me clarify that while I have a father, biologically, I don't have a father in any other sense of the word. Thought it's honestly possible I don't have the correct definition.

Wikipedia says the following:


"A father (or dad) is a male parent who has raised a child, supplied the sperm through sexual intercourse, or sperm donation which grew into a child, and/or donated a body cell which resulted in a clone."

Huh, I didn't know the latter was possible. Going further down the page I came across the following information:


"Traditionally, fathers act in a protective, supportive, and responsible way towards their children. Involved fathers offer developmentally specific provisions to their sons and daughters throughout the life cycle and are impacted themselves by doing so. Active father figures may play a role in reducing behavior and psychological problems in young men and women. An increased amount of father - child involvement may help increase a child's social stability and/or educational achievement."


All of this is very interesting because my father didn't do any of those things. Heck, I was lucky if he could even pronounce my name right half the time. And I can't help but wonder how my life would have been different if he had been a better man. The information above was quite illuminating in that regard. Would I have done better behavior wise and not acted out so much as a young child? Would I have been better off psychologically and not be afflicted with depression, social anxiety, and mild-OCD every day of my life? Would I have done better academically and not dropped out of High School because I couldn't handle dealing with all the problems in my life?

I guess I'll never know.

What I do know is that I have no respect for him as a person because he was never there for me growing up. He couldn't even be bothered to attend a birthday. Okay, well maybe that's not entirely true.. He made my 4th, 7th, and I saw him on my 11th. Otherwise? I didn't get not so much as a phone call.

I remember around the time I was 12 years old he called me up and told me that things were going to change. He told me he wanted to be in my life. I didn't believe him. He appeared randomly when I was hanging out with my friends and showed off his brand new car and then took me to the mall and hung out for an hour or two. I was shocked. He told me that it was the start of a new beginning. He told me to be ready next Friday and we'd go out again. Of course I waited the entire week for that day and got dressed up all nice and what not.

He never came. He called a few days later and apologized, something came up. He promised that this next Friday would be our day. I was a bit skeptical, but he sounded sincere and I believed in second chances. So again, I waited the rest of the week and got all dressed up. He didn't show. I didn't even get a personal phone call as he had my Grandmother break the news to me. She told me that something else came up but he said it would definitely be next Friday. This time I didn't wait. He never came and I didn't see him again until I was sixteen. And then at this point (I'm 21) I haven't seen him since I was 16.

Part of me is bitter because through his selfishness he robbed me of what could have been a series of beautiful memories and experiences. I never got to know what it was like to play catch with him or have him take care of me when I was sick or even have him congratulate me on my achievements. And then the other part of me understands that I didn't need him my entire life.

I achieved SO much in my life without him being there for me. I went through self-harm and I beat it. I stopped being so depressed. I am now fighting against my anxiety and not letting it control me as much as it used to. I was published at the age of 21. I have another novel coming out with an amazing press. I've been engaged for five years and have an apartment with my fiance. I've met so many wonderful people who actually do care about me and would never hurt me as badly as he did. And I've grown so much as a person that it scares me sometimes, because I never thought it was possible.

And I'll continue to do well without him.

I don't know what the point of this long rant was, but...I guess it's good to let things out every now and then. I hope whoever reads this can forgive my random explosion.

As always, lots of love and applesauce <3

Rainbow Con AKA Michael Finally Updates His Blog

Greetings!

I haven't made a blog in a long time. I feel really bad. In my defense, I've been very busy and while I know that's not an excuse - it's the best I have. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT! Okay, I kid. I hope you'll take it and stay. :P

Anyway, the last month or two have been very busy for me. Anthony and I started working together delivering newspapers - yes, an actual job. It's not so bad...it could be worse, like a desk, 9 to 5 job, and I could hate my life. I haven't fallen so far. We basically go to a warehouse, bag papers, and deliver them to five, six hundred houses a night. We're like Santa Claus!

In April we went to Rainbow Con which is was this fabulous convention for LGBTQIA readers, writers, reviewers, etc. basically anybody who falls under the spectrum or enjoys reading novels with characters in that spectrum. It was a very nice convention. I didn't attend as many panels as I'd have liked to, but I got to meet a whole bunch of amazing people like Angel Martinez, Nicole Dennis, Sara York, Brandilyn Carpenter, Geoffrey Knight (this was especially significant and I'll explain why in my next blog), LE Franks, Sue Brown, Jeff Adams, Greg Payne, Allison Cassatta, Lexi Ander, and a whole bunch of other people I'm too dazed to remember. If I forgot you, I'm sorry, it's not intentional - I have the attention span of a squirrel force-fed cocaine in Autumn. So again, my apologies.

I met all of these wonderful people and reconnected with older friends, such as: Lisa H. from The Novel Approach, Jackie also from The Novel Approach, Rhys Ford, Kade Boehme, and Wade Kelly. And probably many others I'm forgetting! In which case, I'm sorry! I'm only human...as far as you know, so I'm allowed to make mistakes.

I think one of the best parts of the conference was the choice in venue or how approachable the staff was. Both of which can make or break a conference.

I took some pictures:

(Wade Kelly signing a copy of My Boyfriend's A Jock? Well Crap!)

(Me posing awkwardly with Nicole Dennis and Sue Brown)

(Me with the amazingly talented Princess S O Briot)

(Me with Wade Kelly)

(Wade Kelly and Shira Anthony)

(Me with Kris Piet of Storm Moon Press)

(Myself, My Fiance, Sara York, Brandilyn Carpenter, Greg Payne, and Wade Kelly)

So I totally should have taken more pictures...but I was overwhelmed with all the people! I think I exhausted my camera at GRL...but anyway, yeah. It was fun!

After Rainbow Con, Anthony and I went to stay at his mother's house in SO-Florida and it was a nice relaxing time. In the week we stayed with her, I managed to finish a novel and complete 50% of another novel. I was on a roll like butter. >.>

So yeah. I'll be updating again. Probably tomorrow with amazing news. We shall see.


As always, Lots of Love and Applesauce! <3

The Update Post of Updating

Hello there, everyone!

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a few weeks but that was actually intentional! Yup, you heard me! It was intentional. You see, I think there needs to be a balance of some sort. I don't want to update just for the sake of updating, yet I also don't want to go months without any sort of blog post. That just wouldn't be cool. Or interesting.

So here's the balance. I'm going to post once every two-weeks. That way I can keep things alive on this blog and I can also make sure I actually have things to talk about. Running out of things to say as an author is like a comedian running out of material on stage. Let's just hope I never get the hook...

Anyway, I'll get to the point of this entry. I actually have a few updates. Actually, make that one update and one update abut an update.

The update is that I've been busy working on my WIP and I'm actually making decent progress. I've completed two chapters in less than 3 days. That's a new Michael record!

The update about an update is that I've been referencing a project for the past few days on Facebook and what not, and that project is still underway. I've made excellent headway into that project and it should be far enough along to make an actual update post about with images and descriptions very soon! I hope everyone enjoys it and gets as much fun out of it as I did making it. So until that update comes, keep your eyes open!


As always, Lots of Love and Applesauce! <3

The Importance Of Honesty

Greetings and salutations!

I don't really have updates or anything like that, but I thought I'd share a story of something that happened recently.

Last night, Nick and I went out to the local Chinese buffet. We hadn't been there in a year or so and I was craving Chinese food, so, why not, right? So we got seated and consumed tons of the yummy chicken, fish, and other assorted goods. At the end when we were paying, I noticed a problem with our bill. Now, our total came to $29.37 (not including tip) and there was only $2.37 cents on our receipt. Obviously this was a mistake. At first, Nick thought his card was declined or something, but he checked his bank account and found that he was only charged $2.37. Huh.

Now, I knew what the average person would probably do in this situation, but more importantly, I also knew what I had to do. I took our receipt up to the front desk and explained to them that there was some kind of mistake because we weren't charged the proper amount. The lady explained that she had made a mistake because they swipe the card and input the amount to charge on a machine. When we got charged "2.37" it was because she forgot to add the "9" to make it 29.37" as it was supposed to be. She did the difference and charged the correct amount.

The lady at the front desk, the manager, and our waitress thanked us multiple times for being honest and not taking advantage of a mistake. And while I didn't get the super cheap dinner that I would have, I got the satisfaction of knowing that I did the right thing and that by doing the right thing, it made people happy. And that's what matters.

Honesty is very important to me. I truly believe that honesty is its own reward. And because it comes so natural to me, it really makes me upset to think about how many people would have just paid the two dollars and walked out without a second thought. When I was much younger and my friends would do little things like: steal money from their parents, shoplift from stores, cheat on their homework, and other types of things like that, they'd always make fun of me because I didn't see the point of it. I have never seen the point of lying, cheating, or stealing. I have a "bad" habit of putting myself in someone else's shoes. And because of that, I couldn't help but think of the repercussions of those kinds of actions. Like if Nick and I were to walk out without paying the correct amount and the restaurant figured it out, it wouldn't hurt us - it would hurt our nice waitress. She could have lost a chunk of her paycheck or even been fired. And for what? For us to have a free dinner? It wouldn't be worth it.

I think the one thing a majority of the world could benefit from is learning to have more empathy. I think it would make the world a better place. Honesty is a start, but better empathy skills will make for a perfect finish.

I hope you enjoyed my random story!


As always, Lots of Love and Applesauce. <3

Would You Rather [Blog Edition]

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day and/or enjoyed the random facts about myself that I posted yesterday. I thought it would be a good idea to post another blog today to show that I'm serious about updating more frequently. A little bit of assurance never hurt anybody, right?

I want to state for the record that I'm terrible at blogging - I'm shy as hell and find it incredibly awkward to type out my thoughts as if someone is actually going to read them. I know a few people will, but eh, still awkward. However, I think more "fun" updates are better than just updating about my thoughts all the time. Don't get me wrong, I'll do serious and important updates, but I think if I'm going to keep this updated frequently it's important to have fun with it and enjoy what I'm doing.

Which brings me to this blog entry. I thought I'd play one of my favorite games...a word game called: Would You Rather?

For those who don't know, it's basically a game where you state two options and the person who's turn it is has to state which one of the options are more appealing. It can get pretty crazy. I'm only going to do a handful or so, but it should be interesting to get an insight into the way my crazy mind works. :P


-----

(questions courtesy of yourather.com)
Would you rather...


(1)  Be a Centaur or Be a Mermaid/man?
This is an easy one. I'd rather be a Merman. Why? Because I love water and being in water. A centaur would more than likely be limited/restricted to land. The ocean is wide open and goes on for miles and miles...and has miles in depth, too. I think it would be pretty serene to be able to just swim far under the surface and escape things if you needed to.

(2) Catch your best male friend sleeping with your mom or Catch your best male friend sleeping with your sister?
Oh lord. This is a tough one and kind of disturbing to think about. I'm really protective over both of my sisters...and they're both under aged - compared to all my male friends who are in the 20's. Now my mother is a grown woman who can make her own decisions...so the first one.

(3) Eat a breakfast of only jellybeans or Eat a breakfast of only hot wings?
Jellybeans. I feel like Hot Wings would be too taxing on your stomach that early in the morning.

(4) Be able to fly up to 5 meters off the ground or Have a magic carpet that can fly up to 50 meters off the ground?
Sorry, but I'd rather fly. A magic carpet would be nice and all, but if it's not with you or destroyed, that's it. Where as if you can fly, not even that high, you're still friggen flying. And that's cool.

(5) Have your best dream and worst nightmare come true or Never have any of your dreams come true?
That's an easy one. I'd rather have the first happen. Why? Because dreams are what make life matter. Without dreams, life would be boring. And honestly, nightmares aren't that bad when you think about them. Nightmares are fears that you're too scared to face so your subconscious creates them as ways for you to deal with them. If you're brave enough to face your fears, you can face a nightmare. And I think that never having any of your dreams come true is like living in a nightmare. Not cool.

(6) Be horribly and hopelessly depressed or Have inescapable overwhelming anxiety?
HAHAHA. This is actually pretty funny, considering I have anxiety which sometimes causes depression. So I guess for the sake of the question, I'll pick the second one because you can fight through anxiety. Depression? Not so much.

(7) Only be able to listen to your favorite artist/musician or Only be able to listen to everything BUT your favorite artist/musician?
What kind of choice is that? Said artist wouldn't be my favorite if I could get tired of them. I literally have Icon For Hire's two CDs on repeat for most of the day. So I'd pick the first.

(8) Kill a unicorn in front of thousands of children or Kill a beloved dolphin in front of thousands of children?
Uh, I'm sorry, but if there's a unicorn, I will NOT be killing it. I will be keeping it and naming it Mystery. And said unicorn and myself will partake in many magical adventures together. The dolphin can die. I'm really sorry.

(9) Never touch a computer again or Never touch a person of the opposite sex again?
LOL. Gee, I wonder what I'm going to pick? :P

(10) Be Harry Potter or Be Luke Skywalker?
I'd be Harry Potter, no question. Having a wand is like having the force - on crack. And it's friggen MAGIC.

(11) Never be able to hear your favorite song again or Never be able to watch your favorite movie again?
I enjoy listening to music more than I enjoy watching movies. The funny thing is, my favorite movie is actually a musical! >.> However, I'd give up the movie.

(12) Get shot or get stabbed?
I've been stabbed before, it wasn't a picnic, but I know it's certainly better than getting shot. So I'd be stabbed...again.


------



Well I think that's enough for now. I hope you enjoyed my answers. So now it's time for the fun part. If you're feeling adventurous, either comment with your answers to the questions I answered or go to yourather.com and comment a single question and your answer!

I can't wait to read some of the replies.



As always, thanks for reading. Lots of Love and Applesauce! <3

25 Facts About Me, Myself, and I

I haven't updated this blog in about five months. And I'm feeling incredibly guilty because I promised to be more consistent with my updates. I'm supposed to do a few a week, not a few every couple of months. This is just unacceptable.

And Mr/Mrs. blog reader, I know exactly what you're thinking.

And I'm sorry. I'm a bad boy. I've just been very busy with writing - yeah, typical excuse. But it's true! I swear. I've been literally ping-ponging between four different novels that are in the works. Oh, and editing a fifth, which is almost ready to be sent to my lovely beta readers.

I'm going to keep this blog active. I'll be Dr. Frankenstein and bring this baby back to life! Hopefully I won't have to use the assorted remains of dead blogs. I'll use my natural energy to breathe life into this blog. No necromancy needed!

In order to do that, I'm going to share 25 random facts about myself. Some of them may be very obvious but others may not. I want to have a good relationship with my readers. I don't want to be on some pedestal or shrouded by some barrier. I want people to know that I'm human and I'm real. So here are 25 facts you may or may not know about me!


-----------


(1) My favorite color is purple

(2) I've been diagnosed with two forms of anxiety. Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and/or Hypochondria Anxiety. They're both very taxing and I wouldn't wish them on anyone. Some days are harder than others. In the last couple of years I've learned to properly deal with them.

(3) I am a huge fan of My Little Pony. Like seriously. The show is good. I collect tons of memorabilia. I probably spend too much money on stuff from it.

(4) My favorite band is Icon For Hire. They're really good and the lead singer is a lyrical genius.

(5) I believe in magic. I believe that magic exists in everyone. I believe that people have more power than they realize and they're capable of great things if they just believe.

(6) My favorite author is Laurell K. Hamilton. I started reading her novels when I was going through a REALLY tough time in my life. Her Anita Blake series helped me ignore what was going on in my personal life and gave me something to be excited for...as cheesy as that probably sounds.

(7) I truly believe that dragons, mermaids, and unicorns were real at one point in time. I don't care what anybody says, but there are large portions of the world we haven't fully discovered and we don't know for sure if they existed or not. Let me continue to exist in my magical world - no lectures!

(8) I have a very mild form of OCD. It's not as debilitating as the anxiety, but it still causes me some discomfort. I always carry around a container of hand sanitizer (I hate germs) and tissues in some form. Not to mention that I have issues with certain "textures."

(9) I used to self-harm.

(10) I could eat Taco Bell for every single meal. I'm addicted to those evil tacos.

(11) I'm half Hispanic - Dominican specifically. Most people don't believe it because I'm so light skinned, but It's true. My Hispanic ethnicity is the only thing my father ever gave me. >.> On my mother's side, I'm Italian, and some form of Irish/Polish.

(12) I'm a huge fan of Rupaul's Drag Race. That show is addicting. I also watch Bad Girls Club. My two guilty pleasures.

(13) My skin is highly sensitive and most of the bath products on the market cause me to break out. It's annoying.

(14) I'm a huge fan of video games. RPGs in particular. I'm an avid WoW player.

(15) I'm addicted to Tumblr. I'm on it almost every day.

(16) When I write, I listen to OSTs (Original Sound Tracks) for my favorite video games. Listening to songs with words throws me off.

(17) My favorite musical is Sweeney Todd. Second is Avenue Q.

(18) Once Upon a Time is my favorite show. Notable mentions are Xena: Warrior Princess, Charmed, Buffy: Vampire Slayer, and Adventure Time.

(19) I'm a huge "shipper" when I watch TV shows. I love pairing up characters and I'm just a huge fan of love.

(20) I have a "quoting" issue. In normal conversations, I tend to throw out random quotes from my favorite novels, movies, tv shows, etc. Sometimes people get them and laugh and other times people blink and slowly inch away.

(21) I wear makeup sometimes. Nothing crazy, just little touches. I dabble with light eyeliner, blush, and cover up. I'm not theatrical, I just like the subtle differences that a little bit of make up can create. Most people don't even notice.

(22) I'm very shy. One way to tell that I really like you, is if I actually go out of my way to speak to you in person.

(23) I keep myself guarded 24/7. I've been hurt a lot in my life, so I'm very protective of who I let in my life. I was actually surprised that a few people at GRL managed to get past my walls. But they're good people so I'm not worried. =)

(24) I'm a cat person.

(25) I can't go to sleep unless I hear the sound of rain. Every night before I go to bed, I turn on rainymood.com and leave it on. It really relaxes me.


-----------

So there you go! 25 random facts about yours truly. I think this was a decent way to make my triumphant return to blogging and I sincerely hope you enjoyed learning a bit about me.

!!//

Lots Of Love and Applesauce. <3