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!


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(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.


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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

Inklings Newsletter, September 2013

I want to let everyone know that the new edition of Inklings by Harmony Ink Press has been released!

In addition to all of the normal goodies, there is a free read (or Fread, as Cody Kennedy calls it) by yours truly!

The story is called Emily's Heart and deals with a girl's crush on her best friend. The important question in her mind is if Charlotte can/will ever reciprocate her feelings.

You can read it here.

And a special thanks to Nessa and Harmony Ink Press for choosing my story!

Give Hope

Hey blogginites!


I was thinking about different ways that myself and others could give hope to those who don't feel like they have any left.

And then it hit me. Like this.

I suggest that everyone who reads this post does their best to make a resolution from this point forward. If you see somebody on the street or wherever and your eyes meet, I want you to smile. It's an easy action, doesn't cost anything, and barely takes any effort. And that one effortless action can make a WORLD of difference to a person who's feeling down.

If you don't believe me, read the excerpt below:

Mr. Hines described his struggle with a severe bipolar disorder that emerged during his adolescence and worsened over time. Mr. Hines was overwhelmed by paranoid delusions and command auditory hallucinations demanding that he kill himself. Unable to function, he withdrew from college and immediately took a bus to the Golden Gate Bridge. Like many people about to commit suicide, he was ambivalent about dying. He tarried at the bridge railing for about 40 minutes, trying to decide whether to go through with his plan to jump.

A number of people walked by him, oblivious to his anguish, unaware of his life-and-death struggle. Mr. Hines told us that “If someone had smiled and said, ‘Are you okay?’ I know I would have begged them to help me. I would have told them everything and asked for help. I would not have jumped. I just was unable to ask for help myself.” In fact, a foreign tourist did stop and talk with Mr. Hines. She asked him to take her picture, which he did. As she walked away, he felt more than ever that “Nobody really cares.” He jumped. On the way down, he changed his mind. He remembered thinking, “I want to live. Why am I doing this?” It was too late. Severely injured, Mr. Hines was kept afloat by a sea lion until rescuers arrived.

I asked Mr. Hines that if someone had smiled at him when he was on the bridge, given the severity of his mental illness, would it have prevented his suicide attempt? He answered, “Yes, a smile would have most definitely helped in my case. If the smile is genuine and caring, and it looks like the person is approachable, that person could have such an impact on a suicidal person at the moment of desperation. They could well save a life.”

Source for the story.


So please don't ever underestimate the power of a simple smile. It could very well make a difference.


Another thing that can be done to give hope is to give someone a random compliment. It could be anything.
Nice shirt, you look really pretty, your hair looks amazing, etc.

Anything, anything at all to make that person feel a little bit special and noticed. It's really just that simple. The rate of suicides continue to grow each year.


Please spread the word and spread hope.


Lots of love <3

Trust In Fate

Hello blogginites!

It seems like forever since I posted on here. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to go so long between entries. I had a good reason, I promise. I haven't posted because I've been busy. Recent events have stolen all of my free time and energy...but that's for another post. Don't worry, it isn't anything bad. This post is for something entirely different.

It has been brought to my attention that from September 8th to September 14th is National Suicide Prevention Week. On one hand, I'm really glad that there's effort being made to bring attention to suicide because the rate of teen suicides has increased so much in the last few years. On the other hand, it's really upsetting that things have gotten to this point.

So I'm going to turn my attention to the readers who have been there. So if you've ever felt suicidal or thought about suicide, the rest of this blog is for you.

I suffered a lot in Middle School and High School. I didn't have many friends and most of my peers were very cruel. It was around this time that I started noticing that I wasn't like most other students. It wasn't just because I was gay, it was because I had demons in my head that were fighting me. Some days it was like there was a battle raging on inside my head. I couldn't even bring myself to get out of bed and go to school. Most days I couldn't even leave my house.

I went to different doctors and eventually I found out that I suffered from an anxiety disorder. One that I struggle to keep under control every single day.

The point of this is that I understand. I get what it feels like when you feel like you're suffocating because the weight of everything is pressing down on you. I get what it feels like when you just want to lay in bed all day and sleep because when you're sleeping you don't feel any pain. And most importantly, I know what it feels like when the nightmares inside of your head seem real.

There were many days where I thought about suicide. I never attempted it, but the thoughts were there. I self-harmed in as many ways as I could think of. The pain on the outside helped numb the pain on the inside. But it was NOT a healthy thing to do. Hurting yourself is NOT the right answer. Killing yourself is NOT the right way. You're far too valuable.

And the thing that gave me hope can give you hope also.






If you're ever feeling like you can't go on, please remember that fate has a plan for you.

Every single living being has a purpose. It doesn't matter who you are, when you're from, or what you did in life. (I promise that I was NOT intentionally quoting a Backstreet Boys song) You have a purpose. And you have dreams that you can achieve if you put your mind to it. It doesn't matter what they are.

And also remember that there's somebody who loves you. Somebody who will miss you if anything happened to you. You are loved.

<3


P.S: If you're feeling suicidal and need to talk to someone please click on one of the links in this sentence. You're not alone.

Chill Day

Yesterday was an amazing day. Why? Well for one, there wasn't anything to do but relax and have fun. I completely cleared my schedule. No writing, no e-mails, no social media, no anything. This isn't to say that I don't enjoy those particular things but the fact is sometimes you need to distance yourself from those things and just enjoy life. I'm sure everyone knows how those things can sometimes be stressful ;)

The boyfriend, two sisters, and our friend Daniel went to Mitsuwa Marketplace. For those who don't know, it's this lovely Japanese supermarket with tons of imported goods. Not to mention the delicious food...who doesn't love Asian cuisine? Crazy people.

It was nice just spending the day with loved ones. There is nothing at all like the joy of being with those who make you happy. The feeling of being loved and wanted is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

Tomorrow (or rather, today) I have a huge workload ahead of me. I still have four or five short stories to write, as well as finish the sequel to The Descending Darkness and my novella.

Wish me luck!


P.S: I'll be posting some free short stories on either this blog, goodreads, or another website. I honestly haven't decided yet. So yeah, that's something to be happy about.

Pieces

Today was an interesting day.

Our house was the location for a little party that we threw together last minute. We had a few friends over and a lot of alcohol and pizza. We also played Apples to Apples which is a very fun game. If you haven't played it before, go out and get it! It's a lot of fun.

Anyway, at some point during the night I had a sort of personal reflection moment. In that moment I was thinking about your past and the affect that it can have on you. I realized that things that negative occurrences in your past don't necessarily define you, but they do contribute to who you are as a person now. What I mean by that, is that even if you were a bank robber or something...that doesn't mean you'll always be a bank robber. If bank robbing was in your past and you've learned something from it and made a positive change in your life, then a negative contributed to a positive.

Another thing I learned is that people from your past are probably in your past (and not your present) for a reason. Some people are meant to stay with us forever and others are just meant to teach us things along the way.

My main point is that all of these things are just pieces of a puzzle. And that puzzle is who you are.

After my party I finished my vampire themed short story. I'm going to submit it tomorrow after I have a chance to edit it and comb for errors. I hope it gets picked. If not, it will be a nice free read for my followers, won't it? :)

Shut Up and Listen

For a couple of days I've been working on a short story that I'm going to submit as part of a vampire-themed anthology to Sekhmet Press. I found out about their call for submission recently and given the fact that their due-date is the fifth...needless to say, time is of the essence.

I had a story in mind that I've been wanting to write for awhile so I thought, why not? And I started to write it down. About six or seven hundred words in, the muse begins to act up. And when the muse acts up, frustration ensues. Now in my experience, there are about four things you can do when your muse is acting up.

(1) Pray
(2) Cry
(3) Consume chocolate
(4) take a break

So what did I do? All four. Sadly, this time none of them worked. I had to think long and hard about why my usual methods of soothing the muse weren't working and still, nothing came up. I took a piece of paper and began to write down what I wanted to write and see if I could brainstorm my way through it.

I remember thinking back to when I was working on The Descending Darkness that I didn't have this problem. The story came out exactly as I had originally envisioned it without any issues. Then I realized that I was wrong. There had been a few occasions in which I was stuck in a rut and I needed to go a different route in order to continue.

BAM! That's when it hit me.

My problem was that I wasn't listening to my muse. I've heard tons of writers talking about this and I always thought that I got what they meant. I didn't...but now I do. I actually listened to my muse and characters and figured out where the story was taking me. It wasn't where I had originally planned, but it was just as good-if not better.

So the point of this whole blog post is that sometimes as a writer you just need to shut up and listen to the voices inside your head. Not your own voice, but the voices of your characters. They know where they need to go and they won't steer you wrong.

So say it with me. When your muse is speaking:

SHUT UP AND LISTEN!