February 2012
12 posts
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With Rejection Letters Like These, Who Needs...
Adi, Thanks so much for submitting your story, “Survival Song” to The Missouri Review for our consideration. We greatly enjoyed reading this, and found much to admire in the prose and characterization. Unfortunately, we ultimately decided that this particular story was not quite a perfect fit for our current needs. We do like your writing though, and we’d love to see more in the...
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Nostalgia
So, a few weeks ago, I drove past some kids standing on the sidewalk, waiting for their school bus to show up. I felt a sudden wave of nostalgia for the school bus stop, and then I imagined what those kids would have to say about an adult looking back fondly on the bus stop. And that’s where the following story evolved from. It’s not quite done yet, but I feel I haven’t shared...
ihaveasandwich asked: I just wanted to let you know that I bought the Kindle edition of Somewhere Over the Sun today. I am as of yet only four chapters in, but already the warmth of your writing has brought tears to my eyes. I can't wait to read on and see what else this book has in store for me! :)
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Attention, Goodreads Users
Add my book, Somewhere Over the Sun to your to-read shelf! I realized that things have slowed down a lot with my promotion of the book, so I’m going to do a giveaway. I’ll give away three copies!
Details are through Goodreads.
(The giveaway is pending Goodreads approval, but should be up soon).
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Letter to a 5-Month-Old Nephew
Dear Sylas,
It is again raining in Mexico City.
The people that know me are familiar with my disenchantment with rain. You don’t know it yet, I guess. But you will someday. Or maybe not, if I have anything to say about it.
Unlike many writers whose creativity seems to thrive in the rain, and many of my friends in Las Vegas, where you live, who’ve gone most of their lives without...
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“…an honest and joyful attempt to reach out…and remind us all of the...”
– Once again, The Compass, a site here on Tumblr that reviewed my book, Somewhere Over the Sun.
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Do Not Fear the Blank White Page
If someone has ever told you to fear the blank white page, they are wrong. The blank white page is actually one of the best things that can happen to a writer. Nothing has gone wrong yet, nothing that doesn’t work, a world of opportunities ahead. It’d be like someone telling you to fear a fuel gauge pointing to the letter F. All you have to do is accelerate.
By all means, be afraid...
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“The final paragraph of Somewhere Over the Sun is like a song I never want to...”
– The Compass, a creator collective, a gathering of eight young artists and writers honing their craft and starting a conversation. It was founded on the belief that creative voices must be heard by others.
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Moustache
The following is an excerpt from my manuscript for The Moustache. I was writing this for some guys in L.A and their agent decided to pass so the project is now dead. I thought I may as well share a little bit with some of you. Enjoy.
Chapter 1
When the alarm clock woke Harvey Bellfield at 6:24 a.m every weekday morning, he would immediately pull himself out of bed, stumble toward the bathroom,...
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Jennifer Egan!
I just got an email response from Jennifer Egan, one of my favorite writers, after I sent her a gushing fanboy message. I may be a little giddy right now. She didn’t even point out my glaring, embarrassing your/you’re mistake that I’m beating myself up over. What a gal. Go buy all her books. Seriously.
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First Review for The Calvin Sky!
Hello :) I finished “The Calvin Sky” two weeks ago and loved every single story in it. I tend to get lonely on my lunch hour(s) at school; your book on my Kindle turned out to be more than enough company. “Kevin Plays Pai Gow” made me cry and the excerpt of Bright and Blue made me look forward to the release of your second novel. I liked how every story and every character was different; some...
January 2012
11 posts
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We forget that there is no joy except in human relations.
–Wind, Sand and Stars, Antoine de Saint-Expury
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Ten Hours in London
I turned eighteen on the flight. It was a red eye from Mexico City (MEX) into Heathrow (LHR), next stop Tel-Aviv (TLV). Excited about my upcoming, first-time-on-my-own adventure, I hadn’t slept the night before, and got little sleep on the flight itself. It was 12 p.m before I realized it was my birthday. Well, 12 p.m is a loose term here, because I don’t remember what time zone I was...
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15 Internet Tabs Open to 15 Different Literary...
Short story submission time!
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Letter to a 4-Month-Old Nephew
Dear Sylas,
You’re fresher at this, so maybe you can explain: are we born wanting to pair ourselves off? Is it built into us or have we just learned from the world around us, from our parents, our aunts and uncles, our grandparents, from the things people don’t think we understand right away?
We do it though. We spend our lives wanting to do it, at least: spend moments with others-...
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Adi's Favorite Movies of 2011
This list is not in any particular order. I could probably point at my favorite movie or two, but anything after that would be decided pretty arbitrarily, so I won’t assign a number order to them. I don’t like going into what a movie is about in the review, because movies, like books, should be arrived at without a map.
Midnight in Paris
My first impression? Exceptionally lovely....
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Hiccup
Had to take down The Calvin Sky due to technical issues with the layout. My illustrator is fixing it and it should be back up shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Also, I still have postcards. Some are ready to be sent out, others need destinations. Message me an address and a one-word writing prompt if you’d like to receive one.
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Good News, Bad News
Yesterday morning, I received an email from the literary development company in Los Angeles informing me that their agent is skeptical about the manuscript I’ve been working for them and the project will be abandoned. Today, I released my collection of short stories, The Calvin Sky on Amazon as an e-book.
Rejection is deeply ingrained within this profession. It’s not a matter of if it...
Still Here!
Hi everyone! Sorry for the inactivity as of late. Stay tuned for some impending good news, but for now, here’s a little more inactivity.
December 2011
12 posts
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Birthright
Before I left Las Vegas on an expiring student visa, I called the cable company to cancel my service. After trying to get me to give up on this decision by not answering for twenty minutes, the customer service rep asked me why I was leaving the country. I told him that I was not a citizen and his response was, “But you speak English so well. Why can’t you stay?”
The answer is...
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An Unnecessarily Long Title that Doesn't Describe...
Just wanted to give a quick update, dear readers. I won’t have much of an online presence for the next week as I am busy being a master bed sheet salesman at a Christmas bazaar here in Mexico City. Kafka sold insurance, I sell bed sheets.
During downtime, I’ll be working on reaching my goal of 50 books read this year (only two to go!), as well as hand-writing a short story that, I...
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That Time of the Year Again!
Meaning, of course, my imminent return to the U.S., which has a better postal service than Mexico, and thus, the place from where I send all my postcards.
I have a few leftovers from my last stay, and I’m looking for people that want to receive a postcard. Message me your address if you’d like to receive one. And, like with my Before Sunrise challenge, include a one-word writing...
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Somewhere Over the Sun: Goodreads Page →
I love it to pieces. I love it like I love the smell of books and the feel of the sand between my toes and the ocean spray across my face. It’s reached a stage where I will never travel without it, in case I need it.
-Jon, a reader
A link to the Goodreads page for my novel, Somewhere Over the Sun. Take a look at the synopsis and the reviews and then please consider buying the book as a...
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Letter to a 3-Month-Old Nephew
Dear Sylas,
In February of 2010, I was not yet in love. It would get there, but for the time being, I simply had a crush on a girl. These are foreign terms to you for now. “Girl” is merely the difference between Mommy and Daddy, between nipples that provide milk, and the useless ones that don’t. But here’s the story anyway, because there’s one of the life lessons...
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Even More Reader Endorsement for Somewhere Over... →
I’ve read so many that I don’t recall the first one. But the last one that made me look at the world in an entirely different way is from someone I met here on Tumblr. I have never read a book so slowly before, because I not only wanted to read every word, I wanted to taste the colors they produced. I know that makes no sense, but seriously, read this book.
-redicupidity.tumblr.com
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Adi's Favorite Songs of 2011
I write for about 5-8 hours every day, and for about 95% of that time, I’m listening to music. People like to complain about how new things aren’t as good as old things (music, films, books), so I like to remind everyone that every year, morsels of goodness can be found, not matter how much bad stuff may have come out.
By Your Hand - Los Campesinos
Energetic, infectious, catchy,...
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More Reasons to Buy My Book
If you want to read a feel good book about happiness, then this is your go-to book. From characterization to plot to overall tone, I feel like this would be a wonderful book to really get yourself re-inspired in life in regards to your outlook on happiness. I think the only people who won’t like this book at all are those Debbie Downers (and no offense to those named Debbie).
…
If...
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“I’m only trying to suggest that as we find ourselves in this particularly...”
– –Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris Quotebook has been updated. Get to know me better.
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Entirely, Not Fully
Entirely, not fully. That was the word he had been searching for, and finally it had come during a middle-of-the-night piss. He flushed and went back to his room, turning on the computer that he kept by his bed. Entirely, not fully, he kept saying, lest the midnight weariness erase the perfect word choice. He hoped the glow of the screen would not keep him from falling back asleep, but there were...
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More Propaganda to Get You to Buy Somewhere Over...
Lyrical and beautiful expression of love between a father and a son. Perfectly captures my sentiments of words, and feeling a natural calling, a pull to words, experienced by writers and editors and others who work with and toy with language as a way of life.
The storyline is witty, smart, funny, entertaining, warm, deep, and heartfelt. It is completely accessible, and the story is told...
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Taboo
This was it: the greatest moment of their lives. Adi and Shay, ages 11 and 13, respectively, had procured a BB gun.
Shay had a friend who had a friend whose parents were okay with toy guns, and by keeping themselves away from candy for a couple of weeks, they had saved enough lunch money and now here it was, black and silver plastic and a thermos full of bright yellow ammunition. They had no...
November 2011
22 posts
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An Unpaid Endorsement
Watch the film, Life in a Day.
Incredibly powerful and moving and just plain big. It will make you acutely aware of the life you are living and that it is special. I hear it’s on Netflix, so go do it and be amazed. Fair warning, there are a couple of graphic scenes that some may find hard to watch.
I’m by no means an expert on the art of film editing, but I’d be pretty...
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hisamusingworld asked: urbane (my favourite word)
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inandoutthoughts asked: You know? I'm glad you did your shameless self-promotion with me, because your book had been the best I've read in a long time. I even gave it to my english teacher and I just can't get enough. Felicidades :)
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Gifts, gifts, gifts!
In the extremely unlikely case that some of you still have money left over from Black Friday and you are/know someone who enjoys reading, please consider givingSomewhere Over the Sun as a Christmas/Hannukah/Just Because gift. Here’s some encouragement from a customer review on Amazon:
Reading this book is like making a new friend, one that gives you a delightfully fresh perspective on...
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Reader Prompt: Zugzwang
She had been naked when they went to sleep, but fully clothed when she woke him up. He didn’t notice this right away, but he would insert it into the memory years later.
The first thing he said when she told him about the email she inadvertently read was, “Zugzwang.” She just looked off into some darkened corner of the room, shaking her head, unbelieving that he wasn’t responding intelligibly.
...
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Tattoo Idea
For those of you that haven’t seen my leg, this is what it looks like:
That’s Calvin and Hobbes, and the writing on it says “This life is big” and its translations into Spanish and Hebrew. If you want the whole story, read here.
Now, it’s true that tattoos have an addictive quality to them, and once you get one you start thinking about your next. As impulsive as...
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centuryofsolitude asked: I believe my word was "Unsettled"? Either way, work with that, sir.
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In Other News
”Adi,
Great job. We thought you did fantastic work with the notes and changes. We’d love to get the pages to our agent(s) for a read…we’ll forward it on to New York and see what they think.” -Literary Development Company I’m writing a manuscript for.
Also, The Calvin Sky shouldn’t take too much longer until it’s all done and uploaded to...
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Pillow Talk
“Do you know what your credit rating is?”
“No. Probably low.”
“Isn’t it weird that that’s one of the only numbers people get assigned, measured by? Most people have some idea what their credit rating is. Maybe what their IQ is too. But the world doesn’t really measure us any other way. How good we are with money. It’d be interesting if loans were approved by IQ. Or…I don’t know. Penis size.”
She...
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theinfinitegeneration asked: covenant
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Anonymous asked: The word I give you is "hope"
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stapledwords asked: Lace. (In turn, I will take your piece of writing as a prompt as well -- I'm doing a modified version of NaNoWriMo and am trying to write a short piece each day in November.)
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colorsofsound asked: idiosyncratic
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solitudebeckonsme asked: Sex. -Khelsea