Book Party

Come to it!

https://www.facebook.com/prflia

“La tercera edición de FLIA, Feria de Libros Independientes y Alternativos, se llevará a cabo el próximo sábado, 1ro de febrero del 2014, en los predios de Cinema Paradiso en la Calle Loíza, en Santurce. Este mercado cultural alternativo sirve como plataforma para la difusión y el intercambio directo entre autores, editores, artistas y lectores. Se promueve la creación y divulgación de libros de autor, libros artesanales, libros de artista y publicaciones puertorriqueñas independientes.

La iniciativa de organización de FLIA es espontánea, colectiva y autogestionada. El programa de actividades que correrá durante todo el día se encuentra aún en estado de preparación. Damos la bienvenida a cualquier persona u organización que qiuera formar parte de esta comunidad para participar con un kiosco, mesa, taller, presentaciones de libros, lecturas, actividades para niños, conversatorios, música y/o performances.

La participación en la Feria (así como la entrada al público) es gratuita, pero aquéllos interesados en colocar una mesa o puesto de libros deben confirmar con anticipación, ya que el espacio es limitado. Cada persona debe traer su propia mesa o manta para colocarse. Debemos considerar no ocupar demasiado espacio (máximo 6 pies), para que hay cabida para más participantes. Como el solar de Cinema Paradiso es al aire libre también es recomendable traer carpa o toldo para protegerse del sol o lluvia.

Aunque daremos proridad a los puestos de libros, tenemos algunos espacios disponibles para venta de comida, refrigerios, artesanía y arte local.

Las ediciones anteriores de FLIA Puerto Rico han contado con amplio respaldo tanto de los participantes como de la comunidad. La segunda Feria se realizó dentro del marco de la Fiesta de la Calle Loíza en 2013. Esta tercera edición coincide con el aniversario de Cinema Paradiso en la Calle Loíza. Además, FLIA 3 se une a la campaña de recaudación de fondos para la delegación de Puerto Rico en la XXIII Feria Internacional del Libro de La Habana.

Los participantes confirmados hasta el momento son: Alterfolio, Iona Muñiz, Lio Villahermosa, Jeny Nilenie, Días Comics, Soda Pop Comics, Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro & Boreales, Ediciones Aguadulce, Libros de Pólvora, 13 Libros, Atarraya Cartonera, David Caleb Acevedo & Gnomo Editores, La Secta de los Perros, Vivo del Cuento, Yoly Torres, Funda, Alejandra Rehuel, Elizabeth Robles, Yolanda Velázquez, Libros Libres, Max Chárriez y Rubén Rolando.

Para confirmar su participación, preguntas o para más información, favor de comunicarse por fB (Feria de Libros Independientes), por email a nicolececilia@gmail.com o por teléfono al 787 381 1307.

¡Los esperamos!”

Where Everything Lost is Released in the Wild

International buyers: My book is now listed on Etsy! If you’re interested in buying a copy, please order it from me personally through Etsy, that way I can personalize it, wrap it, add postcards and whatnot… it’s a little cheaper than anywhere else so you can save on shipping. Click to visit the product page!

Also, a reminder that it’s on Goodreads as well! Please, add it to your book lists!

And amazon, where reviews are always awesome.

If you’re in Puerto Rico, you can now buy copies at a few local bookstores!

I took a photo at Mondo Bizarro (because it’s the only place I didn’t feel silly doing it). This is a brand new art and comics store – which does a lot more that just sell things, check out their facebook page –  in Río Piedras owned and managed by the Pernicious Press team.  They have tons of cool stuff (just look at that Kraftwerk album stowed away) and it’s also a gallery with a café and BUBBLE TEA BAR. And the owners are all-around awesome people.

MB

It’s also available at Librería Mágica and La Tertulia in Río Piedras, and Libros AC in Saturce. So look at it/buy it wherever you happen to be or wherever you prefer. Just know:  it’s around.

Invitation: Young Published Authors @Work

This event is on Monday, view everyone is invited!

Francisco Muñiz‘s novel is a fantasy epic for young adults. We’ll be talking about writing and other stuff… and as far as I know, we might be doing a workshop with everyone who’d like to participate! But you don’t have to.

I think the “@ Work” part is funny because we both work at the UPR, so we’re at work… literally. But that’s not the intended meaning, just a fun pun.

We’d both really enjoy people coming in with questions (any kind of questions). Consider this an invitation if you’re free on Monday from 1 to 3pm in Río Piedras.

 

Flyer_Young Published Writers at Work

Halloween Conference! Not really, but…

Last time I visited a class at the UPR in Humacao, more about I was so excited to meet students who are creating, whether as reactions to literature or reactions to LIFE, and I’m so happy to have been invited again!

I’m still writing this one up… lately, “the creative process” is a topic that’s been following me, something I’ve never in my life talked about (not even with other writers or artists) – or maybe it’s something I’ve taken for granted.

I decided to talk about the process of dream translation (yes, translation and not transcription) because my creative process, in most instances, relies on disturbed sleep and the left side of my brain running amok. (“Amok, amok, amok.”)

But I’ll also be clarifying some questions about the title…

Because I’m feeling generous, I’ll post a little preview.

Remember this?

fishlike

 

It’s so perfect in every way… I’m using it to talk about the title, Stars Like Fish:

It’s a reversible image of creatures in water and outer space. You may look at it from one angle or another, and its meaning is unaltered (in the same way stars like fish or fish like stars are interchangeable).

But what is the meaning?

Does a starred sky ever meet the ocean’s edge? From our human perspective, it does. As residents of an island, we might take visits to a shoreline for granted, but we’ve all noticed the horizon, the line where the ocean ends and the sky begins (or vice versa). Under a dark night sky, however, this line is almost impossible to isolate. Michelle’s illustration shows both sky and sea, almost blending into one another, but not quite.

 

So there you go. I’d be really tickled if anyone NOT from the UPRH made it, so, here’s the flyer:

Where Everything Lost is Available

Ladies and gentlemen: WELIF is unofficially out!

Unofficially because I only have a few copies in my hands, it is not yet in bookstores and only available online for the time being. The reason is that the covers I received do not have that damask detail you see below, which is very important to me, and I’m working this out with the printing service.  The covers are completely black! Which doesn’t affect the overall mood of the book at all, it’s even kind of fitting in a way, but I would really like the covers to look like the image below.

However, if you can’t wait, you may order it from amazon, or just go take a look, since it lets you see the first couple of pages.

welifff

The art came out looking like pencil sketches instead of ballpoint pen sketches! Which is also very important to me, since I’ve been trying to make a point out of drawing in cheap pens rather than real artist’s tools, but I still rather like the outcome.

welifff

Those of you who follow me and know what I’m up to know that this is an anthology of poems I wrote during my angsty teenage years, so it’s not a very happy book at all, and doesn’t reflect my writing style anymore (but it does reflect my budding “writer” – it’s not like you can’t tell this person is now THIS person).

I promise that when the cover issue is resolved, I’ll post where you can go buy a copy (or flip through it), as well as my etsy link, where I rather everyone buy it so I can personalize it and add extras.

Sargasso Launch “party”

This year, my good friend and mentor, ex-professor and thesis director Michael Sharp wrote a review for Stars Like Fish that was published in the UPR Linguistics Department’s academic magazine, Sargasso. I’ll be getting my hands on it tomorrow when I get these two issues (and showing it off as soon as I can).

I’ve read it, and it makes me blush every time, since I still have a difficult time accepting SLF or myself deserve it, but I’m dealing with it. Perhaps as a consequence, I was invited to read some of my poetry at this event tomorrow, along with two poets I’ll be meeting there.

If you’re around the UPR tomorrow evening, everybody’s invited.

Sargasso Launch

SLF goes to Humacao

Well… this event is at 11:30 am tomorrow, and though seemingly exclusive, it isn’t.

Flyer featuring a photo from -you guessed it- Humacao.

If you’re around and want to drop in, do it.

There’s a Power Point presentation and everything.

And free bookmarks.

Where some things found are announced…

If any of you follow my livejournal, rx you might already know I’ve been cooking something up for the last couple of months…

It’s Where Everything Lost is Found, sildenafil and it’s scheduled to be published in… well, when it’s finished. Approximate date is May 2013.

This one contains a bonus… art! A handful of doodles in between poetry and bits and pieces of prose and, possibly, short stories. However (as it happens), the chronology is all backwards. Most of it contains a healthy dose of teenage angst and existential desperation, because it only contains pieces written more than a decade ago.

welif

This is a teaser of some of the drawings (all in black ballpoint pen), many of which will be recent (because all my “art” worth sharing has already been seen online).

So keep an eye out! There’s actually more than one announcement to be made, but only when the time is right!