Javier A. Robayo's Blog, page 5

My First Press Release for Author's Day!!!

Local author Javier Robayo will launch his new novel My Two Flags on Saturday, June 15, 2013 at the downtown Fairfield University Bookstore just in time for Flag Day and Father’s Day.FAIRFIELD, CT/MAY 14, 2013On Saturday, June 15, 2013 author Javier Robayo will meet and greet customers at the downtown Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06824 (203) 255-7756 and sign copies of his new novel My Two Flags…a classic immigrants’ tale full of poetic prose that will tug at...

I. Author. 006

   I'm willing to bet we all remember the first time. I bet we can all picture that moment exactly as it happened. You know the first time. Remember?
  Remember how you smiled even as you desperately hoped to control the urge to giggle thanks to the large butterflies, the size of Mothra that beat their wings in your stomach? Remember how your hands turned ice cold and shook in anticipation? Remember how you prayed you wouldn't make a fool of yourself when you knew ther...

First Review!

   
Editor gave you her blessing and sighed with relief, probably even ran for the nearest bar to celebrate like it's her birthday. (She deserves it after what correcting all those mental, grammatical, and developmental errors you put her through) Check.
Cover agreed. Check.
Identifiers. Check.
Pricing. Check.
Promotion. Check.
Release. Check.
   And here's where the fun begins. The part of the process when your novel is out of your hands, out of your safe circle of readers (safe...

I. Author. 005

   Sixth grade in Ecuador was the last step of the elementary ladder. Classes were far more demanding. Homework took longer and exams were tougher. Teachers harped on us about our handwriting and overall presentation with renewed emphasis. Quite annoying, really.
   It also meant longer essays in Composition class.
   I've always wondered how teachers coordinated their lesson plans, for the presence of a certain theme influenced the topics of study, especially betw...

I. Author. 004

   Francisco Palacios, one of my best pals in the fourth grade was
all smiles after winning top prize in our Mother's Day card contest. Mr. Lopez couldn't say enough about the glitter rainbow, the rose petal red lettering, and the overall creativity of the piece.
   For my part...let's just say that good old Elmer's glue and I got into a major fight...and I lost.    Badly.   I gently squeezed the tube but a plug of dried gum kept it from flowin...

The Cover Story

   Whoever said not to judge a book by its cover, obviously never tried to interest anyone in a book.
   The cover is the first contact a potential reader has so it's in the authors' best interest to employ something eye-catching, alluring, an image that will keep the person from seeing anything else but their book.
   For my latest novel, My Two Flags, I wanted a simple, yet telling canvas to start. After several weeks of examining designs, I looked down at one of...

I. Author. 003

 
Abdon Calderon, a young lieutenant who died in the Ecuadorian War of Independence in 1822, was my first superhero.
   The story goes that cannon shots took out both his legs and one arm, but Calderon continued holding up the flag. The story had it that even when his other arm was blown off, he held the staff with his teeth as life ebbed from him.
   My fourth grade teacher, Mr. Lopez, often told us similar stories, but Calderon was his favorite. He was so passionate a...

Choice

   "It's 3am."
   Solitude is an old friend, one who likes to open the doors in the hallways of my mind. Some doors lead to the past while others are no more than an empty canvas awaiting the strokes of a brush.
   One or two lead nowhere. In fact, they are mirrors upon which I see today. This moment. Right now. 3am.
   "Aren't you afraid?"

   Jack Canfield once wrote: Everything you want is on the other side of fear. Fear evokes one of two r...

I. Author. 002

   Nearly every childhood memory of my father involves a book. On weekends, I'd wake up to find him frowning at the pages of a book. Sometimes, he laughed. Other times, I'd hear him sigh longingly. 
   At ten, I had no idea why. None of the books he read contained a single picture. Sometimes, even the cover had nothing more than a few lines of text. Boring.
   I recall a particular Sunday when the city lost power, which often happened, and Dad and I sat in the...

I. Author. 001

    Beginnings

   My mother lost the title of "Greatest Storyteller" I bestowed upon her when I was finally able to read Red Riding Hood. At first, I was outraged the tale involved some talking wolf that somehow tricked the heroine with her impersonation of her grandmother. 
   Where were the dwarfs Mom had guide Red through the enchanted forest, where they met the Cheshire cat, and had tea with three fairies, who watched over a princess's slumber? ...