Javier A. Robayo's Blog, page 7

Newtown

     I drove to Newtown in the rain...        I'm a writer and so I must write.  I can't help it.  It's ingrained in every molecule of my being and tonight, I want to write, but this won't be just any piece of writing.  No book review or writing anecdote.  No simile or metaphor   I'm not writing tonight as a writer.  I'm just writing because it's the only way I can cope with the tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementar...

Patience

   Patience.  Aside of understanding, patience is arguably the most difficult of all human arts.  We are eager to "get there" from an early age.  We spend most of our lives making up an endless list of goals and overwhelm ourselves to the point of not knowing which to attain first.   In writing, patience is not only helpful, it is absolutely essential.   By definition, patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering with...

Lewis (An Interview)

   Lower Thames Street follows the Old River into London.  Like many of the streets in the timeless city, the harmony between old and new has to be seen to be believed.  I walk on the blue stones marveling at my surroundings.  
   In just a few moments, I'm meeting with Lewis Bettford, one of the driving forces behind The Gaze, and The Next Chapter.  
   At the junction of Thames and the end of Monument Street, the Walrus and The Carpenter is en...

Tony, an Interview from one author to another

   Only the evergreens provide a semblance of life in the late fall landscape.  Although I've yet to see snow, I can feel it in the brisk air coming off the Connecticut River.  Haddam seems unaffected by the passage of time, a town where homes built in the early 1800's still stand proud and majestic.  
   I let my rental crawl over the swing bridge just slow enough to take in the view before crossing into East Haddam.  It takes quite the effort to concen...

Validation

  The life of an Indie author is not all peaches and cream.  It's not exactly a complete and utter struggle either, but the joggling can be incredibly overwhelming.  Most of us keep a day job, have a business, have kids, a husband, a wife, even a pet.     Not everyone understands the convoluted rhythms of an Indie author.  We are all dreamers at heart, otherwise we wouldn't be creating people and settings while complicating the ever-loving crap out of our ow...

Surge

      Life can get pretty dark sometimes.  We trip and fall or we fail to duck from some incoming roundhouse punch that flattens us to within an inch of our lives.  And then, with the right inspiration, we surge.   One of the most difficult things to do is letting go.  We find comfort in habits, even in bad ones.  It takes a lot of courage and strength to shed one life and go into another one, veiled by a fog of uncertainty.    ...

Apology

   This blog is all about the writing process and the evolution of an author.  As many of you know, it's not always a step forward.  There are several setbacks, and one of them is the reason for this post.
   Some time ago, another author asked to read THE GAZE.  When the author was through, I received an email like no other. 
   Thankfully (I think), I was given a lot of credit for my writing mechanics and other elements that may have softened...

9/11 Tribute from THE GAZE

Writing a novel pulls many things out of your heart and mind, even your soul.  THE GAZE happens to be one of those novels and I took the opportunity to add things that touched my life.  I remember exactly where I was on that Tuesday morning.  I remember the fear and anger that dominated my thoughts that entire day.  Perhaps as a writer, I wanted to remind a reader about those events in the spirit of never forgetting 9/11.  Here's that tribute, in the words of Samantha...

Gwen (an Interview)

  Western Pennsylvania offers a serene setting in the fall.  Mild temperatures and brisk winds bring with them shorter, but cooler days.  The small town of New Engburgh is picturesque enough to bespeak of the Pennsylvania of old, yet sprinkled with enough modern touches thanks to the evolution of the local college. 
   I'm on my way to talk to the one and only Gwen Amaya, one of the memorable characters from my two novels, THE GAZE and THE NEXT CHAPTER.
   The...

My Two Flags (an excerpt)

Summer sun...This alone is a new experience for me.  The heat is intense, the humidity oppressive and there is no getting away from it unless you roam the malls to mooch off their A/C.  I must be out of my mind to be riding a bicycle today.  The heat makes me miss Quito’s mild weather more than the infinite stream of memories playing in my mind.I make my way to the Derby-Welkerton Bridge before the blues get the best of me.  I have the nighttime for that, and I’ve been a l...