SOMEBODY LIKES MY BOOKS

You really know you’re a writer when you have these needs.

First, you need to write. Duh, but it’s amazing how many wannabes I’veknown over the years beat themselves up trying to become a writer withoutwriting.

Next you need to get published. If I haven’t been published in awhile, I get depressed. This year I’m feeling good, with a Guerrilla Mural of a Siren’s Song: 15 Gonzo Science Fiction Stories, “Lost in Trumptopia”in Our Creative Realidades: A Nonfiction Anthology, and (a drum rollplease) “A Wild and Woolly Road Trip on Mars”—a new Paco Cohen, Mariachi ofMars story–coming soon in Chicanofuturism Now.

If I have a long dry spell, it can get pretty grim. I have to remind myself that I actually have a career. Bloggingand social media help, but there’s nothing like getting published. Talk aboutaddiction.

But, still, that isn’t enough. You need to have people read andreact to it. It's nice to be called a genius, but I even like it when someonegets pissed off or offended.

And then, oh yeah, there’s making money, but that's a whole otherpendejada.

I’ve been nervous about Guerrilla not getting “real”reviews, but meanwhile, I’ve been getting proof that people like it.

Like Jan Karlo, one of my students from the Gonzo ScienceFiction, Chicano Style class He was impressed enough to go on to read Cortezon Jupiter, which was based on the title story of my collection and do anInstagram story on it. He also did one about Guerrilla.

I was delighted and put them both on Facebook and Twitter. Andhere at Mondo Ernesto.

Self-promotion. It becomes a way of life after a while.

It also makes me feel good, in the mood to get back to making myPaco Cohen stories into a novel . . .

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