Broken Seashells

 

 

 

 

Broken seashell on the surface

I don’t want to be a burden

But may I sit with you

And listen to your story?

 

You tell me of your grand adventures

And how amazing the world was

You tell me of how you were called beautiful

And many would admire you 

You tell me how storms would hit you and at first it was okay

But then the storms kept coming and battered you until you broke

You tell me how that first piece that broke off tore your life apart

And how it made the storms harder to withstand so eventually you gave up

You tell me how you let the current take your broken self

And landed on this beach with other broken shells

You tell me how the number of broken shells surprised you

But then remembered how you came to be

You tell me how so many would walk down the beach looking for beautiful shells

And you were never picked

You tell me how you wanted to be in a jar

A symbol of worthiness and beauty. 

You tell me how you longed to be seen

You tell me how you sank into the sand to be forgotten 

 

Well, my friend, you are not forgotten. I see you.

I do not see your brokenness but a journey.

I do not see your ugliness but your character.

I hear you. I hear the joy you experienced and the pain you suffered.

I hear the defeat in your voice and longing to be wanted. 

I am here to tell you, broken shell, that you are beautiful and wanted.

Come with me and share your story with the world. You are worthy.

 

 

Dedicated to the broken shells in the world: you are beautiful, you are wanted… you are worthy.

 

Pure Blood

Just a reminder that you can download my first book for FREE here.

 

Crazy in the World of Me

So I know I have mostly been MIA these past few months and I apologize immensely, but I can see the finish line of my Masters thesis, so once I pass that hurdle in life, I will re-appear in your lives.

In saying that, you can assume that my characters will be re-appearing in your lives as well. They have been pestering me in these last few weeks of my studies and demanding my time, which I cannot spare. Oh, goodness, the life of a writer. Why do they stare so? One character in particular, which you have not met yet, just sits next to me while I’m writing and finds something to do (sometimes it’s eating, or playing with a yo-yo, or twirling fire…oops! Spoiler!). Anyway, I don’t want them to go away, just to give me enough of my brain back to finish my thesis. Is that too much to ask for? Perhaps I will send them here:

Post Thesis (PT): I will continue with my vampire short story (found here), starting a new short story, giving more interviews with my characters, and finishing the second installment of the Pure Blood series. Lots of exciting things will be happening later this year and I hope you are anticipating some great stuff!

Pure Blood has been downloaded over 187 times as an e-book, which is beyond my expectation this soon. I hope everyone who has downloaded it has found it enjoyable and entertaining. The second book will follow shortly and be more ‘mature’, but still YA, I believe. Anyway, enjoy your time and remember that I am still alive somewhere, hanging on to whatever lifeline I can reach, until I crawl across that graduation ribbon.

 

A Place to Be

Today I would like to share with you a place where I enjoy going, mainly for a coffee or homemade muffin, but also just to ‘be’. What I mean by that is sometimes I feel I need to get out of the house and a walk simply doesn’t do it. Sometimes I just want to be somewhere. I don’t have to be doing anything (even though I end up doing something). I enjoy not having a plan or time restraints. So I thought I would share with you one of my favorite cafes, where I go to read, write, think, or work.

The name isn’t very creative (Bean Counter Cafe), but the atmosphere is pleasant, with a covered courtyard, indoor seating for rainy days, and outdoor seating for warm days. The coffee is good and the muffins are amazing. Even the background music is desirable, unlike some places that are too loud. I visit this cafe more than others in my neighborhood, which made me think of the reasons why.

Why does that cafe appeal to me more than others? So I made a list of the reasons why I love this cafe most and I encourage you to do the same for the place you go to the most.

Why I Love Bean Counter

1. Coffee
2. Close proximity to my house
3. Homemade Muffins!
4. Scenic
5. Variation of seating
6. Good lighting (necessary for writing)

So what are some reasons that you visit a place over and over? I realized while doing this list that the biggest reason for me is that I can walk there from my place. That appeals to me the most, because even if I find a cafe with better coffee, would I drive there everyday just to getaway? Probably not.

 

Pure Blood on iTunes

Holy crap on a cracker! You can now officially buy Pure Blood as an e-book on iTunes!!! Only $0.99! Just search ‘Pure Blood’ in the iTunes store under the ‘books’ section.

Feel free to write a review when you finish reading it!

 

New Cover for Pure Blood

Behold! The unveiling of my new cover!!!! Thank you, Fabian Parra and Hugo Rojas for designing this beautiful cover that depicts Pure Blood perfectly!

 

Slang, yo.

It is interesting how powerful slang can be. Just walking around, we hear slang words and phrases everywhere. It is quite common. However, we generally only hear it. When we read it in a newspaper or somewhere, it looks out-of-place.

When slang starts to appear in places and gets treated like a normal word, both written and spoken, then I may worry. Why is slang so powerful and influential to the spoken and written word?

But the more important question: Do we want to be known by our slang, by words that are only understood by other people within our country, or do we want to sound more professional and intelligent?

I do use slang, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of the slang I don’t use, because it just sounds… ugly. Why change something beautiful like language? Why butcher it to something that is unrecognizable? I have heard slang in my different countries and even in different languages. Here is an example:

When I first started learning Spanish, I wanted to learn because I thought it one of the most beautiful languages spoken. I still believe that. It has a magic about it that makes the tongue move like a dance. Exquisite. When I started meeting people from Spanish-speaking countries and travelling to those countries, I found that I got lost in a lot of the language. I was hearing a completely different language. That was because I had never learned the slang. But this Spanish was not beautiful to my ear. It was messy and rough, not the poetry that I dreamed of. It disappointed me greatly.

My point is this: Why do we let slang rule our language? Why does it make us so comfortable? Since when does using beautiful words together in a sentence make you sound “old-fashioned” or a “know-it-al”? Since when did we compromise our knowledge?

 

Stuck.

That is what I feel.

That is what I feel when I am here

                                                  there

Tearing at the flesh

                        fighting for freedom

            neanderthal

                                     monkey

brains melt, cook

                        d

                          o

                             w

                                n

               into a buttery

bowl of grits…

 

Escaping into the darkness

              into the abyss

             into the corner of creativity

a desk.

           it sits there, homely,

             a pallid creature creates

                       mindless scribbles

                                  as crumbled papers make mountain ranges.

 

Dreams coming True

I was surprised yesterday with the most wonderful gift: the ocean. After telling me to meet him at a certain place at a particular time, I made my way by train to the unknown destination. While reading a good book, I noticed out of the corner of my eye the thing that I had been longing for all these months. The calm ocean pulled the train, teasing me to touch its frigid waters. When the train got to its last stop, I got off to feel the warm embrace of the man I love while the wind whipped around us. He smiled, his eyes full of surprises, and led me to the place I was hoping: the beach. We walked on the coarse sand and talked for hours, wanting only to be in that place, and I realized in that moment, that it is possible to have everything you always wanted.

Me sorprendió ayer con el regalo más maravilloso: el océano. Después de decirme que lo encontrara en un lugar determinado en un momento determinado, me dirigía en tren hacia el destino desconocido. Durante estoy leyendo un buen libro, me di cuenta por el rabillo del ojo lo que yo había estado esperando durante todos estos meses. El mar en calma sacó el tren, burlándose de mí para tocar sus aguas frígidas. Cuando el tren llegó a su última parada, me bajé a sentir el cálido abrazo del hombre que amo, mientras el viento azotaba a nuestro alrededor. Él sonrió, sus ojos llenos de sorpresas, y me llevó al lugar que estaba esperando: la playa. Caminamos a la arena gruesa y hablamos durante horas, esperando sólo para estar en ese lugar, y me di cuenta en ese momento, de que es posible tener todo lo que siempre quiso.

 

Cheese and a Can of Coke

What do I say on days I have no ideas? Well, it has been a busy week, for sure. I woke up Monday and spent the whole day writing. I finished around seven pages, which I consider productive, even though I didn’t work on anything on my PhD. yikes!

On Tuesday, I went into work and then afterward went to the showgrounds, which reminded me more of a carnival with lots of cows. It was fun, though! I got to pet baby piggies, watch fireworks, and have some free wine. The only problem? The trains stopped running at midnight and I didn’t know, so I had to call a taxi to get home… I always hate paying for taxis… so bloody expensive. 🙂

Today I slept in for a looong time, which hasn’t happened in a while, and I am about to start on my studies that I need to get done. It seems like a lovely day… perhaps I will go for a walk too!

Oh, and if you are wondering about my title… 🙂 Most of my inspiration from my titles comes from conversations I have with friends, my characters, or myself. They are mostly random and make no sense and, therefore, wouldn’t make sense if I tried to explain them. 🙂 So I will just let your imagination enjoy what they mean and where they come from.