Fellow FDU alum and prolific author Nina Foxx has asked me to participate in Blog in the Round. What is that you ask? It’s a way for you and me to get to know authors and find out what they are working on. Nina was asked by her friend and author Melissa Monteilh, who was asked by KL Brady, who was asked by Trice Hickman. I’m supposed to answer four questions about my writing process, and then pass it on to other authors.
What am I writing/working on?
I have so many different writing projects going on, but right now I’m focusing on two specific pieces: a series of short stories based in La Descubierta (in the Dominican Republic) and a series of “impossible love” stories that I started years ago. The former was born during my last trip home to visit family. I fell in love with La Descubierta so much that I decided to obtain dual citizenship and eventually move out there! The latter I’m trying to finish in order to submit them to a couple of literary magazines that I think will be a good fit. Other than that, I spend my “writerly” time planning and curating events.
How does my writing/work differ from others in its genre?
How many Dominican authors, writing about the Dominican experience, do you know that aren’t named Julia Alvarez or Junot Diaz? Right. I think I have a fresh perspective on the stories I choose to write, because I see them through the eyes of a bilingual, first-generation American born of Dominican parents, raised in a predominately African-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, but taught in the ways of folks back home. “There’s nothing new under the sun,” of course, but I know that they way I tell a story, because of how and where I was raised, is pretty unique.
Why do I write what I do?
You know, at first I used to just write because I liked it. Then it became a necessity–too many thoughts in my head needed an outlet. But then, as I got more involved in the literary world in NYC and surrounding areas, I realized how even in 2014, it’s hard to find people like me represented in books. I was once a little girl looking for herself in a book, and I didn’t find what I was looking for until my 20s. I write what I do so that hopefully, some other girl (or boy) will know that she (or he) is visible. I see you!
How does my writing process work?
I’ve always been a night owl, so for the most part I get all of my tedious day-to-day stuff out of the way, make sure my kids are fed or whatever, put on a specific playlist and then open up which ever document I plan to work on. I always read the last page just to orient myself and get into the groove, then I sit back and let the characters dictate their stories to me while I type feverishly. Sometimes I’ll stop every few paragraphs to sing aloud, or even dance, or sometimes to tweet something funny that occurred while I was writing; I never just sit still and write for hours. It’s not in my nature to sit still. I have to move all the time. And then I’ll get back to my writing until I don’t hear the story in my head anymore. That’s when I know I’m done for the night. I finish off by reading what I wrote, making a few changes, if needed, and then shutting down.
Who’s next? I will be passing the torch to Erin Parks and Theresa Varela. Visit their blogs today!
xoxo
Raquel Ivelisse