I Completed A 20-page Graphic Novel!

Month of February was both a difficult month emotionally, mentally, and physically for me.

I won't get too much into one of the reasons but I can talk about the other reason: I worked on a 20-page graphic novel! It was a rush job as I only had roughly two months to complete it.

Instead of using my special micro nib pens for inking, I decided to use my double-head black designer markers instead. It gave a children's book feel. I drove this idea home especially that I used a junior high school-aged Latin-American boy as protagonist.

I had my mom and five co-workers read the graphic novel and received only positive and heartfelt feedback!

The application package had four deadlines and, on my part, I completed the cover sheet, my bibliography, a resume, and the work sample (graphic novel)! I already had an appointment with a professor colleague who worked on my letter of recommendation. I only have one letter left. That deadline isn't until the first day of next month.

I posted cropped pages of the comic on my Instagram (@Handdrawnbycarmenjr) since it's in the submission process.

Please wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed!

Application Life is Hard

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.

We had a death in the family and I'm currently out-of-state. In the interest of privacy, it was a sibling's spouse who passed away.

I have also been making changes to certain writing goals and choices. I've decided to make the most recent fellowship I applied for my last and just focus on residencies, grants, and the occasional writers contests.

What's a fellowship*? It usually involves a deeply personal packaging of information that may contain: a resume/CV, a bibliography of one's publications/credits/clips, (often) letter(s) of recommendation, and the work sample (in whatever shape the stringent requirements/submission guidelines state it must be).

Why apply to a fellowship? Well, it's as deeply individual and unique to each person. What I can tell you is that being awarded one, the newly 'minted' fellow has the ability to travel, to teach at a number of institutions, to take part in government programs and grassroots organizations. Now you might ask: but can't you do that WITHOUT ACTUALLY APPLYING for a FELLOWSHIP? Well, it depends on what goals one has in mind. Some of mine are to get funding for specific kinds of research, to travel broadly according to particular projects, and for me to promote myself as a scholar in certain pop culture circles.

I have been applying to these fellowships for almost 3 years, before and after graduate school, and now I think it's time to take a break and concentrate on another aspect of my writing career. So there is that.

In the meantime, take care of yourselves, Dear Readers, and continue to 'watch this space...'

*I'm speaking on writing/creative arts fellowships ONLY.

Fellowships** are as complex and diverse as the people who need and/or desire them. And depending on its industry, a fellowship will follow those particular requirements, rules, and guidelines for applying.

**To learn more about what fellowships are and what they can do for you, check out https://www.profellow.com

A lot of work... A lot of intensity... 2017

Now that there aren't as many visitors coming by, and one of my siblings and nieces have concluded their visit, I have to get back into the mode of filling out applications and revising submissions.

It's been on my mind for days that I ended up with a recurring headache. But I must soldier on because what I need to apply for may turn out to be a game-changer.

We shall see.

New phone, new chapter

For anyone who knows me, I am a total tech geek - especially for what it says on my Twitter profile - and revel in using technology to its fullest. But I am in no way a trailblazer or pioneer, trying to bring new concepts into existence. 

Rather, I am that technical person who will learn about a software/hardware inside out, understand how it must be upgraded somewhat, and then use the HECK outta it! I will become fiercely loyal to that particular update, version, and refuse to change it in any way because I become so comfortable with the way the tech is. 

My mother laughed when my last cellphone died on me because, unlike other people, friends, a certain sibling, I don't lose my phones, I don't shatter their screens, drop accidentally in toilets, etc. As a matter of fact, when I bring in previous phones to get the upgrades, sales clerks often express awe that my phones are in pristine shape, almost as the day I purchased/contracted it!

Why I was laughed at is because I do EVERYTHING on my cellphones. From the moment I changed my Nokia to a Sony Ericsson, and discovered WAP (the earliest internet connection for phones), I have used my next Sony Ericssons, Samsungs, LGs, and even this HTC to type stories, blog, film short videos at cultural events, network, participate in forums, surveys, done market research, update blogs, synch with desktops and netbooks so I could continue my web designing projects, etc. 

And did I mention NOTES!? Ever since students at the college where I work introduced me to a certain note app, I've been a beast! I can actually say that the Samsung that died and this HTC literally helped me through graduate school! When I'm at work, and my mom, who's retired, negotiates phone deals for me, she has to go down the list of all the things I do with my phone to the customer representatives. 

Right now, I'm in a bit of a dilemma: this phone needs an upgrade but my provider no longer gives upgrades, rather, one must purchase a phone all together. Yet, the problem does not really remain on price, but, more so on what type of phone a crazed tweeter, blogger, writer, and author can use?

I'm still doing research on this, but please, if any of you dear readers have any suggestions, please, please, as many of my favorite YouTube celebrities would say: leave your comments in the box below, and happy reading, writing, and drawing!