Puff Pieces by Adrian: Summer off from Writing

Monday, June 9, 2014

Summer off from Writing

So here we are. I'm three books in now. LA Ninja I and II are written and published. No more edits to come. Pumps is done. That one was way out in left field for me, mostly because I'm a straight guy who writes gangster/ninja stories. So the fact that I turned out a chicklit book that has received accolades from industry professionals is exhilarating. I still can't believe that one. lol... By the way, the fact that a story like Pumps would be labeled as chicklit does not bother me in one bit. I think it's cool, because I know the main audience for that story would be the cool girls and fashionistas aka hot girls. And hey, that is alright by me lol. After all, I married a hot fashionista.

Anyways, something funny you might realize if you read LA Ninja I was that I changed some of the names of the gangs are characters. Apparently there was too much coincidence to real life gangs, as if that was something easy to actually keep up with. Upon my research, I've found that there are way too many gangs to possibly keep up with, but I did my best.

I just want to say one last thing about what LA Ninja has become. For one, I am inspired. Those stories have turned out amazing. I never intended them to go that way. I never intended for things to go so shittily for Gabe all the time. It just happened. I'm not yet sure how I'm going to get him out of the mess he's in, but I surely can't end it bad. No matter what happens, and yes, I'm totally biased, but these stories should be movies. I would love to see LA Ninja as a movie. Right?

Speaking of ninja moves...I was recently checking out some old ninja movies that I used to watch as a kid in the 80s. They suck! lol... No offense to Golan Globus or Sho Kosugi, who seemed to be in most of them, but they were not good. Bad plots, bad acting, outlandish themes or sequences, like in Ninja III Domination when the bad ninja gets blown to smithereens in the beginning, or the sword flies on its own. It goes on and on like that, but I wonder why nobody made a better movie? Well it's my dream that LA Ninja becomes one of the better ninja movies. And with the resurgence of the 80s, would a resurrection of ninja movies be called for?

Well that's that for ninjas, for now. I am going to be writing for awhile. I'm taking the summer off from that. Hopefully you guys agree with me about the LA Ninja, and hopefully you guys think it rocks. Let me know either way. -Adrian

No comments:

Post a Comment

Revolution of the Soul. A Mission Statement.

I am by default, and through no fault of my own, different. I’m not out cruising the boulevard on the weekends, blasting oldies-but-goodies with the homies. I am also not listening to rock en Espanol, speaking in Spanish-only with my friends. I could fit into either stereotype perfectly though, and to an outsider, I probably appear to be from either or both worlds. I have brown skin, which is pretty much all it takes. It’s not that simple though, as others like me surely understand. I speak some Spanish but I also speak perfect English. I went to college. I love hamburgers and fries, and hip-hop, and alternative music. I have simply integrated into American culture from the start, because I was born here, and because I wanted to.

I’m glad that I’m not still stuck in Mexico somewhere, growing up a third world existence, which statistically would have been the case, had my familia never come here. But I am glad to have come from a country and peoples with such a rich and vibrant history. There are many reasons having such a heritage is a good thing, and I am proud to be a part of it. I am glad to have been born here in America, and happy to be part of this system. I’m happier yet that I didn’t grow up as a cholo gang-banging, tagger, too-cool-for school type of guy, even though I’ve had plenty of chances, given my surroundings. That subculture is not all bad either, depending on the level of involvement and the choices one makes. In other words, you can look the part without being a thug, or a social, or immigrant, or anything else, que no? This is true of all life.

So even though I am different, I am by no means alone, and I know this. The problem for me is that I’m not seeing enough representation out there in the media. I’m not seeing a lot of works written, or filmed, for people like me. It annoys me, too, for a lot of political reasons, because our image is grossly misrepresented. Sure the gangbanger cholos are fun to include in film, because violence sells. However, that only perpetuates a false image. These days, it seems as though everyone in this country sees us either as cholos or as immigrants that refuse to assimilate, legal or not. This angers me because we are so many different things including a multitude of diversity within our own subculture. It’s pretty frickin’ beautiful, if everyone only knew…

Either way, I decided to make the changes I wanted to see, on my own. I’m writing stories for me, for you, and for everyone else, and my main characters are all Latino, and not just Mexican-Latino either. My stories are not about quinceaneras or growing up as a pocho in high school. They are not about crossing the border, or starting any revolutions. The only revolution I write about is the Revolution of the Soul. My stories are meant to entertain and inspire people, and hopefully many of you will relate to them in one way or another, and see yourselves there in them, wherever that may be.