who am i

Behind the Books: Sharing Myself, The Writer

by SFortuneAuthor / January 16, 2021

I could tell you any and everything about my characters.

Who they are, why they do what they do, what makes them tick. They’ve been with me for the better part of the last two decades, and I know them so intimately.

But if you ask me about myself, I hesitate.

A post I read today on a fellow writer’s blog mentioned that she has a tendency to shrink into the shadows rather than promote herself. She just wants to focus on the books.

“What does it matter who wrote them?” she asks. “Once you enjoy them, why care about me?”

And to a point, I agree with her. I myself tend to push my books out ahead, and hide behind them. I don’t really want to answer too many questions about myself. Let the readers assume, right?

But on the other hand, for the last few books I read that I REALLY enjoyed, I must admit that I sought out who the writers were. I stalked them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I checked out their websites. I subscribed to whatever there was to subscribe to. I became an online fan.

All this to say, I’m being a little hypocritical by hiding myself.

You have to be vulnerable to connect with others.

So I thought, for a change, I would write a blog post about myself.

Here are 5 (somewhat) random facts about me:

1. I’m from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.

I state this with some irony because it’s my go-to fact, despite the fact that sometimes I feel very un-Trini. Of course there is no one thing that represents Trinidad, but what we showcase to the world is along the lines of: beautiful Carnival, great beaches, vibrant music, and an island paradise — with some politics, corruption and crime thrown in, of course.

I’ve never felt connected to many “staples” of my country. Sure, I love a good pot of Trini food (and I will likely die without my doubles) but beyond that, I can live on the outside. I have, before, and perhaps someday will again. I want to travel and see the world, and I intend to!

Still, there’s something about belonging, that no one can take away from you. A sigh of relief, a release of breath as the plane touches the runway: HOME.

There’s just something intangible about knowing you are owed some respect and resources just for being born somewhere. No matter where I go, no one can take that from me.

2. I am a recovering perfectionist.

I don’t know how else to be. As a child, at school, I always had to do the best. I was top of the class. I got skipped. I was Headgirl. I was President of things, Chairperson of things, blah blah. I was Supergirl, academically. But it takes a mental toll.

I was a national scholarship winner, and while I was studying I was so stressed and obsessed with doing the best at everything that I didn’t fully enjoy the amazing opportunity I had to study abroad. I drove myself to the brink of physical and mental illness, and that level of stress never really goes away, even as an adult. I still struggle today, because back then I simply did not enjoy life and take advantage of the full experience.

It is my greatest regret — not enjoying life a bit more, in my youth.

Not living in the moment. Not understanding the importance of stopping to treasure those little moments. Life is about so much more than just book smarts. Now that I’m a mom, I plan to make sure my son has a good balance of both.

3. I became a web designer by accident.

I chose an optional course in web journalism, and fell for web development. I fell hard.

Websites are the perfect mix of creativity (design and layout), writing (content creation) and the simplicity of perfection.

Code languages have to be precise. A single dot can throw everything off. A pixel can make a difference.

I loved it, loved it, loved it. I still do. I’m not formally trained as a web developer (maybe someday I will be), but in the meanwhile I’m enjoying fiddling with code, and I get excited whenever I troubleshoot and figure out something myself. That’s a special kind of joy that can’t be put into words.

4. I can’t stand character descriptions that are really, really unnecessary at the time.

For example, “The bomb exploded. Her red, pouty lips fell open and her green steely eyes narrowed as she flipped her blond hair back.”

Come on. Just… come on. Surely there was another moment in time to describe the character! Who cares about what she looks like, post-bomb? Seriously! Seriously!

My own practice is to slip it in casually while describing something else, and to make the sentence about much, much more than just the description itself.

Here are two examples with my own practice of “world-building with description”:

“She’s a Daddy’s girl, although she has my eyes, my nose, my smile, my wild hair of curls and my complexion with the same chaotic blend of races in her cherubic little face.” (Climbing The Walls)
“While our dad and our older brother Stefan sport the visibly darker skin tone, dark eyes and black hair of the Latin ancestors linked to our surname Galeota; Lee and I both take after our mom with slightly paler skin and lighter hair – a dull, dark-blondish-brown blend of colour that I usually toss some highlights into every few months.” (Pandora’s Poison).

5. I see spelling and grammar errors… everywhere.

Mind you, I’m sure I make mistakes myself, and every single time I re-read my books I find something to change, some typo, a misplaced comma, SOMETHING.

But I’m appalled at the sheer AMOUNT of errors that exist in the world around me.

I am annoyed when people consistently don’t re-read their emails and frequently have terrible errors in them.

What drives me the most crazy though, are errors on signs of any kind, but most specifically billboards. Anywhere where there are literally less than 50 words, and someone didn’t care enough to spellcheck!

Yeah, I’m that girl. I wish I wasn’t, but I can’t help it.

I’m passionate about words! But I guess that’s a good thing for a writer, right?