Breakfast Tacos

Are breakfast tacos food for thought?

I think so.

Whenever I can, I treat myself with two or three egg and [chorizo, bacon, potato, name your own] tacos. As they travel down to my stomach, ideas pop up in my head. It gets better. When I finish my delicious tortilla and egg delicacies, I feel like napping, and writing too. That's when I pen some of my best work.

This morning I went to a new place and stomached three gigantic tacos. When I was done, I felt like vomiting. Mhh. Why not write about vomit? Ideas!

- The FBI chases a dude who vomits radioactive material. Mhhh. No.
- A dude chases the FBI because they vomited on him. Nope.
- An alien made of vomit lands on planet Earth, and chases the FBI and the radioactive vomit dude. Interesting...
- Radioactive zombies rule Earth! Two words: chee sy.
- Zombies, FBI dudes, vomit, and videotapes. Nah.
- Zombies, dreams, stomach, tacos, egg, dlsl;a khajh 76 gsaj.

Yawn.

Time for a nap.

Caffeine Distraction

Do your characters talk to you?

Mine don't.

They scream.

That's a good thing, I guess. But other voices talk to me. Yeah, I know. You're thinking, "This dude is crazy." No, I'm not. Well, just a little.

Who are these people? you may ask. Actually, they're real persons who talk, talk, and talk when I'm writing. They are like the people who clap in the middle of a Classical concert. So, so distracting.

I was writing in a coffee shop when one young girl, let's call her Latte, said, "You've seen the latest? It's so, you know... WOW. So good." That didn't make sense at all but of course, that ignited my curiosity, so I listened.

"I didn't, 'cause I was with you-know-who, and he was so handsome, and cute, and--" said the other girl, who I'll call Java.

"I know!" Latte interrupted. She sighed. "I wish I had a boyfriend like yours. He's so--"

"Awwww," said Java, staring at the window, pointing outside. "Look at the doggie. So cute. I want to punch him."

Latte sipped whatever she was drinking, looked at the sky, and moaned.

"I'll call him Cutie. Is he a beagle?" asked Java.

Latte looked down, facing Java. "Ohmygosh, my latte-marianno-frotte-lotte is so, so out of this world."

Difficult to follow, eh? This is my typical morning at the coffee shop.

I need to find another place to write. Oh, well.

This is what I have to stand just to get my daily dose of caffeine.

Information Overload

The voices yell, and it's so confusing.

"Buy, buy, buy," says one voice.

"Check my new stuff," says another.

A million more shout. I look around and see no one. No one. Where's everybody. Where do these voices come from? I close my eyes. People breath and spit on my ears.

"Click here."

                                                             "Click there."

                            "Read this."

"Amazing."

I can't type. I open my eyes. My heart beats faster than Morse code. Calm down. Calm down. I slam the laptop screen shut.

The voices go away.

I run my hands through my hair, take a deep breath, and think of nothing.

Darkness.

      Warmth.

               Silence.

                         Peace.

The idea is now clear. I open the laptop, but the voices come back. I type as fast as my tired fingers can until my story is complete.

I stand and walk away.

Tomorrow will be another day.

Musical Writing

Do you listen to music while writing?

No? Well, I do.  =P

Music turns on the spark generator inside my head, igniting my imagination. I 'see' music, and it talks to me. "Write, Gerardo, write," it says in a perfect pitch.

Of course, it depends on the piece I'm listening. "Write until you brain bleeds, MF!" other type of music tells me.

Months ago, when I was listening to Mozart's Requiem Mass, a masterpiece of monstrous proportions, an idea hit me:

    What if...
    What if music...
    What if music created fear?
    What if people were afraid of the most beautiful music in the world?

That's how 'Merkherm's Symphony' started, and a novel was born. It's just an example of how music influences my writing.

I also like to explore and in my constant search for uniqueness, I stumbled upon a collaboration of two talented musicians:
    Gizella - http://soundcloud.com/gizella
    Mizimo - http://soundcloud.com/mizimo
Their mysterious sound is soothing, unique, strange--idea sparking type of music.

I cannot stop listening to their tunes.

¡Viva la música!

Pozole Rules

Muses are crazy.

Mine is hungry.

She pushed a plate of smoky pozole to me and said, "Escribe!" Yeah, my muse is a hot Mexican angel who loves Mexican food. And she always talks to me en Español, but demands me to write in English. I never understand her.

Whatever.

Guessing she would like me to write about pozole, I penned a Science Fiction short story instead. She frowned at me, and I looked the other way, saying, "Ni modo," which loosely translates to, "Couldn't help it."

She's not happy, but I am, because the angel-from-another-planet and pozole combination works wonders.

Have you ever tried pozole soup? Learn about this exquisite Mexican dish:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozole

What's intriguing about this soup? You better try it!

Check your local authentic Mexican restaurant, and if you don't have one in your area, well, ni modo, which in this case translates to shrugging, frustration, and sighing.