Making Something of the Last Six Months

With the year half over, I thought it would be a good time to check in, especially because the first six months have felt slow publication-wise. At least that’s how it felt, though this is also how social media can sometimes make a person/writer feel. But like my wife often says, it’s about working on your internal sense of self and accomplishment and not about the external accomplishments you accumulate. Thus, this post is a mix of updates, reflection, and goal setting, which is basically every blog post I guess. I donʻt think itʻs exactly what my wife was talking about, but hey, itʻs something!

This past spring, I finished my first year of coursework for my PhD Program. I now have only two semesters of coursework, then exams, then on to the dissertation and defense which I’m already in process on. It’s probably been one of the most productive writing periods I’ve had. I wrote five or six new stories and experimented with many different types of POV and profluence. One story was published and received honorable mention in a national flash competition. Another was a finalist in a national short story competition. Two won first place in my college’s annual Creative Writing award competitions. Four of these stories are now in my collection manuscript/dissertation. 

In terms of my manuscript, I sent it out to a few agents and various local and national publishers. Though no agents bit, I received good feedback on my manuscript with comments more on the market for collections; to some degree, this is what I expected. Of all the agents listed in the most recent Writer’s Market, only a handful were even considering collections. Of the publishers I submitted to, two declined (though one offered advice for resubmission) and two accepted. I declined one of the offers and the press let me know that the offer stood should I reconsider (!). The manuscript now stands at eighteen stories (ten new and eight repubs) and 42,700 words. As the collection will serve as my dissertation, I plan to continue to work on it and look forward to its future.

As part of my coursework, I am also currently at work directing an oral history project on Local Literature in Hawaiʻi and the founding of Bamboo Ridge. I was fortunate to be asked by one of my mentors to participate in this important project and am excited about the possibilities. The initial set of interviews are wrapping up and we’re currently planning the next stage of interviews and the project’s future. The process itself has been challenging but very rewarding. 

Other things? I have a repub. scheduled to come out in the fall. It’s an exciting issue and one of the few that I know of focused on speculative literatures of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. Interestingly, another local publisher has decided to put out something similar. I’ve also been able to get some reading in and am enjoying two novels that I’ve been looking forward to. One, which I recently finished, ended up being a bit of a disappointment. However, I much admire the writer of the other one (a fellow local writer), so I have high hopes for it. I’m also hoping to get some more reading in and maybe start on another project. Last year, I wrote four chapters of a novel, but I think I’m going to give it up as I’ve lost motivation in its characters and content. Still, one of my goals is to review it again and see if I can at least get to the end of the fifth chapter. At that point, it may be able to live on as a novella (yay to no wasted work). 

Other goals for the rest of summer and the rest of the year?

*Start on something new (I recently thought of a novel premise I might sketch out). 

*Try to participate in Kumu Kahua’s playwriting contest they’ve been running

*Try to place one or two more stories (one experimental and focused on addiction and friendship written with a Choose Your Own Adventure motif and the other focused on vigilantism in Hawaiʻi)

*Finish up a set of transcripts I’ve been working on

*Start on my contract renewal 

*launch my college’s literary journal that I helped create

*Work, work, work

Oh yes, and at various points, do nothing, feel good about it, and hope that FromSoftware releases the DLC for Elden Ring by the end of the year. Thankfully, God of War 2 will be out regardless. 

And that’s it for now. I leave you with a picture of this Starry Night LEGO puzzle my wife and I worked on. Yay to summer. 

More eventually,

Donald

Kīpuka is here!

Aloha all,

This week was the official launch of Kipuka: Finding Refuge in Times of Change, a special collection I helped to edit with Brenda Kwon, Meredith Enos, and Misty Sanico. We started on the issue in 2019, and it rose out of a need to reflect on and consider life in contemporary Hawaiʻi and the various challenges facing the communities here, and this question, “If nothing is static and everything changes, in what can we anchor?” 

It features an amazing collection of authors and artists. You can learn more and order the book here. Safari users, you may want to try Firefox or mobile.

To help promote the issue, Misty and I went on HPR. You can listen to the interview here.

Also check out the recording of the official launch at the Hawaiʻi Book and Music Festival:

Routines

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about daily practice. Since I started writing, I’ve never followed the advice of writing every day or set a goal of x words a day. In terms of my process, I’ve always worked slowly, letting the ideas/story/character/conflicts proof in between writing and editing (To keep my focus and bring me back into the flow, I write and edit at the same time, reading aloud and making edits every time I return to the story). So, it may be days or weeks in between writing sessions. There’s plenty of “writing” going on during those breaks, but it’s all notes, outlines, and post-its.

However, the pandemic changed my perspective on this. Although to some degree I’ve always worked from home, having my partner also working from home and a more open schedule resulted in me leaning more on routines to maintain my mental health. I started going to sleep and waking up at the same time and creating a schedule for my day (with set times for teaching, grading, eating, and self care). I also made time for sunshine and exercise and began regularly mediating and keeping a gratitude journal. I also started to create more of a routine around writing.

Last year, this was more relaxed. After being solicited to submit for a themed publication, I began to think about new projects and new stories, writing like I did when I was working on my novel, completing a story (that’s gone through multiple drafts, edits, readings, and revisions) in about a month or two as opposed to six months or longer. This summer, after completing a draft manuscript of my short story collection, I started to brainstorm ideas for a new project and finally decided to try writing 400 words a day.

I mainly did this to see what what would happen and also to force me to sit down and write. True story: I prefer short stories (long-form) over novels. For me, it’s about control and concision. I also like the weight placed on the structure and elements. My novel actually began as a series of episodes that functioned as individual stories as well as a complete narrative. This changed over time and through the editing process prior to publication. Thanks to this experience, I’ve gained a better understanding of novel writing. I still treat my chapters the same way, as individual arcs working to advance the character, conflict, and events within the chapter (so as individual stories) as well as important moments in the larger narrative arc of the story, however the latter’s importance is just clearer to me, which makes the planning and execution much, much smoother.

So, what happened? It went better than I thought and I was able to produce much more than I thought I would be able to. But as expected, as time went on, my motivation started to diminish and life began to complicate this particular routine. Sometimes when the former happens, I ask myself, is it the project? Perhaps the idea just doesn’t have the potential I thought it did or works better in another form or as part of something else. This wasn’t the case. After reflecting, I realized that for my process, x amount of words a day can work, but what’s more important is that I’m working on something writing related every day. For me, this is more practical and realistic. It’s also more conducive to the way my mind works and processes.

For example, yesterday, I spent time with my partner, worked on my blog, and did some self-care activities. I didn’t write anything new, but I did final edits (hopefully) on a story I recently completed, did some preliminary research for the next chapter, and outlined story goals for that chapter (what the chapter would accomplish in regard to conflict, character, and narrative).

Today, I will outline the chapter and maybe write the first paragraphs (or at least the first line). Tomorrow, I’ll see where those paragraphs or that first line takes me. This is my new routine, and hopefully by the end of the summer, I’ll have the first third of my manuscript. If not, that’s cool too.

Thanks for reading.

p.s. what’s your writing process/routine like?

Updates

Honestly, I’m pretty terrible at blogging (as evidenced by this blog). I don’t like to write about myself and the self-promotion aspect of being a writer in the age of social media always makes me feel weary in a variety of ways, especially as it encourages some kind of imagined competition.

So yeah, I try not to indulge in that. It makes me self-conscious, more than I already am.

Still, as I made this website to be a hub of sorts, I wanted to provide some updates.

In terms of new publications, I have largely stepped back from submitting to compile a collection of short stories which I recently completed. It’s 14 stories now (around 35,000 words), about half of them new, the rest were written over the last ten years. Some were written while I was working on my novel while others were imagined during that time frame and/or written after. Because of this, the collection covers similar themes of addiction, family, and grief but these stories also cover gentrification, family history, identity, climate change, PTSD, houselessness, and militarization. Overall, I hope it captures a sense of what it’s like to live in Hawaiʻi today. So far, I’ve queried some agents and publishers and it’s being considered. Here’s to hoping.

Other than that, I did have a reprint published. It’s one of my favorites and was inspired by a Civil Beat article on sea-level rise. In this story, Waikīkī and much of the island is underwater, and the main character finds himself navigating the canals searching for his daughter. I love this story so much, I decided to use the premise to begin a larger work-in-progress, what may end up being another novel. I’ve got three chapters so far. We’ll see.

You can check out “Search the Waters” in NonBinary #23.

In addition, I co-edited a special issue of Bamboo Ridge. It’s an exciting issue and will be out in the fall (check out that author list). I don’t want to spoil it, but you can check out the cover below. You can pre-order it at Bamboo Ridge.

That’s all for now.

If you want more updates, random thoughts, and other nonsense, follow me @D_CarreiraChing.

Thanks for reading.

Bamboo Ridge @ Home

Now more than ever, we are reminded of the importance of connection and community. In the interest of fostering connection during this stressful time, Bamboo Ridge has launched a new “Bamboo Ridge @ Home” playlist, featuring writers reading their work and sharing positive messages. Check out the full playlist here (with more to come). You can also check out my reading here:

 

First pubs

Going through a box of old paperwork, tax forms, and other “important” papers, I discovered my first set of publications. My first publication was in Cirque: A Literary Journal for Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. It was one of maybe two stories I’ve written that’s not about Hawai‘i and was inspired by a song. It also came at a time when I had given up the novel I was writing (all 300 pages of it). Inspired by discussions in a Literatures of Hawai‘i course as well as by events/issues within my community (and discussions with my wife/editor), I decided to try to write something “local.” It was a mess, but with Danielle’s careful eye and one of my professor’s/mentor’s guidance, “Between Sky and Sea” eventually found its way into Hawai‘i Review (after being recently rejected by another pub). I had probably sent fifteen drafts to Eric and Darrell at Bamboo Ridge Press (my impatience and lack of experience publishing really showing at that time). When I wrote to withdraw it, I was surprised that they responded, letting me know that they wanted to publish it anyway. I was stunned, especially because it had always been a dream of mine to be in BR. Ten years later, I feel grateful and fortunate to still be writing, publishing, and helping others do the same.

 

New Stuffs

I’m slowly starting to write new stuff again and send it out. I’ve received a number of rejections, which is unfortunate. But thankfully, they’ve all been rather positive, with many editors providing feedback and encouraging me to let them know when I decide to submit again. And thus, I continue to submit, submit, submit (which is probably the most important part of the process other than the writing and revising, of course).

Some good news: I’ve got an excerpt from the manuscript I’m working on published in the new issue of Bamboo Ridge, which you can pick up here.

Also, Hawaii Pacific Review just published a flash fiction piece I wrote, which you can check out here.

As with much of my writing, both look at social issues in Hawaii. The first, the societal pressures facing teenagers and adolescents; and the second, the homeless sweeps, high cost of living in Hawaiʻi, and abandoned cars.

More soon,

D.

BETWEEN SKY and SEA reviewed in Sunday’s Honolulu Star Advertiser

Aloha everyone,

First of all, thank you to those that have visited my site and supported my work since I launched it last year and since I started writing a little over six years ago, especially everyone who picked up my novel over the last eight months.

I have been waiting with baited breath for reviews to come in, and it’s been so wonderful to personally hear from people who have experienced the story of the Teixeiras and their struggle in the wake of tragedy, addiction, and the complications of growing up local. As previously posted, last month I was excited and grateful to find out that BETWEEN SKY AND SEA had made Honolulu Magazine’s list of “must have” summer reads, and just this past Sunday I found out that my novel was reviewed in Sunday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser. If you don’t have access to the paper, I have attached a photo of the review below.

For me, more than the review itself, it’s the knowledge that the story is out there and breathing.  When it came to BETWEEN, this was an important part of why I wrote it, giving these characters and this story life.

If you have a reaction to share, please don’t hesitate to leave it below or message me directly at d.constructediting@gmail.com.

If you haven’t picked up BETWEEN SKY AND SEA yet, you can do so via my publisher (best price) here: http://www.bambooridge.com/storeitem.aspx?pid=110. It’s also available via Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Between-Sky-Sea-Familys-Struggle/dp/0910043930 and SPD: http://www.spdbooks.org/Products/9780910043939/between-sky-and-sea-a-familys-struggle.aspx.

Thank you all again.

More soon,

D.

Bamboo Ridge’s annual fundraiser: good food, plenty of wine, and great local reads.

On September 27th, Bamboo Ridge Press will be throwing their annual Wine & Words fundraiser at Mānoa Valley Theater. It promises to be an amazing night with good food, plenty of wine, and great local reads. In addition, the event will include a raffle featuring art from BR writers and artists, plus a rare first edition of BAMBOO RIDGE.

It’s also a very special event for me as it marks the first time that I will be reading from my  debut novel in Hawaiʻi.

Other readers include the always brilliant and inspiring Christy Passion, who will be reading from her visceral debut, STILL OUT OF PLACE, and BAMBOO RIDGE #108 Editor’s Choice winners, Carol Catanzariti and Kapena M. Landgraf.

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s wine!

If you’re interested in attending, you can reserve seats here: https://www.bambooridge.com/wineandwords_108.aspx

The event typically sells out fast, so book your seat early.

Looking forward to seeing you there,

D. Carreira Ching

 

 

 

 

Kahikāhealani Wight book signing at Barnes & Nobles in Ala Moana.

This Saturday (8/13), local author Kahikāhealani Wight will be signing copies of her book Rainforest Puʻuhonua at Ala Moana Barnes & Noble. This moving memoir of cultural awakening demonstrates her passion and skill as a writer and her love for Hawaiʻi. A regular contributor to Bamboo Ridge, Kahi has decided to donate a portion of her profits this weekend to Bamboo Ridge Press. Visit Barnes & Nobles at the Ala Moana Center, give them BR’s “Bookfair ID” (pictured) and make a purchase, and you’ll be helping to support Hawaiʻi’s writers and the state’s oldest independent literary press!