There is nothing wrong with being a monster

Workshop, sale, appearances, and more random stuff

Hello, everyone! You want to know how fast a week goes by? Start a newsletter. I’m serious. I’m still working on my edits and had a lot to read, review, and grade this week, so I blinked twice and BOOM! it was Sunday again. Anyway, I hope you’re all doing great. This thing is 1 subscriber away from hitting 200 subscribers, and while I know I’ve talked about it on social media, I’m sure many of those came because some of you mentioned it, so thank you very much. On to the stuff!

Upcoming workshop

I’ve been offering low-cost writing workshops for years. After I lost my high school teaching job in March of 2020, workshops become the thing that allowed me to keep the lights on. In any case, I love it. I also don’t suck at it! I’ve offered workshops through/at the Writers League of Texas, the Lighthouse Book Project, the Las Vegas Writers Lounge, HubCity Press, the University of Idaho, Portland State University, Arizona State University, the Surrey International Writers Conference, and other places/institutions/conferences. Soon after I started, I realized that the reason I hadn’t taken more workshops in my life was because the cost was always prohibitive. My solution was easy: I offer all my workshops for $20 and always have scholarships for folks who can’t afford the twenty bucks as well as BIPOC and LGBTQ+ writers. Anyway, I’ve been having a lot of conversations about agents lately, so I took everything I’ve offered my students and turned it into a one-hour workshop in which we talk about the pros and cons of the three publishing paths (self-publishing, small/indie presses, and Big Four publishing), different kinds of agencies and agents, the most crucial elements of your query letter (comps, voice, bio, etc), what agents can and can't do for you, what to expect and how to navigate the querying process/receiving partial and full requests/and eventually signing with an agent and going out on submission with your manuscript, and a few other things. It’ll be on Tuesday at 7pm CST. If you want to know more, email iglesiasworkshops@gmail.com.

John Wick

I rewatched the first three John Wick movies in preparation to see the fourth. I love these movies with all my black little heart. The first is about establishing a thing and showing what the right combination of grief and anger can do. It’s a movie I teach in one of my workshops because we are all immediately fans of Wick and don’t care about his past. Anyway, the second is about pushing the envelope in terms of violence, editing, choreographies, etc. The third is about figuring out just how balls-to-the-wall they could go. Kill a giant with a book? Go for it. Put him on a horse while he fights dudes in motorcycles with swords? Why not! These movies make me happy and I’m very much looking forward to the fourth one.

Appearances

June is going to be cool and busy. I’ll be in North Carolina as the Author Guest of Honor at ConCarolinas (June 2-4). If you’re nearby, come hang out! After North Carolina, I’m coming back to Austin for a day and then, if all goes well, going home. I need it. I’ve always suffered from homesickness, but when I haven’t been home for more than a year, it gets really bad. Anyway, after that I’ll come back to Austin for a day or two and then jump on a plane to Pittsburgh for StokerCon (June 15-18). The Devil Takes You Home is up for a Stoker and I reallyreallyreally hope I get it. It’s my third nomination, but the timing feels right and I believe in that little dark book. Hope to see some of you there!

Sale!

Speaking of the Devil, the good folks at Mulholland made the kindle version just $3.99 for a limited time, so if you were waiting to get it for less than a cup of coffee, now’s the time! Dig it:

https://www.amazon.com/Devil-Takes-You-Home-Novel-ebook/dp/B09N5R5K8W/

Oh, and the wonderful title for this week’s newsletter is a line from Cassandra Khaw’s The Salt Grows Heavy, which I just reviewed and I’m still thinking about. Such a great line, isn’t it? Anyway, stay awesome, keep doing the thing, and love like getting hurt isn’t an option. See you next week.