Category: #WeNeedDIverseBooks

#WeNeedDIverseBooks, Books

Explore the Backstory of “The Garden of Second Chances” with the Free Prequel

Mona Alvarado Frazier

Hello, fellow book lovers,

In a couple of months, my YA novel THE GARDEN OF SECOND CHANCES debuts. I’m doing my best not to bite my fingernails and devour every chocolate candy in sight. Nerve-racking is the word.

But, I’m writing to you, not to detail my emotional rollercoaster, but because I wrote a prequel to the novel and I’m excited to share it with you.

The prequel is a chance to discover the backstory of the main character, Juana Maria Ivanov, and uncover the motivation that set her on a journey from Mexico to Los Angeles at age sixteen. (You’ll also find out how she acquired the surname).

You’ll find drama, romance, and action that I hope will grab your attention in ten short pages.

Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

So, don’t miss out on this opportunity to dive deeper into the world of Juana’s journey. Sign up now to receive the prequel. Just go to the home page and enter your email. It’s easy to do, and best of all, it’s completely free!

Don’t forget to spread the word to your friends and family who love a good book. This is the latest editorial review:

An undocumented teenager is charged with manslaughter and works to remake her life in Mona Alvarado Frazier’s searing novel The Garden of Second Chances. Candid when it comes to relationships, immigration issues, and the harms that young women endure and inflict upon others (this) is an affecting novel in which a…youth finds the courage to move past her mistakes.”

Foreward Review

You can also find the book on Goodreads and add it to your Want to Read list. Adding books to your shelf isn’t just an easy way to track books you’re interested in; it also helps build a book’s buzz and gives you inside access to when the book comes out on the Goodreads Giveaway.

If you’d like to check out a little more about the book, visit my Goodreads Author Profile.

Warm regards,

#WeNeedDIverseBooks, Writing

NaNoWriMo Madness or The Only Way to Write A First Draft

Mona Alvarado Frazier

Yes, I’m slogging through the madness of NaNoWriMo.

The video above is a good indication of how we NaNo-ites or NaNo-etta’s feel about now.

I could only take three minutes of the video. She’s a good singer–sorta.

I’ve been typing words upon words,

compiling hundreds, then thousands.

Fifty thousand words is the goal; 1,667 words per day.

And I have a head cold. Been in my house for the past three days.

My oldest son feeds me cough drops, meds, and ginger ale.

I’m forcing myself to write. It allows me to not think about the 21 people I’ll have to prepare Thanksgiving for in a couple of weeks.

I’m writing a novel with multi-cultural characters, three generations of women and men, the Mexican culture of curanderismo (that means healers), and a love potion that goes awry.

By this time, I should be at the second plot twist, according to Storyfix. (give or take five pages).

I double checked my pages and yes, I’m close to that point.

Here’s a screen shot of my NaNo page—I don’t know about that novel cover increasing my odds, but could be, it is part of visualization— And, lest I forget, I do have some empty badge area sections:

Writing partner and halo. If anyone wants to be a writing partner, hit me up. I really don’t know how to do this step but I’ll figure it out.

Mona AlvaradoFrazier-New Adult Novel NaNoWriMo 2014
Mona AlvaradoFrazier-New Adult Novel NaNoWriMo 2014

Participating in NaNoWriMo is a great way to a first draft. Far from perfect yes, but useful.

And don’t refer to it as a “shitty first draft,” because it’s not. It’s raw, you put in some effort, yeah, it’s imperfect, just like your first time at bat, or your golf swing, or the first time you made a casserole.

Remind yourself that you started with a goal. You accomplished it. You now have something to build on.

You have words, lots of them, to play with after the first draft is completed.

Well, you probably won’t play with them, you’ll do the edit, delete dance. Then you’ll pull your hair out a few times, and laugh your head off while doing said hair pulling, because you’ll remember—‘member this now—it’s your first draft.

It’s okay.

It will take time and hard work to shape it up, revise, plug plot holes, revise, and love it into being better.

Remember, first drafts can be powerful. Remind yourself that you carved out time for your writing, you set your creativity loose and you were courageous until the finish line (whatever that is to you: 50K or 25K words).

Only 24,610 more words to go.

Write On!

(Please excuses any left out comma’s or other grammatical errors. I’m partially delirious now). Thank you.