Friday , March 29 2024
"I think I speak for all writers when I say that we love seeing reviews…(well, most writers I guess…)"

Interview: Julian Rosado-Machain, Author of ‘Guardians Inc.: The Cypher’

Julian Rosado-MachainBorn in Washington D.C. in the Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital, Julian has an American birth certificate, but can’t be a U.S. Citizen because his father was in a diplomatic mission in the U.S. so both countries consider him as being born inside the Mexican embassy.(On top of the ambassadors desk.)

Yes, it is complicated, and he’s a little confused about it too… Since then he has a BA in Graphic Design, worked in armored vehicles, built alebrijes, computers and owned a successful Mexican restaurant.

Raised in Mexico City he has moved over to San Diego, California with his family and is now writing full time after being encouraged by more than 150,000 downloads from his first book in the Guardians Inc. Series.

Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Guardians Inc.: The Cypher. When did you start writing and what got you into Fantasy and Scifi?

I began writing July 15th 1984…. How do I know? I started writing right after watching the The Last Starfigther movie. I imagined the sequel, so I wrote it and left it somewhere in Mexico.

As for who is responsible for getting me into Scifi AND Fantasy? My older brothers. One is a sci-fi fan, the other is a hard-core fantasy fan. Both tried to convert me to their ways… I ended up right in the middle.

Guardians Inc 7Did you have a mentor who encouraged you?

No writing mentor, but my father was always on my case. He was the first to tell me that I should be a writer and the first one to actually give me material to do research and read the stories I scribbled. So he was the first to encourage me to write and I thank him every day.

“Writer’s write… so get to it” was his mantra.

Did you have any struggles or difficulties when you started writing?

English is not my native language, so I can say that yes! I had and still have a lot of difficulty writing although I’ve been very lucky in finding great editors. I still have a lot of grammar problems (as you probably will notice!) but it’s mostly under control. 

Who is your target audience?

My target audience is the middle grade readers, and it has taken me a lot of work to reach them, mostly because most middle graders depend on their mother’s tablets, kindles and readers. My first readers were moms! And I deeply thank them because they are now letting their sons and daughters read Guardians Inc. 

Did your book require a lot of research?

Guardians Inc. relies heavily on historical figures and events. I do research thoroughly before referencing a place or an event and the same applies to technology, I do try to do as much research as I can before writing about technology. (Although, like Thomas,the hero of the story, theoretical physics are beyond my full understanding!) 

What do you do when your muse refuses to collaborate?

I have a couple of muses hovering around my head and one that likes to arrive just as I’m about to drift into sleep… So it’s a rare event when they all decide to have a strike, but, when they do, and they have done it in the past, I read or watch T.V.   

Many writers experience a vague anxiety before they sit down to right. Can you relate to this?

Not really, my anxiety comes later, when its time to send the manuscript to the editor. One of them tells me just how blissfully unaware of some words or sentences that I place on the draft might be seen as either not politically correct or downright wrong. Not because of the way I write, but because I’m translating from Spanish and some words are just weird when translated, as an example, I will just place one that made us laugh…. Molestar means TO ANNOY in Spanish… and one of my characters is just always annoying everyone else… you can figure out what the editor said.   

What was your publishing process like?

I SKIPPED EVERYTHING and went directly to Self-Publishing! Guardians Inc. was a pet project and would still be in the computer if my good friend Francisco Trueba hadn’t helped me publish it.

In retrospect, I think I should have looked for a literary agent and a publishing house. I have 150,000 downloads of The Cypher so far and increasing sales for the next books in the series without really doing much advertising.

I am beginning to do the advertising, but I believe that Guardians Inc, because it’s middle grade, would do better through a traditional channel.

So I’m also beginning to look for an agent and a publisher. 

Do you have a website or blog where readers can find out more about your work?

Here is the website:

www.guardiansinc.com with character pictures, places and many other things and I also have a Facebook page with the most up to date information:

https://www.facebook.com/Guardians.Incorporated?ref=hl 

Where is your book available?

Please  just imagine the voice:

In a world of internet connections and light speed downloads ONE e-book fights for a place in your reader and maybe… your heart!

( Imagine Cut dialogue and yells here!)

Fantasy. Sci-fi. Mythology collide in the free ebook event of the summer!

(Imagine assorted explosions here!)

Ga! GA!…. GUARDIANS INC.: The Cypher! (big BOOM!)

Available in all E-bookstores your device has access to!

What is your advice for aspiring authors? 

Keep writing! And when writer’s block hits, and it will, keep the juice flowing by writing descriptions of everyday objects. I have an essay about my computer mouse somewhere… Just keep writing.

“Writer’s write, so get to it…” 

Anything else you’d like to tell my readers?

Please review, please, please, pretty please….review. Good and bad and everything in between. I think I speak for all writers when I say that we love seeing reviews…(well, most writers I guess…) I don’t mind bad reviews.

Reviews let me know what I am doing right, but most importantly what I am doing wrong.

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About Mayra Calvani

Mayra Calvani writes fiction and nonfiction for children and adults and has authored over a dozen books, some of which have won awards. Her stories, reviews, interviews and articles have appeared on numerous publications such as The Writer, Writer’s Journal, Multicultural Review, and Bloomsbury Review, among many others. Represented by Serendipity Literary.

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