Guest Post Leonardo Ramirez Author /Creator of Haven

My First Book and How Quickly Things Change

Guest Post by Leonardo Ramirez, Author/Creator of HAVEN

It’s been 60 days since the release of the graphic novel, “Haven” and while this is by no means meant as a brag or a cliché, I wanted to share some of the changes that have come as a result. I’ve been able to share
the infamous “folder of rejections” that I have at home which I’m saving for my
daughter but to explain what it is this is a folder that I have kept over the
years of every single rejection letter that I’ve ever received over the span of
15 years of trying to be published. This doesn’t only apply to “Haven” but
other works as well but the reason I kept it is so that I can hand it down to
my daughter and by example tell her to never give up on her dreams. Over the
years I had been so focused on the simply getting published that it was such a
joy to finally see it happen. We had closed on our house the day before I was
laid off of my job so things were really tight. We decided we were going to
have a garage sale and my daughter was going to have a lemonade stand out in
the beautiful, sunny morning. Even on a pretty day the weight of having no job
and a new house still weighs on you. Anyway, I had placed my laptop on the
ottoman to check my e-mails between filling pitchers with lemonade. Just for
the heck of it, I e-mailed Harry Markos to see if he had a chance to read my
work. As always I let it go and off I went for more of the lemonade. I handed
it to my daughter and then returned to see that Harry had immediately written
back. My heart leaped. After a little back-and-forth I asked if he wanted to go
ahead and send the contract thinking I may not hear back from him as had
happened so many times before with other people. On to the next pitcher. I
filled it, came back and looked in my in-box and there it was.

Oh my. This is really happening. It couldn’t have been at a better time.

Two years later and the book is out. Davy Fisher has done the art for “Haven” and he’s painted a more beautiful picture of Haven that is more than I could have ever asked for and it’s been such a joy to work with
him. He’s really poured his heart and soul into her We both have. The process
was hard..working into the night especially when you have a family is not the
easiest thing in the world. You wonder whether or not you’ve done enough during
the time that you spend with them and then hope that you have enough strength
to stay up late. They were always so good about encouraging me to keep going.
You also fight feelings of wondering what is going to come out of all of this
and yes that includes money. Will it pay off? Will you at some point be able to
make a living at it? I’m still asking myself that one but now in a different
light and for a different reason. This past weekend I attended GMX as a
presenter and held some panels. It was a lot of work to put those together but
it was fun.

Something has happened. My reasons for writing have changed. Don’t get me wrong, I love to write and I’ll continue to do so regardless of whether I may a dime or not but here’s the thing…I grew up loving comics. This
being so, I always felt an instant kinship to the folks that I could talk
comics to and boy did I meet a lot of those this weekend. Whether they bought a
book or not, I loved hanging out with them. I even hate it that some came up to
the table and felt like they were either afraid I was going to pitch them or
were obligated to buy a book when that wasn’t the case. That part got a little frustrating for me at
times because all I wanted to do was hang out. Do I need to make a living? Of
course I do and I hope that I can. The thing is that it’s not what drives me
anymore. I’m a little more relaxed now not because the book is published but
because I can still work hard, do something well but more than anything I just
want to be. Be with family…with friends…with comic lovers. Sure do miss those
guys. Can’t wait for the next one.

Until then, stay in touch.

Leonardo

http://www.facebook.com/armyofhaven

For your copy of HAVEN visit the below link:

http://www.markosia.com/Comics.aspx?ID=34

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