The Void Within

First of all, THANK YOU! As a writer, I like telling stories and that presumes an audience. Thank you for being that audience. This means the world to me, and, self-deprecation aside, I hope you find something in my work that interests you, sparks your imagination, makes you think, or, at the least, is just a good story.


Secondly, I would like to take a moment to explain my economic model. Chances are, you came across my work by one of three ways: either I gave or emailed you some, someone else passed it along, or you bought something online for a few bucks. I would like you to know that I have specifically chosen to try and give out my work as cheaply as possible; of course, if you received from me or from someone else then it was free, but if you found and bought it online through Amazon, rest assured that I put the price as low as I was allowed to.


When I set out to begin writing my first book, that was the extent of my ambitions. I did not set out on this journey thinking of publishing or of marketing or of selling. I have always loved books and reading, always loved science fiction, and I have always wanted to write a full-length novel. Completing this goal was, in and of itself, reward enough! But the I found myself in a strange position: sitting on a 260 page novel. Again, writing presumes an audience, and I wanted people to read my book because, well, I wanted to share what I had accomplished. This is where I began thinking about publishing and all that. After all, publishing and selling is the current model for sharing fiction. But as I did research on what this would take, some old feelings and thoughts about consumerism and art began to creep up, and I began to feel that that path just wasn’t for me.


The middle way I have fallen upon, then, is this: I chose to give my work out for free or at cost if you purchase a printed or e-reader version and allow people to decide for themselves whether or not they want to support me as I do more writing. If you enjoy my book and wish to support me, you can throw me some money, however much you can afford or feel is appropriate,  on Patreon or on Venmo (see below; if those aren't your thing, feel free to email me for other options). If you enjoy my work but cannot afford to give, no worries! Part of the reason I chose this model was because I do not think economics should play such a large role in our ability to consume and share art. You can still help by passing the work along to someone else you think might enjoy it, by sharing your thoughts with me personally or on social media, or by reviewing on Amazon (if you didn’t buy it there, you can still write a review by saying you received it as a gift and uploading a photo). Best of all, if you didn’t like it, then you didn’t lose much other than maybe a few bucks and some time!


All that said, I hope you enjoy my work, and thank you again for taking the time to give it a chance! If you want to keep an eye out for more stuff I write, you can find me online in the ways listed below.


-Carlos