On the Effect of Bad Burritos on a Novelist’s Life…and a Writing Exercise with a Special Twist

Late Morning, Sunday, September 15, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

It’s a beautiful, sunny but chilly early fall day here in what, for now, is my corner of New Hampshire. It’s 73°F (23°F) under clear and sunny conditions. Allegedly, the feels-like temperature outside is 86°F (30°C), but inside the house, it doesn’t much feel like Florida. Here, the temperature is 66°C (18°C).

Not much to share today. I’m mostly over the discomfort from last week’s mishap with an Amy’s brand burrito I had on Monday. I’ve had Amy’s frozen Mexican food a few times before, mostly in Tampa and here in Madison, but this is my first time dealing with Montezuma’s revenge. I think it might be because the burrito partially thawed before getting delivered by Hannaford to Go. But who knows, maybe the stress of my upcoming move back to Miami next month played a role too.

As you can guess, I didn’t make much progress on Reunion: Coda this week. Writing is hard enough when you’re not sick or tired, but it’s nearly impossible when you’re constantly running to the bathroom for urgent “nature calls.” My bathroom isn’t far from my writing space, but it’s super frustrating to be in the middle of a good sentence or an intense scene and have to stop everything to rush to the loo. Concentrating is key for good writing, and needing to “go” all the time really messes that up.

The only decent writing I’ve done is in the exercises from my Avon Books How to Write a Romance workbook. Some of the activities weren’t that significant or had quality writing for Reunion: Coda, but I’m especially proud of Writer’s Shop Talk: ‘Dear Diary…’. For that exercise, I had to write a journal entry from my female lead’s perspective about her first meeting with the novel’s “hero.”

(I’m not a fan of Avon Books calling the leads “heroes” or “heroines.” I’m not writing a “romance novel” exactly; Reunion: Coda is more layered, as it also includes elements of a coming-of-age story and straightforward fiction, with strong romantic elements. But since those are the terms used by Avon in this workbook, I’ll go with “heroine.”)

This time, I had to write a personal diary entry by Maddie meant only for herself. If Jim ever reads it, it’s because Maddie chooses to share it with him, but for now, it’s just a private reflection of Maddie’s initial encounter with the main character and her impressions during their first meeting at the Moonglow Club. And I needed to write it in Maddie’s feminine and British voice, too!

Alex Diaz-Granados

I’ve written many lines of dialogue for Maddie, one of the two women central to Jim Garraty’s turbulent love life, but they always come as part of conversations or emails she writes, so they’re from Jim’s perspective since the novel is entirely through his eyes.

This time, I had to write a personal diary entry by Maddie meant only for herself. If Jim ever reads it, it’s because Maddie chooses to share it with him, but for now, it’s just a private reflection of Maddie’s initial encounter with the main character and her impressions during their first meeting at the Moonglow Club. And I needed to write it in Maddie’s feminine and British voice, too!

Given how lousy I felt for most of last week – and I’m still not feeling too great, to be honest – I’m really proud of the journal entry I wrote on Friday. It took nearly the whole day to draft, partly because it had a gender swap theme, but also because I was still feeling pretty nauseous and in a rotten mood. There were a few moments where I considered quitting because I couldn’t focus or wasn’t sure I could convincingly write in a woman’s voice. But I pushed through and finished it, feeling confident that I nailed Maddie’s personality, wit, and style in “her” journal entry.