VBT: DRAWN TO YOU by Janel Rodriguez Ferrer

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Janel will be awarding Winner's Choice of a $25 gift card to iTunes (music) or, Capezio (dance), or Utrecht (art supplies) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Please click on the tour banner to see the other stops in the tour.

I write on my laptop. So while sometimes I write notes by hand, say on subway rides to and from my day job, for the most part I do my creating straight from keyboard to screen. You’d think with the kind of flexibility that comes from using a laptop and living in New York City that I’d cart my laptop around with me to interesting places--like a park, or an artist’s studio, or at least to a local coffeehouse—but no. For the most part I end up writing at my desk at home. Okay, sometimes for a change of scene I take the laptop into the—gasp!—living room, or even to the kitchen table (particularly if I want to snack while I'm writing), but the bulk of my writing is done in the perfect-size writing pocket that is the corner of my bedroom, at my simple, honey-colored, Parsons-inspired desk.

If you take a look at the photograph, you might notice that around my desk I have arranged a few personal items for decoration, fun, or inspiration. Included are: a statue of St. Michael the Archangel on the shelf above (similar to one mentioned in Drawn to You); an unfinished painting on canvas propped against the wall; and (this will only make sense to you if you are familiar with the world of Doctor Who) a little TARDIS on my desk from which an action figure of the Tenth Doctor beckons an action figure of Sarah Jane Smith to join him inside and travel the stars.

I have pumped out many a page from that little corner, so it is truly my writing space. However, there is one thing about the photograph that is untruthful about my reality: It is neat. I usually have piles of paper or books on top of my desk (near the TARDIS), but I didn’t like the way that looked in the photo, so I moved them before taking this snap.

As you can see, the view outside my writing space isn’t terribly exciting--especially in the winter when I am left with just the black skeletons of trees to gaze upon. Also I usually have the curtains drawn in the winter, anyway, as it is often too grey and cold out to have them open. When I do have them open, though, I basically just have a view of my fire escape and the back end of another building to look at. But in the warmer months, when the birds return and stop by to rest on the branches of the trees, I enjoy spotting the odd cardinal or blue jay and listening to the haunting sounds of a pair of mourning doves (they are always in pairs) as they coo back and forth to each other. When those moments happen, I feel a bit like I’m in the country instead of a city.

Rock Your Destiny!

Gina Santiago is a thirteen-year-old "Nuyorican" with rock star dreams, so when she's accepted into the prestigious New York Academy of Arts and Talents for art instead of music, she's crushed. To make matters worse, the student body at the Upper East Side school is divided into "schollies" (students on scholarship, like her) and "dollies" (rich kids with "dollars"). But Gina discovers that there is one thing that brings schollies and dollies-and dancers, singers, actors, artists, and musicians-together: music! Maybe she can make her dreams come true after all....

Read an excerpt:

I began entertaining thoughts of becoming an art school dropout when I remembered Angel Dominguez and felt inspired to explore the halls a bit. Maybe I can find a classroom he actually studied in, I thought, feeling the smile return to my face.

Jogging slightly, I headed for the staircase when I remembered the song about Angel that I had started earlier. Humming it to myself, I began adding more lyrics in my head.

I will find you even though you aren’t really here

I’ll find you standing by my side

Hear you whisper in my ear….

And then, almost as if someone did whisper in my ear, I stopped short at the bulletin board in the lobby. A flyer had caught my eye. It read:

AUDITIONS-AUDITIONS-AUDITIONS

Your favorite rock band,

UNCOUTH YOUTH

is searching for their next great guitarist/vocalist

Could that be YOU?????

Listen to our sound, and then come see for yourself.

Saturday, September 15th.

Please call Nick at 917-555-7654 for more information.

I drew in a deep breath. Then I giggled. Then I laughed out loud. If my mother thought that that she was going to keep me away from music, she sure was wrong. My first day at NYAAT wasn’t even half-over, and I was already had an idea of how to make my dreams—and her nightmares—come true.

About the Author:

Like her main character, Gina Santiago, Janel is a Nuyorican who attended a Manhattan high school of the arts as an art major.

Unlike Gina, she isn’t very good at guitar and doesn’t have a rock band to call her own.

Truth be told, she never dreamed of becoming a guitarist. Instead, from the time she was a tween she dreamed of becoming a published author of a book series. And since you're reading this, you can see that her dream has come true!

Her first hint of an idea for the Arts-Angels series began way back when she received a pendant of St. Michael the Archangel for her sixteenth birthday.

She lives with her twin sister, Jennifer (who got a pendant of St. Joan of Arc that same birthday but hasn’t written any books about it), in New York City.

Website: www.theartsangels.com
Blog: http://janelrodriguezferrer.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JanelRodriguezFerrer
E-mail: janelrodriguezferrer (at) theartsangels (dot) com.