The Latina Book Club wishes all our readers a
Happy New Year!
We want to
start 2017 by looking “beyond” what is normal. Hence, our Book of the Month is IMAGINING: BEYOND PURPOSE & CREATIVITY by Carlos Aleman. A book for everyone who wants to let their imagination
take flight and to guide them to greater achievements in the New Year.
We have an
excerpt from Carlos’ book, but first let’s meet the man, the writer, the
artist.
Q: I love the song,
The Girl From Ipanema. Sexiest elevator music ever! You and your wife like to
travel. Is Brazil on your bucket list?
CARLOS ALEMAN: Very funny! Happy that you liked my selection for the intermission music in the book. I might go to Brazil one day. I have an uncle that lives there. I've also had an interest in the Amazon rain forest for a long time.
Q: Let's sit at The Imaginary Cafe. What three artists would you like to chat with over wine and cheese? Could be writers/ painters/ sculptors/ dancers/ singers or other creative type.
CARLOS: Since it's completely in the realm of the imagination, I would take the opportunity to chat with mostly deceased people like —oh, so many— let's blurt out a few and then narrow it down. Um, let's see...Stanley Kubrick, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, da Vinci, Michelangelo, John Lennon, Pablo Neruda, William Shakespeare, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso... Wait! I thought of some living people. Let's choose these three for the Imaginary Cafe: Takashi Murakami, Haruki Murakami, Junot Diaz.
Q: 2017 is here. Our imaginations are free and eager to take flight. Any New Year's Resolutions you'd care to share?
CARLOS ALEMAN: Very funny! Happy that you liked my selection for the intermission music in the book. I might go to Brazil one day. I have an uncle that lives there. I've also had an interest in the Amazon rain forest for a long time.
Q: Let's sit at The Imaginary Cafe. What three artists would you like to chat with over wine and cheese? Could be writers/ painters/ sculptors/ dancers/ singers or other creative type.
CARLOS: Since it's completely in the realm of the imagination, I would take the opportunity to chat with mostly deceased people like —oh, so many— let's blurt out a few and then narrow it down. Um, let's see...Stanley Kubrick, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, da Vinci, Michelangelo, John Lennon, Pablo Neruda, William Shakespeare, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso... Wait! I thought of some living people. Let's choose these three for the Imaginary Cafe: Takashi Murakami, Haruki Murakami, Junot Diaz.
Q: 2017 is here. Our imaginations are free and eager to take flight. Any New Year's Resolutions you'd care to share?
CARLOS: I have quite
few things in the works, including some art exhibitions and a creativity
workshop that I'm planning to teach. I resolve to inspire as many people as
possible, causing them to get so excited about their vision and dreams that
they might possibly have trouble sleeping because they're so eager to get up
and get to work.
EXCERPT
By Carlos
Aleman
The
old adage, love until it hurts, can be applied to the creative process. The
more splendid, remarkable and interesting you find a subject, the better the
chances that you’ll be inspired to approach it more fully, dedicating art and
poetry to it or posting an opinion on a blog.
Even
if you simply need to solve a conundrum that is not particularly interesting,
respecting the complexity of the problem can shift your awareness to a more
imaginative state. Have you ever heard of a teacher that made a certain subject
‘more fun and interesting?’ Don’t the students generally do better?
Even
if you’re a hardened cynic of an artist, you take a long drag on a cigarette,
spit on the ground, splatter paint on a canvas and declare ‘life is garbage—I
will show everyone!’ You were probably once inspired by a philosopher, actor,
activist, musician or friend that caused you to forever love the idea of being
a hardened realist.
Righteous
indignation may lead to finding a meaningful direction in life. Positive and
negative energies can coalesce to take on a cause. You may even want to take a
moment to think about the one thing that angers you most. It could very well
lead to finding your purpose in life.
However,
the means by which you arrive at the precise way you will accomplish your
goals, the thing that fires your imagination, the ultimate fuel to defeat
whatever injustice you perceive—will not come from anger, but hope and a deep
love for something.###
Excerpt published with permission. All rights
reserved by author.
Order
your copy of IMAGINING: BEYOND PURPOSE AND CREATIVITY by clicking here.
About the
Author: Carlos Delgado Alemán is a Cuban American writer, painter,
illustrator, book cover designer (including the award-winning BATTLE FOR A SOUL
by Manuel Melendez), digital product artist/prototyper and web designer. An early e-book draft of his novel, AS HAPPY AS LING, was a finalist in the 2012 International Latino Book Awards. In 2013,
the release in paperback of HAPPY THAT IT’S NOT TRUE was named one of the best
novels of the year by the Latina Book Club. He was a judge in the 2014 National
Association of Hispanic Publications’ José Martí Awards, and featured on WPBT’s
(PBS) Art Loft. Carlos lives in Sunrise, FL with his wife, Jean and Shih-Tzu,
Ewok. Visit him at https://carlosaleman.wordpress.com.
READ LATINO !