Today we’d like to introduce you to Astrid Gornes.
Hi Astrid, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Venezuelan journalist and writer. I love fantasy and thick books with aged pages. I am a versatile traveler. I’ve lived in London, Panama, Barbados, and the USA. Today I suffer from the harsh winters of Ohio, which I alleviate with vacations in Caribbean lands. I’ve been a singer, publicist, corporate communicator, and now human resources professional, experiences that I mix with my taste for gore romance, and modern urban fantasy.
I recently won the “Talent Seal” from Spain-based Editorial Caligrama for my fantasy book “A Night in the Red Light District,” an award won by one in six authors who submit their manuscript to this publishing house that specializes in promoting the new values of the Hispanic narrative. To make this, select young literary promises in Europe and America. For now, this book it’s available in Spanish, but soon it will be in English.
I could win this distinction for the high quality of my first work, a hybrid book that reads with the lightness of a volume of short stories but whose stories are gradually linked with the solid plot of a novel. “A night in the Red Light District” (Una noche en el Distrito Rojo) poses a cosmic combat between the leaders of Order and Chaos. Those two opposing forces have been fighting a battle to the death since the beginning of time. And in the 21st century, that eternal duel involves angels, demons, and human beings in settings as diverse as London and Madrid, Amsterdam and Kabul, New York, and Caracas.
Since 2020 I started to get Creative Writing Class with the Venezuelan writer Carmelo Urso, who has been my mentor in this literature process. Also, I’ve been taking workshops with Penguin Random House since then.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
To write a book it’s a challenge. Get the ideas it’s not easy. However, it arises, in fact, in an organic way, I could say. It was not exactly an idea that I planned in my head. Quite the opposite. As my teacher, Carmelo gave me some creative exercises on tales and stories, I realized that an interesting story was unwittingly brewing, a narrative that could be told. Little by little it became this book.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I feel proud to have published my first book and that it has also received a distinction for its high literary quality. In addition, I am a Talent Acquisition Recruiter at Nike, an occupation that I also do with care and passion, having the opportunity to give many the job of their dreams.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Don’t be afraid to fail and enjoy the process it’s part of path to get your dreams!
Pricing:
- $19,10 Amazon (Paperback)
- $5,41 (Digital)
- Free on Kindle Unlimited (For suscribers)
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @gornesaverso
- Linkedin: Astrid Gornes
- Twitter: @gornesa
Image Credits
@fmgornes
