Guest Blog by Author Nelson V Brasil

I’m going to write about a few things here today. Firstly though, I want to extend my gratitude to The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom for giving me the opportunity to contribute to her blog.


I’m going to focus on two things in particular. One the trials and tribulations I faced when writing I Don’t REMEMBER, and two the most hated question I am asked.

Like so many of us, I began my journey to writing by sitting in front of my computer and doing what makes me happy, writing. I stayed up late nights, and woke up way too early to complete my first novel.

When I finally finished, typed the final period of the final line of my first-born novel, my baby, I literally jumped up in excitement.

I’ll never forget the feeling I had inside, the sense of accomplishment, the grandiose amount of happiness that flooded my being is something I will forever seek out to feel again.

Then exactly five seconds later, you know after I literally jumped up in excitement, I realized that in the midst of my jumping I had knocked over a full glass of water onto the keyboard of laptop. All the drying in the world could not save my novel. It was gone forever…

To say I was crushed is an understatement, I’ve written this story many times, it is even included in the biography portion of my website, but what I never wrote about was the sadness and feeling that I would never write again that over took my whole body.

I felt like I had lost a child, like a part of me had died. As ridiculously dramatic as this sounds the feelings I felt were as real as breathing.

After a month or so of living my life as droopy the dog, with lots of support from family and friends, I got back on my horse and re-wrote I Don’t REMEMBER. Aside from once again feeling ecstatic, less the jumping of course, I felt like no matter how crappy things look, I could always count on my loved ones to bring me back to life.

This brings me to my most hated question of all time. As an author, this is perhaps the question most asked of us.

“What’s your book about?”

The reason I despise this question is simple. I never know what to say. Weird right? I mean, I wrote the book; I created it in my mind. But I cannot find the few sentences that perfectly describe it.

I usually end up talking the person’s ear off about every little detail of the book and character’s and their reasons for living, and whatever else I think plays a part in the “magic” of the book.

I hate talking people’s ears off, people usually like both their ears in tact. So I cringe on the inside every time I’m asked that question.

If you’ve gotten this far, and read my whole guest blog, I want to thank you for your time.

If you have any questions or comments please relay them below, I’ll do my best to answer. Oh and please refrain from the dreaded question I loathe

I Don’t Remember
By Nelson V Brasil

BLURB

In one night, in one fire, Roger Amarante’s life changed forever. He lost everything, and more importantly, everyone he ever loved.

But what he doesn’t remember can’t hurt him, right?

His seven-year stint at the Faja Rasa Retirement home has left him confused and empty to say the least. He doesn’t know why he’s there, who he is, or what has happened. He hates the nurses with a passion, and has not uttered a single word in the whole time he’s been there. When he meets an over achieving college student with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, his life once again changes forever.

Michael Ponte is searching for the heart he apparently lacks, so that he could achieve his childhood dream of becoming a Fire Fighter. When he crosses path’s with a disgruntled, beaten down mess of a man, his heart is tested.

Will they have the strength to conquer what they fear is impossible?

Some hurdles are harder than others to overcome.

I DOn’t REMEMBER will elicit a full circle of emotion that will spark hopefulness and hopelessness, and trigger thoughts you didn’t even know you had.

About the Author:

I was born Nelson Vieira Brasil in San Jose California on August 12th 1984. Being the first generation in my family born in the United States. I am full-blooded Portuguese, my family hails from the small island of São Jorge, Açores. The Açores islands can be found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, there are nine islands in all, and they are all a part of Portugal.

I grew up in San Jose constantly surrounded by my many uncles and aunts. To this day, most of my uncles, aunts, and cousins are within a 5-minute drive from my house. We get together during the week for dinner, and sometimes during the weekend for birthday parties, or to just play some cards. I love my family, and would be lost without them.

My parents are at the top of my heroes list. Both come from humble beginnings. Both have menial education, but have flourished to great heights in their lifetime. I would consider my parents to be great successes. They came to this country with little to nothing, and have worked and earned everything they own. They raised two children the right way, instilling values, and morals in them. They taught us the difference from right and wrong, and gave us the trust and confidence to make decisions on our own. They always encourage us to reach for our dreams, and would stop at nothing to support our means to achieving them. If I can become half the success my parents are, I will be happy.

Now that family and all that jazz are out of the way, let me tell you about why I write. I write because it brings me joy. It allows me to openly express my emotions and inspirations. It alleviates my stress, and empowers my confidence. It gives me an outlet to vent frustrations, or to praise successes. It allows me to let it all out, instead of bottling it up inside.

I’ve been writing poetry and short stories since middle school. In high school, I began thinking that I wanted to write fulltime or at least become an English teacher so that I could be around reading and writing all the time. As I began college, I continued to write, and finally, began writing my first novel. The pride I felt from finishing my first novel is inexplicable. Then tragedy struck, my clumsiness caused me to tip over a glass of water onto the keyboard of my laptop. I lost everything on my hard drive. To say I was devastated is an understatement. I felt like I lost an arm or a leg. But with encouragement from family and friends I set out to write the same novel. Î DOn’t REMEMBER, is finally in print. Hopefully it is the first of many more to come.

Aside from writing, I enjoy doing many other things. Some of which include watching movies, reading, playing and watching sports, going to the lake with friends, gambling, and playing music. There many other things I enjoy doing but I won’t bore you with the rest.

My goal is to keep writing, even if I don’t sell a single book, it doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is that I write, and publish my works.

My wish is that my writing brings out an emotion from the reader. Any emotion, happiness, sadness, anger, as long as it brings a rise to someone then I feel as though I have accomplished my goal.