Some advice. Read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
Ten years ago, Junot Díaz wrote a book of award-winning short stories called Drown, and then, after a long, tough time, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his very first novel. Until last week, I hadn't cracked Brief Wondrous Life--despite the fact I loved his first book of short stories.
Sitting on a tropical island last week, I couldn't stop reading this book. Read it now--it will leave you jumping up and down to finish your own work. He breaks every rule in the creative writing handbook, channeling comic books, history, Latino culture and science fiction through a first-person narrator struggling to write his own story.
Over at Omnivoracious, they have a summer reading list straight from Diaz himself, and a sneak peak at his new novel. Check it out:
"[L]uckily we have tens of thousands of cool writers to take the weight off. No matter who you're waiting for to publish I recommend a strong course of Samuel R. Delany (start with Dark Reflections and then graduate to his magnum opus Dhalgren) and my favorite crazy woman Natsuo Kirino (Grotesque)."
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