Rice and Beans

 

Two years of work.

Finally finished

After Zion was born, Valeria gave me the idea to write a book about becoming a father. So in my spare time I'd go to coffeeshops, Stomping Grounds, Pause Cafe Lab, Dutch Bros, and because they were open after 6pm, the cold and corporate Starbucks. There I would work on this project while eating everything from biscottis to cinnamon rolls to bad artificial flavors of lattes with that bad coffee creamer taste. 

Lattes are like art and writing and business. You try different things and find out what sticks. Black Americanos or plain lattes seem to be the best bet, since the coffee at the coffeeshop never tastes like my coffee at home, which is Seattle's Best Breakfast blend.

They say to find what your path is, there's a trisection of

• What you're passionate about
• What other people like from you
• What makes money

If you find that sweet spot in the middle of all these, you have a working idea that can be a career. You're not a "sellout" if you genuinely love what other people like and it also makes money. If you choose "starving artist" route and just opt for what you're passionate about regardless of what sells or what others like, then you're doing what you love, great. And then you end up working for Walgreens or a corporate job like me instead of dedicating your life to your passion. Isn't that also "selling out"?

That's just my tangent on the subject, but I hope that helped someone. I've written blogs before, but people seem to be more interested in my book. It helps that Valeria has a huge Brazilian following now and quite a few have been following me. They are interested in our story. 

The book is about my adventures as a single man and thoughts on the subject, to finding Valeria and going to Brazil to meet her. Then she came to the US and I married her and suddenly became a father to three kids who didn't speak English and I spoke little Portuguese. Throughout the book I talk about God the Father, Christian life, church, differences between cultures, marriage, and travel. It refuses to stay in one genre, but I'd say Christian family memoir if nothing else.

I used AI to translate it into Portuguese and catch mistakes and red flags, while I did all the original writing myself. I knew this story needed to be translated and I sat on the project for a while, because translation services were expensive. I decided to just use ChatGPT to translate it and get the book out.

On the first Saturday of October, I released by book officially. That day we did a concert at my church and I set up my table with a few books and the QR code for digital. Sold my first book and autographed it for a lady from church.

And so the book is out on Amazon for print and Kindle, both Rice and Beans and it's Brazilian Portuguese companion Arroz e Feijão. You can buy them here:

Rice and Beans 

Arroz e Feijão 

We are about to release the print version in Brazil as well!