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Leza πŸ«–
@LezaCantoral
Mom. Writer. Publisher. Publicity. I sometimes blog. LINK IN BIO 🍸

Leza πŸ«–β€™s posts

Publishing is a hard often thankless business, so, writers, please be nice to your editors & publishers. We are fighting for you even when you don’t see it.
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Have you noticed how the sweetest ppl will write about the darkest shit. I fucking love horror authors. πŸ‘€ πŸ”ͺ
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Feeling the head of a small human as they exited my body tops every weird experience I’ve ever had. Seeing the placenta a close second. β™₯️
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Unfriended someone on FB for talking smack about Anne Rice on her death day. I will never understand what possesses ppl to act like this when a beloved artist dies. Like if you don’t care don’t say anything lol. I assume a severe personality flaw.
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As a writer don’t be scared to ask for the things that are your right to have. Blurbs, rights to your work, royalties, press. If you do not advocate for yourself, no one will. There’s no magic fairy coming to hold your hand. You gotta be the one.
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I feel a true sense of achievement when I see how happy my baby is. Imma do my damndest to keep him that way even though I know it’s not possible to stop the inevitable corruption of the spirit that the corrosive nature of life will bring. This is the kind of joy worth keeping.
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It is particularly scary when you’re super pregnant & your partner gets in an accident. Yesterday was hard to process & I am so glad he’s ok. I feel extra vulnerable being about to give birth & we are both extra grateful to have eachother & the life we are building together. πŸ–€
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Had a lousy evening yesterday. Remy took some meds he found & we had to take him to the ER. He probably didn’t take much but he had to drink charcoal & get blood drawn for tests. He slept most of the time thankfully, but hated the other stuff. We’re back home & he’s doing great.
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All the midwives & nurses think Remy is sooooo cute. ❀️ 🍼 Should be going home tomorrow finally.
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I think CLASH is a good press for ppl who want freedom. If you want a cookie cutter experience this is not the place. What you will get is ppl who fight for good books to get out there to bookstores & readers. Very grateful for our awesome distributor helping us do that. 🀍
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Why did nobody tell me how scary talented Demi Lovato is?? I’ve been grooving to this all week & am like damn girl. You the real fucking deal. πŸ–€β­οΈβœ¨
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I’m taking a drinking break for a year & re-evaluating my coping mechanisms. Gonna look into new ways to deal with anxiety & boredom, which are my main triggers besides just enjoying it. I hope one day I can do it in moderation but for now it’s on pause. Wish me luck. 🍸🚬
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The publishing business is exhausting & disenchanting on an almost daily basis. Do not get involved with it unless you really really hate yourself & love books even more.
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This is a lonely fucking business, man. I’ll tell you that. There’s a reason ppl throw in the towel. Running a press feels like a Sisyphean task but we go on bc fuck it we love it.
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9 years ago I was doing heroin & avoiding my life. It was a really dark time, but sometimes you need to walk through the darkness to get to the light. I wrote about it in my short story β€˜last dance with heroin’ that appears in my short story collection. Link below. πŸ’€
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We took Remy to the beach today so he’d have a good memory to replace the bad one of last night. Feel so bad he had to go through all that. He really hated being in the hospital. Fortunately he’s completely fine & can enjoy a nice day at the beach. I love him so much. β™₯️🌊
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Sitting around with a dying cat was not how I thought I’d ever spend a Sunday but it’s happening. Sad to see her going. She really fought.
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The horror community is the most warm & loving of the literary communities. I love it & love y’all in the horror trenches. We’re doing God’s (or the dark lord or whatever’s) work & it’s a beautiful thing. πŸ”ͺπŸ©ΈπŸ‘€
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It’s crazy to thinkβ€” oh shit we’re running a successful indie press! Some fun stuff on the horizon. Excited & grateful.
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Having a baby is the best thing I could have done for my mental health. I feel more grounded, confident & present than I ever have in my life. It’s clearly something biological. My brain being wired to be here for my baby, tuning out all the static.
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This year I did not finish my book but I grew a baby & a press instead. I found my limits & surpassed them. Next year will be fast & furious on all levels.
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Do’s & don’ts of running an indie press β€’ don’t work with assholes β€’ attack the day or it attacks you β€’ pay ppl on time β€’ publish on merit not clout β€’ don’t take on more than you can actually handle β€’ mental health first, always
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When I feel sad, lonely & discouraged, I look at my beautiful toddler who’s learning new words every day & walking & has the brightest sweetest laugh & remember I created something good here that nobody can take away from me. A human tree that I will water & grow with so much β™₯️
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Lol me, a twin peaks fan, finally watching Fire, Walk w Me & it has fucked me the fuck up. Damn.
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Super honored to announce that I’ve won the Robert Devereaux award for short fiction for my story Cartoons in the Suicide Forest! 🌳 🌳 Grateful to fjotap for his incredible & poetic translation of my words into…
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Sorry, baby, if you insist on sleeping on me, you’re gonna get cookie crumbs in your head. Momma’s gotta eat. Good thing your head also somehow weirdly smells like cookies. πŸͺ☺️
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Being a publisher has kinda taken over my life. I already was a total slacker writer & now I actually have like work. Still, I’m finishing my first novel so that feels good. I read a chapter at & ppl dug it & it sounded good out loud. Gave me a big boost to finish
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As a writer I reserve the right to spend days never leaving the house, unwashed, hair unbrushed, eyes red like guinea pig buttholes, venturing out only to the gas station & McDonald’s in my aforementioned unwashed hobo state
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Once you have a kid β€”mortality hits you. You realize you’re gonna die & you’re gonna invest the rest of your life in raising your replacement. It’s not a side hustle, it is your life. It’s sobering, but kinda beautiful too. Gives you hope for the future.
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Just wrote an acceptance to a book that I feel the universe brought me as a gift to remind me that I am in fact on the right track with my life. βœ¨πŸŒ™
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If you like my tweets, unless you’re a complete bore or a creep I’ll probably follow you back bc I want everyone to love me. Follow me & my mommy issues.
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I’m already HUGE how tf am I gonna be getting even bigger?? A month & some change left to go before I pop 🐣
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Feeling like something that should be dead but isn’t bc I’m a woman who can bleed & breastfeed & not die. A miracle. A god in the flesh. A freak. A monster. A wonder, yes, but exhausted. 🩸
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Really fucking frustrated. Christoph being sick could have been avoided easily. Now our whole life is at a standstill. I’m pregnant & at higher risk. Thank him we are both vaxxed. But if other people aren’t then it still brings our life to a screeching halt.
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You don’t need an agent or a publicist to be a successful writer. Though they can def help get you better deals if they’re good. All you need is a book that gets ppl fired up. That’s it. There’s no magic formula. People have to be curious, either about you or the book.
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Why do ppl feel the need to comment about not liking something you’re excited about? It’s just weird to me like what’s the point.
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I get asked by writers: how do I sell myself / aka promote on social media & not feel like a whore & I’m like look at it like thisβ€” you’re giving ppl the gift of your art. Also, it’s just a game. Have fun with it.
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My work with the press has significantly scaled back since having Remy as I’m watching him full time. I don’t have a nanny. He’s not in daycare (he is starting preschool this fall tho!!) & today I’m starting on edits on a book I not only acquired but came up with the premise for.
We made writer friendly bc of what we’ve dealt with ourselves. - you get your book at printing cost & no more bc we know how shitty it is to have to pay extra for copies of your own damn book - royalties split 50/50 - you keep media rights #SmallBusinessSaturday
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Replying to
One of my publishing fantasies is to make my kid managing editor of a kids imprint of our pressβ€” books by kids for kids. I gotta wait tho, he’s only 4 months old rn πŸ˜‚
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Trying to finish my first book & having so many doubts about it being developed enough & long enough. Bout to hit 30,000 words so if I can’t hit 40 that makes it a novella which is less marketable even tho they do sell & I personally love novellas too. But yeah drowning in doubt.
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My son tried to feed me a leaf & thought it was riotously funny when I said I didn’t want it 😎 πŸƒ
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Getting my BIG glass of wine & pasta at the cheescake factory like the goth basic bitch mom I have become & yes I’ll have the table bread as well. They have good ass bread. 🍝 🍷 πŸ₯–
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I’m a publisher, which means I do not have time to read or write. Hoping next year I can somehow find the time to do both again, along with being a new mom. Wish me luck!
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That apartment in Rosemary’s Baby is pretty baller. Idk maybe I’d sell my firstborn to Satan for it. You can’t get that kinda quality real estate today in NYC.
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Never imagined when I was starting to write that I would ever be mentoring writers, being a magazine editor & running an indie press. Truth be told I never took writing all that seriously until my mid 20s. I never really studied writing at school. I grew up with a love of lit.
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When we moved upstate NY my fantasy was to move to Sleepy Hollow, only to find it overpriced & not as charming as it was 100 years ago. Moved to Troy instead, which is further upstate & retains that old NY vibe. They even have a mural of the headless horseman in post office. πŸŽƒ
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Some ppl hate revealing their age but I kinda love telling ppl I’m 40 & seeing their surprise that I’m not a haggard old crone yet & have a magical vagine that just popped out an adorable little munchkin. Idk what other ppl are doing to look 60 at 40 πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ
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Update! Mucus plug is loose. BUT that still is no indication of a firm timetable. I love how it’s like yeah labor could be starting now or like in 2 weeks πŸ™„
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I got cute lipstick. My son is adorable. Please clap πŸ‘ lol 🌞 also it is HOT AS BALLS πŸ₯΅
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As a mother & a publisher with zero free time I have fantasies of sequestering myself in a haunted attic as I pen the most haunting work yet on a rusty old typewriter,fingers bleeding, that drives me slowly mad, while imbibing toxic levels of caffeine & alcohol.
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Learning to feed a baby feels harder than almost anything else. Once my milk comes in I’m gonna feel like a superhero. ✨🍼
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Telling all the writers I publish to promote themselves on social media while I scream inwardly every time I log onto twitter, IG, FB. Kill me now. I hate this game. Sometimes it’s about amazing books. But mostly it’s a lot of bullshit.
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