Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Ayala.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started to find my literary voice at a very young age. I am the eldest of five kids, which is an interesting dynamic to navigate when you’re a loaner and an introvert. I’ve always been creative. I would draw characters and converse through them. Ironically those characters and conversations, which I named SoapToons, would eventually become mini-stage plays, which later morphed into actual books.
I had no mentors or guides in the process. Thanks to the many volumes of SoapToons (21 in total) I had tons of material to draw from. I wrote manuscripts in the format of books I’d read. After completing my first manuscript, the question became; what to do with the finished product? I checked out the covers of books to see who the publishers were and started sending my manuscript out. Rejections soon followed. No one excepted unsolicited manuscripts, especially from some unknown writer. That’s when I discovered self-publishing. The road to self-publishing is hard enough, made only more difficult when you also have to promote the work. Needless to say, the self-publishing route did not reap much by way of financial return or artistic satisfaction.
In 2006 I entered a contest that I’d found in a writer’s magazine. A publisher was looking for “urban fiction” by female authors. I added an “a” to my first name and used the English translation of Luis. Erica Lewis was born. I entered the contest and won! After confessing that Erica Lewis didn’t exist, the publisher offered a 2-book deal for me and my pseudonym. The problem: since there was no Erica Lewis there was no one to go out to book signings and other personal appearances. The books did moderately well considering. My stories garnered more attention as Erica Lewis than they had when I attempted to self-publish.
When a new contract was offered I asked the publisher if I could use a male pseudonym. They were initially resistant to change course as Erica Lewis had built a respectable fanbase. I convinced the publisher that I could do more as Lewis Ericson than I had previously. The change proved more profitable as I was now able to do all public appearances as myself, or rather Lewis Ericson.
I used the pseudonyms, which are both variations of my name because I had already self-published 4 books as E.L. Ayala. I wanted the names to be as separate as the genre they represented. I’d written inspirational fiction as Ayala, women’s fiction as Lewis, and street-lit as Ericson.
In 2011 I was approached to write a screenplay for a movie idea. I accepted the job even though I’d never written a screenplay. I researched “how to” and I did it! I was even asked to be an Assistant Director, something else I needed to master. The independent movie was released 2 years later and won several awards on the film festival circuit, which bolstered my confidence. Two more movies and several more awards followed.
What I have found to be true over the years is that my ideas for story and character are not lacking. What has made me not only a better writer but more self-assured, stronger, more determined, is being able to really look at myself, my fears, my pain, my shortcomings and know that even if there are no mentors to help guide me, there is a vast world of knowledge at my fingertips.
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?
In film production, as in most everything else in life, finance is key. I’d say the lack of funding has been my biggest challenge, but I have always found a way to get the job done. It helps to be surrounded by extremely talented people in front of, and behind the camera that believe in the vision and are willing to give their all for the completion of any particular project.
Biggest obstacle; broken promises. I have had countless individuals promise to “help” get things rolling, connect me with the right people, or get the meeting. Few promises have been honored, but I’m a fighter.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
One of the things I’m most proud of is the completion of the project If I Should Die Before I Wake (adapted from the book by the same name). It didn’t take as long to shoot as it did to get the final product, but it was a process that taught me valuable lessons. One; make sure to get a signed agreement from the money people. No handshake deals no matter how well you think you know the person making the offer. Two; sometimes talent isn’t as prepared as they should be. Be sure to have a contingency in case things don’t go as planned on the day of the shoot. Three; low budget or independent does not go hand in hand with bad quality.
To date, that one project that cost me many sleepless nights and a good chunk of my personal savings has garnered 28 indie film awards and can currently been viewed on several streaming platforms.
I don’t give up easily. I continue to strive for my place in the industry. I know I have a voice that deserves to be heard, and the work that deserves to be seen.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://elaproductions.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/ayalawriter
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ayala.writer
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AyalaWriter
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/1Dx4hWreQMQ
