VOTM: What’s the most unusual experience you’ve had at a reading?
BARRIOS: My first reading was at Dirty Laundry Lit in LA. Probably 100 people attending, most of whom had had a couple of drinks before things got started. I thought I was used to talking in front of crowds, and I felt great until I was introduced and walked up to the mike. I looked up and saw everyone’s eyes and my knees began to wobble. I couldn’t stop them. I started reading and heard my voice waver – not good when the story is about a hardened druggie’s dark journey to meet his dealer.
I managed to collect myself and finish my seven minutes. Back at my seat the sweat I’d generated turned cold under my arms. I commenced beating myself up for blowing the opportunity. Then a young guy approached me and shook my hand.
“Man,” he said, “I wish I could write like you do.” For two minutes he talked to me about my work, then thanked me. “You fucking rock!”
He disappeared into the crowd and an addiction was born.
After 35 years as an ad agency creative, network news producer, industrial filmmaker and tech product strategist, Emile Barrios could no longer ignore the urge to write stories. His memoir, Nub: Story of an Ex-Cripple was published in 2008. His work also has appeared in Vestal Review, Concho River Review, and Every Writer Stories. He’s currently working on a novel about the Cajun culture of south Louisiana. Emile is originally from Baton Rouge, and has lived in San Diego nearly three decades.
Come see Emile read at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30pm.