Rayne Alarcio Second Interview
We did a second interview with Rayne Alarcio after our Indie Author Spotlight!
What does your writing ritual look like?
Right now it looks like waking up at 6:00 a.m. with the sunrise, downing a Suntory BOSS Café au Lait, and opening my Google Doc before my brain can talk me out of it. Sometimes I draft poems on the train between Ebisu and Shibuya, earbuds in, even if nothing’s playing, just to muffle the world enough to focus.
What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received as an Indie Author?
The worst advice I ever got was to “spray and pray” with submissions—just send your work everywhere and hope something sticks. I’ve had much better luck researching journals and presses that genuinely fit my voice and sending my work with intention. Fewer, smarter submissions have taken me further than blasting out a hundred at random.
What’s your go-to book, movie, or musical artist when you need some inspiration (or just a break from the keyboard)? Why?
My go to video game to escape or get inspired is Final Fantasy XIV. I swear, the plot twists are insane in the best way. I usually play with my older cousin and some friends from college and high school. The music is incredible as well and I have a lo-fi FFXIV playlist on Spotify I like to loop while I’m doing laundry and organizing my room. The storyline reminds me that the best narratives can make you laugh and cry within ten minutes of the same cutscene.
If you could snap your fingers and be “known” for one piece of your writing, what would it be? Is it something already published? Or is it something in your heart you’ve not yet written?
I’d love to be known for my Literary New Adult gay T4T novel about two ideological rivals in a creative writing workshop slowly falling for each other. I’m deep in the middle of drafting and daydreaming about writing a television script for it now, so ask me again in a year.
Any other tidbits you wanna share?
I’m learning Spanish and Japanese. My Spotify playlists fall into two genres: language-learning commute vibes or psychoanalyze-my-characters’-deepest- wound-core. I thrifted most of my current wardrobe. I hoard notebooks and pens like a gremlin. Famichiki and 7-Eleven karaage are elite.
Do you have a newsletter you want people to sign-up for?
Coming soon. For now, follow me on Instagram @raynealarcio for more updates
