Sil Del Carmen Gomez was Born in the Dominican Republic and moved to Salem, Massachusetts at 10-years-old with her family. She is a dreamer in more ways than one, achieving the goals she’s set for herself with hopes that she will inspire others to do the same.
The transition from beach-life to the frigid temperatures of Salem wasn’t easy, but that upbringing instilled an eccentric personality and grit in Gomez.
“It’s interesting because I grew up in one of the most historical parts of the country where witches were very prominent. We literally embraced our bad history of being a witch city and burning people at the stake.”
After graduating with a degree from NYU for Film and Television, she visited her family in Salem over the summer where she had to finally get her driver’s license. As luck would have it, she met a soldier at the DMV and the military seed began to grow. She met with a recruiter the same week and signed up at the age of 21.
She registered with the idea of wanting to learn more, see the world, and challenge herself.
Laughing she says, “I went from New York to Kansas, wondering who did I make angry?”
Gomez’s recruiter emphasized that the military is truly what you make it, either the best experience or it could be the worst. She took this grain of knowledge and that became her life’s motto for anything she took on. This frame of thinking encouraged her to sign up for a mechanic position, despite having absolutely no previous experience, including never having changed her own oil.
To her surprise, Gomez loved her job, loved her service and her time in Iraq, proud that all of her soldiers returned home under her guidance as a Sergeant. She left the army and received a job offer in Texarkana, that was 12 years ago.
Gomez is now 38 and published her first book, Death’s Intern.
(Photo by Erin Rogers | TXK Today)
“I realized I wanted to write about people, the good, the bad, and the in between.”
Gomez was set on pursuing her dream, but had no idea how to tackle the obstacle one piece at a time. After discussing her concerns with her family members, her brother Jose pointed out that she can’t do it alone, that an editor and illustrator were needed. Gomez needed additional professionals on her team if she wanted to see her project through to fruition.
She jokes, “I take prisoners. Your last name is Gomez, I need your help,” adding, “My mom is kind of my book pimp.”
She desperately needed an intern, not just her family. That lingering thought lead to entertaining the idea of her title, Deaths Intern.
Two months is all it took for Gomez to put pen to paper and complete her first novel. Extensive research helped her identify just how hard she would have to work each day in order to complete Death’s Intern in the time she allotted. She wrote 2,000 words a day for two months until she reached 80,000 words. Each chapter can be broken down into a scene and each scene is 2,000 words, equalling 40 scenes total.
The story is about Catholicism, the military, dreamers, and the elusive concept of the death. Death’s Intern is one of five books covering DC Gomez’s creative imagination of the apocalypse. Gomez stages death as a very peaceful, loving person who is simply a mediator for transitioning “souls” to their afterlife.
Isis Black, the protagonist, meets Death’s team, including a 5,000-year-old cat, a boy wonder genius, and a few other quirky characters. Black moves to Texarkana for an escape after inadvertently killing Death’s intern. A homeless veteran, Black’s only friend, is kidnapped and Black is forced to become Death’s Intern to find her friend.
Readers get an in-depth tour of Texarkana, as well as Gomez’s own internal narrative and personal triumphs, including traversing thyroid cancer in 2012.
“I made a decision after that to have a leap of faith in myself and this book is that leap of faith.”
Gomez wants others to follow suit when it comes to following their own goals, not having to leave Texarkana to accomplish them.
Death’s Intern is dark humor with a social commentary and is available for purchase on Amazon.
