We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Cortez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

My recent book, The Hateful Heart of a Tramp has been a very meaningful project to me. It is a project that when I am gone from this world can represent and tell a very honest and sad part of my life. I am proud of the work not only because of its honesty, but because it talks about issues between men and woman and depression that will stand the test of time.

I drafted the book during one of the worst points of my life in which I lost somebody I loved and spent night after night trying to destroy myself. I had never written a book before or even attempted writing but would jot down notes after each night out and eventually decided to put them together into this novel here.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Michael Cortez, and I am a writer and illustrator from Houston, Texas. In the past I primarily worked on comics and have recently switched to drafting novels and poems.
While my work is fictionalized there are many truths in them. I believe people who have lived such lives can relate to the many problematic and chaotic adventures that are had in my work which bring something special to work. My pieces are normally dark in tone with sarcastic or dry humor.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Obviously financially supporting an artist always helps the creator stay afloat, but aside from that, respecting and understanding an artist’s job in society. Artists are not valued enough for the work they put in and the reflections of society that they are able to capture for a person’s enjoyment. To me, understanding that artists may be insane and different is something valuable to the culture of art. They are not businessmen in suits doing this for a simple paycheck. A genuine artist does this work because they must, they are driven insane by the need to create and express themselves. People will always happily consume music, movies, and paintings from artists but fail sometimes to understand how much work goes into the project. Recently with media it sees that artist play the role of jesters, performing to try and please the audience. I disagree with this and believe the landscape should change.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is when people can relate or be moved by the work in any which way. When someone tells me that they’ve gone through similar events or that they cried reading the work, that’s what really makes me feel happy. The reason for that is because that’s when you know the work was important and has purpose in this world. The best media or artworks I’ve consumed moved me, brought me to tears, made me upset, get a reaction out of me and make me feel something. That’s when art is good.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amazon.com/Hateful-Heart-Tramp-Michael-Cortez/dp/1737621622
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CortezComics