On the road & back again

I was honored to be invited to the Hispanic Corporate Women's Institute in Phoenix October 21. Here I am with my comadre panelists Marisel Herrera-Anderson, Reyna Grande, and Lisha Adela García. (I'm standing). Our panel was moderated by La Reyna de Las Comadres para las Americas, Nora Comstock. It was thanks to her that I was invited to attend the Institute to begin with. She prompted our discussion of the writerly life and we fielded questions from the inquisitive and eager audience—all Latinas! This photo is us after the panel in the Las Comadres booth, signing books, answering questions, getting photos taken.

The next day, I returned to Austin after being on the road for three weeks (San Diego, Los Angeles, Tucson, Phoenix). But no time to rest! I had to gear up for the Dulce Bread & Bookshop event, an evening of song and story to celebrate the soft opening of the new bookstore in Dripping Springs, Texas (minutes from Downtown Austin). Teresa Carbajal Ravet is the owner of this unique, independent bookstore featuring a wide array of culturally diverse books. This is me, admiring her small shop. Future plans are to open a larger store in Austin. Where? That's the big question. Teresa is carefully weighing her options and looking for just the right location. In the meantime, you can order from her online! Click here to shop Dulce online.

Next on the calendar: working with Teresa on a Big Read event scheduled November 12. We've organized a "creative circle," where several writers from various disciplines talk about how they approach their work. Musician David Garza, filmmaker Miguel Alvarez, novelist Cristina Garcia, and I will be on hand to chat, sing, read, and show our work. It will be lovely, lively event. More details as they are firmed up.

Right now, I'm tired but glad to be back home.

Good news to share

Sisters, Strangers, and Starting Over, the second book in the Quinceañera Club series (July 2010) has been included in the Recommended Reading List for this year's Children's Day/Books Day, El día de los niños/El día de los libros, April 30, 2010. My book is among the Young Adult titles. The Association of Library Service to Children (a division of the American Library Association) assembles the list, along with REFORMA (the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking) and the Association of American Publishers Publishing Latino Voices for America Task Force.

While my book was not originally conceived as a Young Adult novel, I'm honored to be recognized by librarians. They were among the most important people in my early reading and writing life, and I still harbor the idea of going back to school to become a librarian. As if this honor weren't enough, I am equally thrilled to be included with authors like Oscar Hijuelos, Pat Mora, and Carlos Ruiz Safron.

Along with this good news, I received the Latino Books Month Recommended Reading List. That list, I'm pleased to say, includes some friends and colleagues: Amelia Montes (who wrote the introduction to Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton's Who Would Have Thought It?), and John Phillip Santos. Amelia, John Phillip and I are members of the Macondo Writers' Collective. Other notable writers on the adult list include: Reyna Grande, Roberto Bolaño, Jorge Luis Borges, and Helen Thorpe. All this news is "hot off the press." When an active link to a website is available, I'll be sure to post so you can read both the Día and the Latino Books Month lists in their entirety.

Recognition for Sisters.... came earlier when Las Comadres selected it for their September 2010 book club read. I will also participate in their teleconference, which should be interesting. This newspaper writer is not used to being interviewed. I guess there's a first time for everything!