Cover for the second book in the Quinceañera Club series

I stumbled upon it while on Amazon.com. I'm still not fond of the title but I like the image of the blanket fluttering in the breeze.

What do you think?

DAMAS hits bookstores Aug. 11!

Can you believe it? It's still not real to me—I'll believe it when I walk into my favorite bookstore on August 11, and see it there in living color.

Speaking of "living color," check out this pretty palette of dresses in the photo. This was taken at the end of the fashion show at the Quince Expo & Latina Bridal Festival I appeared at last weekend in Austin, Texas. The expo is not your typical "book event," but I had to go when the invite was warmly offered by event planner (and sister las comadres member) Cindy Benavides. If there was any doubt that anyone heard me, those doubts were dashed when en eager bunch of young women and their mothers came up after I read to find out more about the book. Looks like there's a bright future for the Quinceañera Club series. Eso!

If you'd like to read an excerpt of Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz, scroll down below or clique aqui.

UPDATE: A local rep from Barnes & Noble here in Austin told me that Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz is in her store now. Also, family in Nebraska reports they got their copies ordered from Amazon in the mail on Friday.

New review from Teresa Carbajal Ravet

Teresa is an Austin-based blogger, a mother, a writer, a translator, a reader, and one of Austin's local coordinators of the Las Comadres Book Club. I've spent many lovely evenings chatting with Teresa and other comadres about books written by Latin@ writers, and I so appreciate her enthusiasm and passion for the written word. Read her generous review of Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz here.

Quince or Sweet 16?

Latinitas, the first and only digital magazine by and for Latina girls and youth wants to know: Quince or Sweet 16? They are currently collecting thoughts on the subject here.

I'm so pleased to say that Latinitas was born and raised in Austin, Tejas, by two, very dynamic Latinas, Laura Donnelly (a new mami!) and Alicia Rascon. In a few short years, they have expanded their reach and now have an office in El Paso, where Alicia now lives with her family.

A print version of Latinitas came out earlier this year, with plans to roll out a regular publication later in the year. Click here to read a lovely, first person account of Anna-Alizette Ruiz's quinceañera and what it meant to her. Eso!

Q&A with Joy Castro now online

The follow-up to Joy Castro's remarkable review can be found here.

Joy Castro reviews DAMAS

Joy Castro is a writer (The Truth Book), a professor, the bloggera behind joycastro.com, and an esteemed colleague through our membership in Macondo, the writers' collective created by Sandra Cisneros. I'm proud to call Joy a home girl—she lives in my home town of Lincoln, Nebraska, where she's a professor of English at the University of Nebraska.

Joy has totally blown me away with her enormously thoughtful critique of Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz. Click here to read what she has to say about the book, Latina Letters, and where Damas falls in the spectrum of popular women's literature.

Posting on the fly

Belinda has sampled cupcakes from Four Pink Dragonflies, the official baker for the book release party August 18. (See Events Calendar post). I don't know how Maritza Lujan, the wizard behind Four Pink Dragonflies does it. All I know is that one bite = heaven.

Love the name of Maritza's business—named for her four daughters. Sweet!

Posting on the fly

Belinda is taste testing the "Quince Cocktail" for the book release party Aug. 18. YUM!

Check the Events Calendar Post for more information on the book release party and upcoming readings.

EVENTS CALENDAR--check back often

August 25
Reading
BookPeople - 6th & Lamar - Austin, Texas
7pm

August 29
Brunch with the Author
Viva! Book Store, 8407 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas 11am
Reading
Barnes & Noble - 321 NW Loop 410 - San Antonio, Texas 3pm

September 16
Classroom appearances, lecture, reading
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Nebraska

September 18
Reading & appearance
Nebraska Literary Festival –Omaha, Nebraska

September 20
Reception, reading, and special
Mother + Daughter Workshop (details TBA)
BookWoman Book Store - 5501 N. Lamar Blvd. - Austin, Texas

September 26, 27
Appearance
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Trade Show
Greenville, South Carolina

*October 16, 17
Reading/Performance
Myrna Cabello Show Long Performance Center – Austin, Texas

October 31, November 1
Reading & Appearance
Texas Book Festival – Austin, Texas

Floored, honored, and touched

I have been answering questions from two, enormously talented blog queens: Marcela Landres and Joy Castro. Marcela has an e-zine called Latinidad and Joy—a talented writer and academic hailing from my home state of Nebraska (yes, Nebraska--Latin@s are EVERYWHERE, esa!). But back to La Joy: she writes about Latinas and literature, crossing back and forth over that boundary between popular and literary fiction—just like we Latin@s do as part of everyday life!

The thoughtful questions Marcela and Joy have come up with, the care with which they are assembling their pieces about me and Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz, and ultimately, the corazón each of them brings, not only to my work, but to their everyday practice, working with, reading, devouring, and loving words....it's simply amazing.

I am honored to be included in their work.

I'll share links to their articles when they're posted.