Hi-dee-ho! I just turned in my novella, “Till Death Do Us Part,” which will be included in an anthology, Other Names I Call My Sister. Many of you have been reading In Between Men and then writing to me about how much you enjoyed Isa and Alex’s story. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to do so. Those emails sparked energy for my novella, revisions to Switchcraft and some new ideas that I’m dying to get to.
Before I start my next project – office clean-up – I want to share some official Chica Lit news. My fellow anthology authors, Sofia Quintero and Berta Platas have new books coming out next week!
Sofia’s Divas Don’t Yield is about four college grads who embark on a roadtrip odyssey from New York to San Francisco. I was lucky to read an advance copy and I wish I had had friends like these in college!
Berta’s romantic comedy, Cinderella Lopez, is sex-ay. It’s smart, funny, heart breaking and just has that, you-go-girl! feel through out.
If those titles aren’t enough for your book bag, check out Lynda Sandoval’s Unsettling. That book cracks me up every time I read it (which I’ve done twice, now). How’s this for an opener:
The door squeakd open, and Betty unceremoniously clamped a clothespin on Lucy’s shirt collar, then grabbed her wrist and yanked her over the threshold. “Finally! What took you so long? Your Tía Dulcinea can only wear her teeth for a couple of hours at a time, you know.”
Copyright © 2004 by Lynda Sandoval
I just had a quick thought about my title for today’s entry. Recently, I sat in on a talk by a NYT bestseller. What really struck me was this author’s attitude, something along the lines of “having to write so many books.”
My first reaction was, “dude, would you rather do a nine to five and sit in traffic each way for two hours?” My second was, “do you realize that most of these people listening to you are working their butts off to be in your place? They’d gratefully trade!”
So I don’t want you to think that I feel “burdened” or “trapped” by my stories. Yes, when I’m in the thick of writing, it seems like I’ve gotten myself in way too deep and I don’t have what it takes to finish it. And yet, there is nothing else in this world I can imagine doing. Writing and publishing books is not a hardship and I certainly don’t resent the challenges. (Although I could do without some of the nastiness I’ve received from other authors and a few critics; but that’s not my problem, it’s theirs.) What I do is a privelege and as long as you want to read my stories, I’ve got more coming!
Now that we have that unpleasantness over with, I hope to meet many of you in person in the following months. So far I have two book signing/reading events scheduled:
Sunday March 19th, 2006, 4 p.m.
“Heels (Manolos) and Heels (Men): Books with Great Shoes and Naughty Guys”
Barnes & Noble, Torrance, CA
Del Amo Fashion Center
21500 Hawthorne Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90503
»» Mary will appear on a panel with fellow authors, Josie Brown (True Hollywood Lies) and Sonia Singh (Bollywood Confidential). Book signing to follow panel. Visit Barnes & Noble for directions!
Saturday, April 22nd, 2006, 4 p.m.
Reading & booksigning
Tia Chucha’s Cafe Cultural
12737 Glenoaks Blvd.,#22
Sylmar, CA 91342
(818)362-7060
Visit Tia Chuca’s for directions!
With that I’m off to clean my desk for the next story. I’d tell you more but even I don’t know what it’s really about.
Cheers,
Mary