Short story recently published in the award winning literary journal, The Platte Valley Review. “When a middle-aged man goes to Paris in search of love, magical encounters with local gypsies lead to real and imagined romance.” Santiago.html

With this riveting new novel, Eduardo Santiago continues the tales of Cubans in exile in the U.S. that he began with his award winning novel, Tomorrow They Will Kiss (2006) It’s 1973 and while the adults grapple with the fact that their once temporary exile from Castro’s Cuba looks to be permanent, their teenage children have to find their position in their new adopted country.
The novel focuses on fourteen-year old narrator, Jorge, and his curiosity about two neighboring brothers in their late teens, Fiery, sexy Alfonso and the shadowy, withdrawn Gerardo (Gerry), two brothers openly at war with each other. Alfonso is determined to respect his parents wishes and sticks close to the Cuban community while Gerardo explores American subculture of cheap drugs, easy sex and rock and roll.
Jorge’s curiosity turns to obsession when Alfonso takes him into his confidence only to later thoughtlessly push him away. Miracles, tragedies and a unique form of Cuban humor abound in this is a coming of age story that challenges what it means to be brothers, friends and lovers, and the painful price we all too often pay for our induction into adulthood.

I will be moderating a fantatic panel on The Hollywood Novel. Joining me will an amazing array of panelists: actress and best-selling author Victoria Rowell, well-known as Drucilla Winters on CBS’s highly-rated daytime series, The Young and the Restless. Emmy-winning TV writer (Frazier) and novelist (My Blue Heaven) Joe Keenan, L.A. Times columnist and novelist (The Starlet) Mary McNamara. I’m excited to meet them and chat them up.

Good news from my favorite literary journal, edited with an eagle’s eye for excellence by Mr. Howard Junker –
Dear Mr. Santiago,

We are including “Bit by Bit” in an upcoming anthology and are updating our contributors’ notes. Please send us your updated information. Here is what we currently have:

Eduardo Santiago lives in Los Angeles.

Best,
Kristin Kearns
Managing Editor.

Howard Junker
Editor, ZYZZYVA

A mother’s day phone call from my Tia politica, L., who lives in Havana, to my grandmother here in Miami prompted an impromptu trip to San Pedro de Sula, Honduras, where Tia L. is in residency. Tia L has the other side of the family story — los que se quedaron, the one’s who stayed — I wanted it and I got it over a series of Hondura-style lunches and dinners (they fry everything, even the salad). I brought Tia L. a copy of Tomorrow They Will Kiss and she was disheartened that she couldn’t read it. But she was delighted that her name was in the dedication - as are all my aunts.

WHY ISN’T THERE A SPANISH LANGUAGE VERSIONS? It’s what she and everyone I met in Honduras wanted to know.

While there I received an email that Tomorrow They Will Kiss will be published in Italy this summer. Presumably in Italian. I’m hoping España will follow suit. Y pronto!

The good news is that a copy of TTWK is in Tia’s hands and en route to Havana. I also sent with her a Spanish translation of Waiting For Snow In Havana. It was written by my friend Carlos Eire. I bought at Miami airport (that’s what happens when a book wins the National Book Award, it gets translated, it gets into airports - but I’m not bitter). Cool that both books will now be en la isla.

The funny thing about having a book out there in the world is that I have no idea what it’s doing, who might be reading it, or appreciating it. So every once in a while, I get a surprise email — and it’s very nice. Here is TTWK’s latest honor:
Dear Author:

I am happy to inform you that you have been named one of LatinoStories.Com’s 2008 Top Ten “New” Latino Authors to Watch (and Read). The site selects authors based on a number of factors including feedback from readers and experts in Latino literature from across the country.

As you might observe from the list, this year’s selectees include poets, historians, short-story writers, journalists, authors of children’s books, and novelists, all of whom reflect the tremendous appeal and diversity of Latino writing. Past selectees include such notables as Angie Cruz, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Reyna Grande, Sonia Nazario, Sandra Rodriguez-Barron, Rene Colato Lainez, Francisco Aragon, and H.G. Carrillo.

We hope that in some way we can contribute to the success and sales of your works. Keep up the great work.

Sincerely,
Jose B. Gonzalez, Ph.D.
Editor, LatinoStories.Com

It’s called The Big Read and it’s sponsored by the NEA. Basically, it’s a program that promotes more reading in America. I’m all for it, and I’ve been selected to spearhead the “prison pilot.” Usually, The Big Read takes place in libraries all over the country — this is the first attempt to reach out to incarcerated youth. For me it’s an honor and an adventure. This is a real prison, with cells, guards and guns! We start with London’s Call of the Wild, move on to Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues and eventually tackle such literary staples as Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird and Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. All this in 13 once-a-weeks visits. A vast majority of the boys, or “wards” as we are required to call them, don’t like to read, and they particularly don’t like to read assigned books. The few who do, lean towards crime fiction (although one did fess up to liking Jackie Collins, which, though not necessarily a crime, is a guilty pleasure). The first session, 12 wards showed up, cranky but curious. Second session, only 2. Next week we intend to bribe, er, encourage their attendance with snacks. I have placed an order for potato chips, candy bars, cookies, and juice boxes. Food for thought?

Novel Writing I: Writing the First Novel
Instructor: Eduardo Santiago

October 2 - December 4, 2007.

That novel is inside you waiting to emerge, but deciding where and how to begin and the demands of writing the manuscript may seem daunting. It need not be. Weekly assignments, group interaction, and instructor feedback help you explore various methods of writing your first novel while learning the key craft points of plot, structure, point-of-view, sense of place, and voice. The goal is to complete the first chapter of your novel by establishing an intimacy with your characters as you artfully shape their journey, and to develop an overall concept to guide you through your story.

Here’s a special treat - my long awaited San Pedro debut! And what a treat it is as I will be sharing the spotlight with two very dear friends, Rosa Lowinger, whose book Tropicana Nights blew me away last year, and Reyna Grande, author of Across A Hundred Mountains. Doesn’t she have the best name ever? I’ve considering changing my name to Grandy Gordo. Or Jimmy Changa. Or Nacho Mama. Ok, gotta stop. See you under the bridge!
Saturday, October 6, 2007

5pm

Under the Bridge Bookstore & Gallery
358 West 6th St
San Pedro, California 90731.
310-519-8871

This all-girl catholic school chose my book to read over the summer, and have invited me to lecture to the students on Thursday, September 27th. Very cool since I attended a catholic school a long long time ago. No, it was not an all-girl school. This one sounds great, read on:

Since its founding, School of the Holy Child has provided generations of young women with a strong liberal arts education rooted in Catholic values and based on the trust and reverence for the dignity and uniqueness of each person. Originally named St. Walburga’s academy in memory of Reverend Mother Mary Walburga White, SHCJ the first Provincial of the American Province of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, the school opened its doors in a small house on West 141st Street in New York City. Under the leadership of First Perfect Mother St. Ignatius, ten sisters and 14 students began classes on October 17, 1904.

1904! According to my friend George Snyder is the year everything important happened.