Being thankful and feeling blessed
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. I got choked up saying grace before our meal because I have so very much to be grateful for, not the least of which is my family and all the friends who fill my life.
Looking forward to completing one busy semester soon and anticipating an even busier spring 2015 including the April release of my new collection of stories: Oye What I'm Gonna Tell You (Ig Publishing). I'm am hoping to launch the book at the AWP conference (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) in Minneapolis. My flights and hotel are booked and I'm bringing a group of UCF students (Natalia Baquiero, Iris Mora, Adriana Castaño, Rebecca Fortes and María Elvira Vera Tatá) with me. I absolutely love this conference--a gathering where writing, the art, craft, performance, teaching and reading of it, are center-stage.
So, if you go, check out our amazing panels--Composing and Critiquing in Color: Students and Teachers on Feedback and Cuentame Algo: Latino Oral Histories and Emerging Writers on Thursday, 4/9/15 (more details in future blog posts). I'll also be signing books at the Florida Review table in the book exhibit hall on Friday 4/10/15 from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Stop by, will ya?