New Work Accepted

I got word today that my second in the Mickey Rangel detective series, tentatively titled The Lemon Tree Caper. This is very cool news. I had a ton of fun writing this one, getting Mickey on the case for a second time. Now to get to work on the next.

Also, with Arte Publico Press/Pinata Books: another collection of stories accepted, likely to be called Devil's Dance: Stories from Beyond. The stories are more contemporary takes on Mexican American cucuy legends: la llorona, la mano pachona, the devil at the dance, and the like. Hopefully this one will also come in a bilingual edition. More meant for middle and high school readers than something like Xavier Garza's Creepy Creatures and his more recent Kid Cyclone books, which I'd say are more for older elementary and middle school readers. But it'll be cool to be in the same space as him.

I have gotten started on my next book or story, like I posted before. It's very stream of consciousness for now, but it most likely not stay that way. I was on the plane back and took the couple pages I'd hand-written the day before and added another six or seven hand-written pages. I'm excited about it. More later.

NCTE/ALAN 2010 Orlando

I shouldn't complain because ultimately the venue was easy to maneuver, if you can get over the idea of wanting to walk from where I'm staying (the Yacht Club) to where much of the action is taking place (the Coronado). I mean, the shuttle service was pretty good and always on time. Kudos to those drivers and organizers. But man, the weather was, for the most part, awesome and would that there would've been more forethought on keeping the show as green as could be. At times, I was one of two people on the buses traveling back and forth. TV stunk, for the most part, and it was kind of funny to walk into my room and see a Mickey head on one of the beds fashioned out of hand and face towels.

I'll tell you what: it was great seeing Chris Crowe again, Matt de la Pena, Dana Reinhardt, Janet Wong, Wendy Lamb, Adrienne Waintraub (as always, too cool for school!), Bill Broz (a very awesome co-presenter), Lyn Miller-Lachman, Steve Schneider, Lee Byrd, Benjamin Alire, and the list goes on and on and on. Cool meeting Amy (A.S.) King. Teri Lesesne. Kenan Metzger. James Blasingame. Walter, the Giant Heart. The folks at National Geographic School Publishing: Andy, Tamara, Ellen, and the crew. Marina Tristan at Arte Publico. More later as my memory refreshes.

Got lots of reading done, started on a new story (long or short? don't know--it hasn't defined itself yet in that regard). Had a novel pretty much rejected, but it serves as the impetus to get back to work on it, or on something else.

ALAN was great. I got to sit in on several of the sessions and a couple of the break-outs. Would love to be invited back. I think one of the highlights for me was being on a panel titled "It's a Guy Thing," moderated by Kenan Metzger. The other panelists included Martin Chatterton (a very hip British dude), Brent Crawford, Tom Angleberger, and Derrick Barnes. Tom was hilarious! Especially when he introduced the Shipless Pirates in his latest book. But Derrick was, to me, the highlight. He spook about a man's responsibility for his family and his community. And then on the plane back I got to read his latest novel, We Could Be Brothers, in which he writes about two boys, each from opposite ends of the social economic stratus, but they got each other's back, even through the toughest of situations. It's a must read.

One of a Few Reviews for A GOOD LONG WAY

http://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/a-good-long-way/

Check it out. It's all good, I promise.

Pluma Fronteriza Interview

Check out my new interview about A Good Long Way with Pluma Fronteriza's Raymundo Rojas:

http://plumafronteriza.blogspot.com/2010/11/mas-than-menos-interview-with-rene.html.

And Kirkus, Booklist, Teri Lesesne, and ForeWord have all said very cool things about the novel. It's due out sometime soon. No specific date, but I understand it's at the printer's as I type this up. Technical issues kept it from coming out at the end of October.

A Good Long Way: The Final Cover

So here's the final cover to my up-coming novel, A Good Long Way, due out at the end of October of this year (Piñata Books/Arte Público Press). I like it!

Monster Truck show at the Lubbock Motor Speedway!

The boys, Lukas and Mikah, their friend Harley, Harley's dad, Harley's cousin Dylan, and I went to the MONSTER TRUCK show last Friday, a first for the Saldañas, and I can tell you what: it was loud and MONSTER FUN!!! Here are some pics:

Lukas and Mikah in the front left of 1/2 Pint

The Bounty Hunter 

(a side note: the fire truck in the back is all F 451: it doesn't put fires out, it lights 'em up. At the end of the night, this jet engine-powered and -fueled fire truck lit up and burned to a crisp a junked van, as part of the show; it was awesome! Not so very enviro-friendly, but it was FUN!!!)

The Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan and illustrated by Sophie Blackall

You know, I was really looking forward to reading this title with my sons, Lukas and Mikah. But boy, what a disappointment it was. Here's why: the main character, the oldest sister of three is out and out disrespectful to her mother. I mean, brutally disrespectful, and I can't explain to my boys why this part of the story just wouldn't have made it into the book if I had been editing it myself. It wouldn't have made it if I had written it, as a matter of fact. Don't get me wrong: I didn't not read it to them. I've actually read it a couple times more than the original time, but as a dad I've stopped every time and made it a point to let them know this is just wrong how the girl behaves.

So people might argue that it's just a book, that kids get that it's in the world of make-believe, but if that were the case, why is it that most of these same folks won't support a book that is ugly to one minority group or another? They'd condemn a book that includes the N-word so fast, or anything about kids getting bullied, etc. I would, too, mind you. Because books to affect kids' thinking and behavior. I'm not gonna keep a book from my kids: but it is my responsibility to raise them in the way I know to be right, and so reading to them is key, but pointing out weaknesses and faults of any kind is just as important, if not more so.

This morning, my son Lukas asked if I'd already put this post up, because I'd told him I would. He was checking up on me, to make sure I didn't fail.