FELIPE RODRIGUEZ - Cada Navidad.wmv

The Blizzard of '10

Wow, did anyone expect all of this snow and wind? True blizzard conditions, and my son and I celebrated by walking about 11 blocks and getting a bucket of fried chicken from the fried chicken place on Merrick Blvd! It was crazy! We couldn't see 5 feet in front of us, the snow was already knee deep in places, and the crystalline snowflakes stung our faces like chinese throwing stars. What fun!

Anyway, I also finished a short story for a Wordhustler contest in which the winner gets his/her story made into movie. I think it's one of the best I've ever written. I've also finished the first of a trilogy of Fantasy novels... I think this one's pretty good too. Let's not forget the writers conference I'm putting together for next year, hard at work on that too! Anyway, have a Happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

New Novel finished...

Well, I've finished my latest novel. It's a departure from my previous novel which was basically a crime story. It involved cops, a serial killer, realistic New York City scenes... this new novel, which is actually a collaborative effort between my son and I is a FANTASY novel. The working title is "The Father & Son Chronicles" and I actually had a lot of fun writing it. I'm planning on making it a trilogy, but if it continues to be so much fun (and if people are actually reading it) I may keep going. It has knights, barbarians, dwarves, elves, assassins, monsters, gods, kings, queens... it just keeps going and going! Anyway, I'm hoping it gets picked up by an agent and then a major publisher like Tor. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

30 years and counting...

Right at this very moment, my family and I are preparing for the celebration of my 30th wedding anniversary. Well, to say just my anniversary is wrong of course since my wife sure had a lot to do with it! You know, the years just went by in a blur, and all I can really remember is being happy. I married the woman I loved, my high school sweetheart in fact, and we had some great times before and after the kids were born. Now don't get me wrong, we had plenty of tough times... there were days we didn't eat because there was no money, there were those weeks and weeks when all we could afford to eat was boxed (instant) macaroni & cheese because they were three for a dollar, there were the days in winter with no heat and no hot water, and those sweltering days in summer with no air conditioning and only hot water coming out of the faucets... We were young and too proud and stubborn to ask for help... but we preservered. We raised three beautiful children, I'm close to retirement, and we have a wonderful granddaughter.

Hello one and all! Just wanted to drop a note in my blog here to let everyone that reads this (yeah, all 2 of you!) know about the writer's conference I'm hosting next year. It's slated for October 1st, 2011 (it's a Saturday) in New York City as part of the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. There will be networking, classes, agents, goodie bags, and more! So if you're a Latino author or writer, mark this date off on your calendar and plan to join us!

Granta names 'best young Spanish-language novelists'

Extending its celebrated selections of rising literary stars into the Spanish-speaking world, journal tips 22 young authors for the future

The future Ian McEwans and Salman Rushdies of the Spanish-language literary world have been named by Granta magazine in a list of the best young Spanish-language authors writing today.
From Argentinian author Federico Falco to Chilean poet and novelist Alejandro Zambra and Spain's Pablo Gutiérrez, the literary magazine unveiled the 22 writers to make it into its list of the best of young Spanish-language novelists in Madrid this morning. Running since 1983, when the literary magazine included Julian Barnes, Martin Amis, McEwan and Rushdie in its list of the best of young British novelists, Granta's "best of young novelists" series has tipped a host of future writers for stardom, from Edwidge Danticat to Jonathan Franzen, but has never looked outside America and the UK before.
A panel of judges including acclaimed Argentinian film director and writer Edgardo Cozarinsky, award-winning novelist Francisco Goldman and journalist Isabel Hilton, along with the Spanish edition of Granta's editors Aurelio Major and Valerie Miles, chose the Spanish-language writers, who also include Peruvian short story writer Carlos Yushimito del Valle, currently finishing his first novel, and Argentinian poet and short story writer Matías Néspolo, whose first novel, Siete maneras de matar a un gato (Seven Ways to Kill a Cat), is due out in English from Harvill Secker.
"From Borges to Bolano, the Spanish language has given us some of the most beloved writers of the 20th and 21st centuries," said Granta. "But as the reach of Spanish-language culture extends far beyond Spain and Latin America, and the US tilts towards a majority Hispanic population, it is time to ask who is next in this exciting tradition."
Granta said that fiction from the 22 authors, which will feature in the new editions of Granta and Granta en español next month, would give readers "an unprecedented insight into the world of Spanish letters". Of the writers selected, eight come from Argentina, six from Spain, two each from Peru and Chile, and one from Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and Uruguay. Five of the 22 writers are female.
Granta's best of young Spanish novelists:
Carlos Yushimito del Valle
Matías Néspolo
Alberto Olmos
Antonio Ortuño
Andrés Felipe Solano
Santiago Roncagliolo
Elvira Navarro
Andrés Neuman
Patricio Pron
Carlos Labbé
Oliverio Coelho
Rodrigo Hasbún
Sònia Hernández
Andrés Ressia Colino
Samanta Schweblin
Pola Oloixarac
Javier Montes
Federico Falco
Pablo Gutiérrez
Andrés Barba
Alejandro Zambra
Lucía Puenzo
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

The NYC Pitch Conference

What can I say except... wow. I went to the 2010 NYC Pitch & Shop writers conference and I had a great time. I met some very talented people who also happened to be very nice and a lot of fun. I wish it didn't have to end so soon, but I have to admit I was exhausted by the time it did end. I was lucky because the editors of two publishing houses indicated that they wanted to see more of my manuscript. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Anyway, like I said, it was a wonderful time and I could feel my atrophying creative muscles come back to life. It was great!

Marketing, marketing, marketing

You know, I just LOVE beating that dead horse! I've been so busy trying to market my novel, Chickenhawk, that I haven't been able to write much of anything new. Oh, don't get me wrong, I've started plenty of things (short storys, articles, fiction and non-fiction books), but I haven't been consistant and I haven't finished anything. Three marketing things I'm doing are:

1. Participating in the L.A. Book Festival via Authorsden. They'll put three copies of my novel on their shelves at the festival, and hand out copies of my promotional bookmarks to attendees.
2. My publisher, PublishAmerica, is sending five copies of my novel to Random House. I have no illusions about the results of this, but I figure that for the opportunity to be read by someone at Random House it's worth the money I paid.
3. I'm participating in the NYC Pitch and Shop next month, in which I will have the opportunity to pitch my novel to several agents; as well as shop it around to various publishers. Again, I feel that the possibilities outweigh the costs.

Anyway, I'm going to have to cut this stuff out and get back to writing, but it's so hard...! Wish me luck!

Foreclosure Looms...

Hi,
Well, today I answered the foreclosure summons I received on the 16th of January. Everyone involved at the courthouse was very nice. I have never been this close to losing my home and yet I am filled with a profound sense of calm... it can only be God, because I really can't afford to be homeless, and there are times when I ask myself inwardly if I shouldn't be more afraid, more panicked... my daughter even mentioned it today. The entire family feels this warm sense of calm in the face of our foreclosure... it's weird. No, no, we haven't given up or resigned ourselves to losing our home, we still intend to give it our all in the attempt to save our home (such as the Answering of the Foreclosure Service today), but I think that we have all really placed this in God's hands.

And so it goes...!

Okay, I'm getting ready to leave work. I'm beat... tired... Not from the job, but from the rigors of life. I usually enjoy a good fight, but the constant battles I've been engaged in for the past three years have taken their toll... and I'm tired. I don't really see a way out of my current dilemmas, and I was ready to just stick my head in the sand and just call it a night. But I have maybe one more idea... maybe I can make something happen to save me financially... we'll see. But it's not just finances... there have been family illnesses, deaths, the deaths of friends and acquaintances - too many - , negative family drama, my own failing health, the non-interest in my novel, the recent failure of a job interview, and so many more things... like the possible foreclosure on my home, the loss of my car... ah well, everyone's got problems and I guess I should stop whining about mine. Thanks however, to those of you (if there's anyone out there at all) that have stopped to read my words. Take care and God Bless. Ciao.

Scary stuff!

Earlier this week I received a letter from a law office stating that unless I pay off my house in FULL, it will go into foreclosure! I'm at a loss... I have to admit that I don't know what to do!