"Meet the Author"

Went to a "Meet the Author" in Philly on Saturday. The guest author was Hector R. Ortiz, author of "The Creative Energy of Positive Thinking." It was a very interesting and informative evening. I'm considering asking him to speak at my conference! I bought a copy of his book and he autographed it. I also had the opportunity to introduce myself and network with the president of Taller Puertorriqueno, and another lady that was head of another Latino organization. I handed out business cards and received very positive comments about the conference. Now I'm looking forward to next month's event, "What it means to be Afro-Latino in Philadelphia: Stories from El Barrio." This is going to be a photo-documentary by photographer Sandra Andino, and it promises to be interesting as well.

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Arnaldo L.

The New Year!

Well, it's a new year and I'm really hoping for great things to happen in 2011! I'm looking forward to getting this conference up and running, I'm hoping that this Fantasy novel I've written gets published by a major publisher, I'm going to try and get more short stories published, and I'm working on an artsy coffee-table book with a friend that I hope gets published too! All in all, I'm going to be working on a lot of projects and I'm hoping they all do well! Happy New Year!

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.