October 2016
Book of the Month: The Water of Life Remains in the Dead
Author: Maria Nieto
Publisher: Floricanto Press
ISBN-13: 978-1519146182
Bio: Maria is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at California State University, East Bay where she has been involved in underrepresented minority recruitment, teaching, and research for over 26 years. Maria’s research interests and science publications have focused on cancer cell detection and destruction. More recently Maria’s interests have centered on the subject of sex and gender where she has written popular press articles and an amicus brief that was submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States in support of marriage equality.
Maria’s writings extend beyond the field of science. Her first work of fiction, a murder-mystery/crime-drama entitled Pig Behind the Bear, has won four awards to date. Maria’s second novel, The Water of Life Remains in the Dead, was recently ranked #5 on the Latino Author’s top ten list for 2015 and named a 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Award Winner. Both novels feature a feisty Chicana who uses her Revlon lipstick like a talisman as she works to investigate crimes against the most vulnerable among us – immigrants and children. Maria’s writing uses history, science, and dark humor to force us to see the unseen; the victims we never knew, those killed and abused under the cover of nightfall.
Synopsis:
The Water of Life Remains in the Dead
Set in 1971, this book picks up where the award-winning novel, Pig Behind The Bear, ends. In this stand-alone sequel the reader will be treated to a fast paced drama told with grit and undercoated with humor. The story is centered on the canny, spirited and charming Los Angeles Times reporter, Alejandra Marisol. Alejandra displays relentless tenacity as she delves into the bowels of corrupt city politics, shady real-estate transactions, and an overbearing Archdiocese to fish out the truth surrounding unspeakable crimes using the art of deduction and forensic science. Alejandra’s pursuit of justice forces her to confront the merciless eviction of Angelenos from their homes to make way for Dodger Stadium as told through a cast of rich characters. While the story clearly demonstrates that the present is inextricably tied to the past, it does not let us forget that ordinary people have the ability to override the power of history to shape destiny.
Twitter: @ReadMariaNieto
Facebook: /maria.nieto.77770194
Publisher: http://www.floricantopress.com/index.html#
October 2016 – Additional Conversations with Selection – #1
Santa Muerte: The Daniela Story
Paperback: 254 pages
Publisher: Story Merchant (January 14, 2016)
ISBN-13: 978-0996990820
Author Bio:
Lucina Stone has a Master of Arts Degree in Clinical Counseling and is a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in depression, family conflict, LGBT affirmative therapy, and life coaching.
She lives in New Jersey with her family. This is her debut novel.
Book Blurb:
Lucina Stone blends Mexican folklore with modern technology and time travel in this seductive new series where the lines between right and wrong, protagonist and antagonist, truth and fiction, love and lust, and life and death have never been more blurred.
THE YEAR IS 2030. IN A DRAMATIC, final attempt to free her inner demons, twenty-year-old Daniela Delgado tempts fate and winds up on a strange farm in 1923. With an olive complexion due to her Mexican/Italian heritage and a fresh pixie cut, she is mistaken for a “boy of color.” Her only shot at survival now is to play it cool, pose as “Danny,” and figure out how to get back home to her two, loving moms.
Publisher: http://www.storymerchantbooks.com/
Facebook page: Lucina Stone https://www.facebook.com/Lucina-Stone-217918205213983/?ref=hl
Twitter: @Lucinastone9123
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Muerte-Daniela-Story-Book-ebook/dp/B01AHIS2CC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454391822&sr=8-1&keywords=santa+muerte+lucina+stone
October 2016 – Additional Conversations with selection #2
Remembering Day/Dia de los Muertos by Pat Mora
Synopsis: Long, long, long ago, Bella and her grandmother Mamá Alma admired their vegetable garden. They liked gardening together. They grew sunflowers and lilies too, and chatted with lizards and hummingbirds. They walked around the flowers and vegetables holding hands, something they had done frequently since Bella was a baby. As her grandmother aged, Bella helped her to walk. “Every year, I need your help more and more,” said Mamá Alma.
Sitting on their favorite rock, they remembered how Mamá Alma carried Bella to show her the sun and everything that grew in its powerful rays: trees, cacti, corn and flowers. The oldest and wisest woman in the village, she taught her granddaughter to sing, tell stories and weave. Mamá Alma is pleased that Bella has become the best healer in the village, the one everyone comes to for help with a sick bird or a stomach ache. Mamá Alma tells her granddaughter to remember their happy times together and to plan an annual “remembering day,” a special time to think about her when she is gone.
In this special bilingual picture book for children, acclaimed author Pat Mora creates an origin myth in which she imagines how the Mexican custom of remembering deceased loved ones—El día de los muertos or the Day of the Dead—came to be. With tender illustrations by Robert Casilla that depict Bella and Mamá Alma’s loving relationship, this book will encourage children to honor loved ones, whether by writing stories and poems or creating their own remembering place.
Bio: Pat Mora, born in El Paso, Texas, is an award-winning poet and author of books for adults, teens, and children. Her awards include a Poetry Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Golden Kite Award, American Library Association Notable Book Awards, and honorary doctorates. A former teacher and university administrator, she is the founder of the family literacy initiative El día de los niños / El día de los libros, Children’s Day / Book Day (Día). The year-long commitment to linking all children to books, languages and cultures, and of sharing what Pat calls “bookjoy,” culminates in celebrations across the country in April. Pat lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico and invites you to visit her at www.patmora.com and http://sharebookjoy.blogspot.com
Author Page: www.patmora.com
Publisher page: https://artepublicopress.com/blog/pat-mora/
Twitter: @patmora_author
Facebook: @AuthorPatMora