WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Summer, where are you?

Leominster National Forest, MA

It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today is special, as we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. on the same day Barack Obama, a man of color, is inaugurated as President of the United States ... for the second time. I view these events as a testament to how much progress our country's made, and it gives me hope.

On this special day, I reflect on our past, while looking optimistically to our future.

Let's all take a moment to reflect and appreciate this day, no matter our country of origin, religion or gender.

SPANISH FRIDAY: Pajarito Kamikaze

Algo raro ocurrió cuando regresamos de California. Al día siguiente por la madrugada disperté a un ruido desconocido que se oía PLOP--PLOP--PLOP. Estaba yo tan cansada que no me levanté a investigar. Figuré que probablemente era la cola del perro que pegaba una de las puertas de abajo, y además después de varios minutos se desapareció el ruido.

El ruido PLOP--PLOP--PLOP continuó por varios dias, siempre a la misma hora, hasta que por fin me comenzó a volver loca. "Que diablos tiene ese perro!?" pensé. Cuando me levanté a regañarlo miren lo que descubrí.

¿Alguien me puede explicar por que sucede esto?

Something strange happened when we returned from California. The following morning I woke up to an unfamiliar noise that sounded like PLOP--PLOP--PLOP. Being so tired, I didn't get up to investigate it. I figured that it was probably the dog's tail banging on one of the doors downstairs, besides, after several minutes the sound disappeared.

The PLOP--PLOP--PLOP continued for several days, at the same hour, until it finally started to drive me nuts. I thought, "What the devil is wrong with that dog?" Look at what I discovered when I got up to scold him. 

Can somebody explain to me why this is happening?

Look What I Found

Don't you love it when you find something you thought you'd lost? You know. Like that pair of earrings you only wore once? Or a phone number scribbled on a scrap piece of paper belonging to someone you'd promised to call, but never did? How about ... a book?

I'd gone to visit my brother knowing that I'd be poking around several shelves of books that had belonged to my father, thinking I might find something to bring back. Well. I did find something. The original leather bound copy of Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE I'd read as a kid. The first classic I'd ever read, in fact.

I couldn't pluck that red book from its shelf fast enough. Once in my hands, I opened it to sniff its old book smell and remembered how much I'd disliked Mr. Darcy, and being so moved by the ending that I'd attempted to write a scene of my own. Even back then.

This book and a few others made it back to the East Coast. They stowed away under the plane seat in front of me, because there was no way they'd get checked with the luggage. I mean, what if they lost me, again? Yeah the husband thought I was nuts.

My brother has agreed to set aside a few other books that belong to this collection that I'll grab the next time I'm in California. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll find a few surprises inside them, too.

People, Places and Things

Ontario, CA
Memories of the distant past made new.

So many people, places, things ...

Yet, it's that sense of time and place that follows me like a shadow. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that the time and place I find myself in, is never the one at which I'm physically present, rather the one tucked away somewhere in my mind; I idealize that which I cannot touch. Please tell me if any of what I've said makes sense, or if I'm alone in this restlessness.

Arbol de Aguacate

My recent trip home revealed some familiar places and things that I'd either legitimately forgotten or had never truly seen. Such as a landscape flanked by majestic snow-capped mountains and a crystal blue sea. Lush green hillsides dotted by goats, cows and sheep. Seedlings I'd played around as a child that, now, reached for the sky with leaf-like fingers, yielding fruit for my son's small hands. Yes, I was about that age.

Then there were those sights, sounds, smells and embraces that brought forth memories a little brighter, louder and fragrant than the others.  Como mi pan dulce y agua de tamarindo. A slice of homemade flan at six a.m. My mother, brother, beautiful sister and childhood friends.

Ironic isn't it that the one place we dream and hope to someday leave to grow, is the very one that so many years later, you can't wait to see.

MIERCOLES MUDO: Elfo Marinero

The Elf's Busted Out

Rich, the Elf on the Shelf, couldn't wait to come out.

Our elf, Rich, escaped on Thanksgiving night and has been flying (yes, flying) around our home at night. This mischievous elf, whose box is a transporter to the North Pole, is running out of places to hide and has challenged my husband and I to be creative. We're having fun with it and expect this will be the last year that our son believes in Rich's magic. Santa's, too.

Our arbolito absent a half-dozen ornaments destroyed by our dog, Albert.

It's this time of year that I miss my mom and our family's large holiday gatherings. Thankfully, I'll get to spend Christmas with her in California, something I haven't done in years. I'll appreciate the time we have together, because not having her here to speak Spanish with or to hover over while she cooks has finally caught up with me. As much as I miss her, I know that my son misses her ten times more.

This being our first holiday with a dog has yielded more than it's fair share of surprises ... like its obsession with the tree. Hello -- shiny objects. Duh. The dog has meticulously picked off any ornament within its reach, leaving my son terrified at the thought of it finding his elf. Seems the poodle side of this canine is dominant because he's not only sneaky, but smart, having learned how to open a kitchen barrel that's supposed to only open by a foot lever, which was the reason we bought it.

Leo Tolstoy's ANNA KARENINA. Love this cover with the violets!

I haven't been online much the last couple weeks, spending most of my free time reading Anna Karenina before watching the new film. Turns out I like Tolstoy and am considering rereading Les Misérables, before seeing that movie, too. We'll see if time allows it. Maybe I'll read it on the plane.

Now to figure out how to transport our elf to California without taking away its magic. :-)

Help Raise Funds for the #MALALAFUND

DISCLOSURE: This is not a sponsored post.

Today, between 12-1 p.m. Twitter has donated pro bono advertising to help raise funds for the Malala Fund. Additionally, private donors have agreed to match $5,000+ raised during that time. If you would like to help contribute to helping give young girls abroad a voice and education, you can participate either by Twitter or Facebook via the links below.

THANK YOU!

Twitter - Just click to tweet!:

DONOR MATCH 12-1 ET TODAY: Give to MalalaFund.org for girls education or text “BRAVE” to 27722 to give $10 to the #MalalaFund

Bullets can't stop dreams. Give to #MalalaFund http://ow.ly/fajvf each dollar matched!

When you educate girls, you transform families and communities. #MalalaFund http://ow.ly/fajvf

I donated $13 because I believe EVERY child - boy or girl - deserves an education #MalalaFund http://ow.ly/fajvf

Facebook:

DONOR MATCH TODAY starting 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern/5 GMT we'll be standing up for Malala and her advocacy for education and the price she paid for raising her voice against extremism. Generous donors have stepped up with a challenge: For each dollar donated today, they will MATCH it. Give toMalalaFund.org or text “BRAVE” to 27722 to give $10 to the #MalalaFund.

Background:

On October 9, 2012, 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan was shot in the head by the Taliban. It was a failed attempt to silence her — and her leading voice for girls' education and the right of all children to go to school.

The Malala Fund was on behalf of Malala and her family, working together with supporters of the cause, including the United Nations Foundation and Girl Up, and several other organizations and individuals. The goal is to provide Malala with a fund she can direct so when she is well and ready, she can pursue her vision for girls education and empowerment.

The Malala Fund supports the education and empowerment of girls in Pakistan and around the world.

Through grants to civil society organizations and individuals focused on education, the Fund is advised by a committee comprising education experts and entrepreneurs, as well as Malala — when she is well enough — and her family.

November 10, the official international day of solidarity for Malala Yousafzai, was marked around the world and millions of supporters have signed petitions, contributed thousands of dollars, named schools after Malala, and more, to recognize her bravery and get the world to pay attention to girls’ education.

The facts:

61 million kids around the world are denied access to education. 

32 million are girls.

These are statistics we have the power to change, together.

Interview with INK Author Sabrina Vourvoulias & Book Giveaway

INK by Sabrina Vourvoulias

Today I'd like to share an interview with Sabrina Vourvoulias, the author of INK. I had the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of her debut early this fall and to chat with her at #Latism12, a couple weeks ago.

About INK:

Imagine living in a society where the government requires that immigrants from certain countries be branded with color-coded tattoos to denote their immigrant "status," or desirability. A place where speaking any language other than English would be punishable by law and where a minor traffic violation could lead to imprisonment at an inkatorium.

I don't want to give too much away, but these are just a few of the hair-raising situations that the four characters in this novel struggle with as they attempt to find justice and make sense of the world around them.

Eerily familiar, INK reminded me of the U.S. government's 1930s mass deportation of Mexicans, many of whom were citizens, the forced relocation of Native Americans, and the sterilization of Native American women.

GIVEAWAY:

Sabrina will be giving away a signed copy of INK on Friday, November 16th. The giveaway is only open to U.S. residents, and the winner will be chosen via random drawing. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment. :-)

Sabrina Vourvoulias

INTERVIEW:

INK depicts a grim American society and brings to mind some of our country's dark history. As you worked on this novel, did you worry how readers might react to it? What kind of response have you received?

Interesting question. Actually, no, mostly I didn’t think about the reader’s reaction as I was writing. I got caught up in the circumstances along with my characters, and so the escalation of events and restrictions felt organic and inevitable as I was writing. Also, because I was basing all of the different restrictions on what already exists and then taking them up a notch — or basing them on historical precedent — I think I simply assumed that any future reader would understand what I was doing. And in large part they have.

I did get a comment on Librarything or Goodreads — I forget which — that said the reader found the book so plausible she had to set it aside because it bothered her so much.

Look, I think there are disturbing and difficult passages in INK, but I think that is as it should be given the kind of dystopia I set up. Still, it is a book full of hope, and love, and one that acknowledges the power and strength of community.

INK deals a lot with Central-South American folklore. What influenced you to incorporate the supernatural into your novel? What were some of the resources you'd recommend to someone interested in learning more? Is there any region's folklore that is more interesting to you, than another? Are you believer?

I grew up in Guatemala, a country with an incredibly rich tradition of pre- and post-colonial myth and folklore. I’ve always loved legends and the tales that live not only on the page but off it as well, in the telling from person to person. I fit myself into a very long Guatemalan and Mexican literary tradition when I incorporate the unseen in my fiction, and it feels as integral to me as breathing.

In terms of Guatemalan myth and legend, you can’t go wrong reading pre-colonial books like the Popol Vuh and El Varón de Rabinal. Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemala’s Nobel laureate for literature, wrote a collection of short stories titled Leyendas de Guatemala, and most of his novels are infused with the country’s myth and lore. A lot of the best stuff isn’t written down, of course, so if you have a chance to listen to storytellers live that can be the best resource of all.

I love mythology, fairytales, tall tales, legends, folklore and folk art from a wide variety of cultures. I’m very familiar with Greek myth because it was one of the only ways I connected with my father’s ancestral heritage, but what I really love is more anecdotal folk tale than structured myth. Los Cadejos, el Cucuy, la Siguanaba, la Llorona, el Tzipitio, los nahuales — they’re the stuff that keeps finding its way into my work.

Sabrina Vourvoulias signs books
at #Latism 12

I do believe in the unseen. I believe in science and art and spirit, and the ways they intersect in us. So, I light velas and create ofrendas so that ancestors and saints will intercede for me at the same time as I delight in reading about morphic fields, the dance of invisible particles and sound that, no matter how inaudible, never stops resonating. I love paradoxes, particularly the ones in our natures. ;)

Do you remember how the idea for INK came about?

I’ve been listening to the personal stories of undocumented immigrants for the past twelve years as part of my work in newspapers, and in writing for my blog, Follow the Lede. I've noted how much the discourse about documentation has deteriorated through those years, and how much of it has turned, at its core, anti-immigrant and anti-Latino.

For a long time I was content to write advocacy on my blog, and journalism in the newspapers where I was editor. Then, I ran across a small newspaper article tucked into the back pages of "El Diario/La Prensa of NY," about an undocumented immigrant who worked with a landscaping company in Westchester County, who had been “given a ride” by a couple of guys on the way home from work one day. Except they took him over the border into Connecticut and dumped him there without money, cell phone or any identification, but with the warning to stay out of their state. And, according to the article, he wasn’t the first undocumented immigrant to experience this sort of “border dumping.”

The story so horrified and fascinated me it turned into the impetus for me to write fiction -- and to push what I knew undocumented immigrants were already experiencing, the two or three steps necessary into all-out dystopia.

How long did it take you to write INK?

I can’t give you a real total. I’ve actively been writing INK for about five years, but some sections, characters and settings are much, much older. Ten, maybe even fifteen years older. It’s a bit like raising a kid, actually. Sometimes the changes you make are radical game-changers, sometimes they’re more subtle, but if you’re diligent one day you stand back and think, “Hello. You’re all grown up.”

How many books did you write before this one?

I had started other novels but never finished them. INK is my first book.

What was your publishing journey like?

My first short story sale ("Flying with the Dead") was to Crossed Genres magazine and the publishers, Kay (Holt) and Bart (Leib) were just lovely to work with. I grew to be friendly with Kay through social media, told her about a critique I had gotten on what was then the first chapter of my novel — which was in various stages of draft and revision, and unfinished. She very generously offered to read it. Then she asked me for more chapters. When she was done, she made me promise to finish the novel because she wanted to know how it ended. I want to think I would have finished the novel anyway, but who knows? I do know if not for Kay's enthusiasm it might have been an even longer process. So, I sent her the final chunk of INK when it was done, and she passed it on to Bart, and at some point they told me they wanted to publish it.

The rest has been wholly wonderful. Whatever advantage there is in working with a big, mainstream press with money, a wide distribution network and a big marketing budget is more than made up for by Crossed Genres’ collaborative bent, and Kay’s and Bart’s absolute belief in the work of their writers.

You are a journalist by profession, what are some of the issues or topics that you mainly write about?

I write about Latinos in America — the challenges and triumphs, the heartbreak and hardship and the resilience of our communities. I like to focus on individuals, but I’ve written a lot about the need for humane immigration reform, about SB 1070 and its copycat legislation proposed for Pennsylvania, about the use of the term “illegal” and how that has affected the way people view all Latinos regardless of documentation status. I’ve written about how voter ID and redistricting is being used to disenfranchise Latino voters; about the high attempted suicide rate in young Latinas between the ages of 12 and 17, and about Mexican-American history and literature being taken off the shelves of schools in Tucson.

We have complicated challenges ahead of us. I don’t believe we should blind ourselves to them. But I also think we should celebrate who we are and why we are — proudly, loudly — as frequently as we can. ;)

What do you read for pleasure?

Fiction, short-stories and novels. Non-fiction, journalism, poetry. In Spanish and English. I’m in love with reading.

Did you read in your genre while writing INK?

Yes. Not exclusively, but speculative fiction is my favorite reading. ;)

Do you consider yourself a genre writer?

Yes. But I’m not a genre purist. The norm of anything bores me. I like the crossroads, the intersections, the places where people eye the wall of limitations before them and fly right over them.

Who are some of the authors that have influenced your work?

In the speculative fiction genre, I’d say Octavia Butler, Emma Bull, Charles de Lint and Ursula Le Guin are the writers I most admire. Outside of genre, I love Francisco Goldman, Sandra Cisneros, Denise Chavez, Ana Castillo, Julia Alvarez, Cristina Garcia, Amy Tan and Barbara Kingsolver.

I've heard on more than one occasion that it's more difficult for Latino/a authors to get published? Do you believe that to be true?

I think our voices are distinct from what the publishing mainstream is used to, and so perhaps we don’t fit perfectly in the mold, or seem difficult to market. Add to that the fact that literary and genre magazines publish a shamefully small number of writers of color, and you’ve got a bunch of talent with a narrower “platform” than what traditional book publishers look for in a first time novelist.

It’s also been brought to my attention recently that there are only five Latina literary agents in the U.S., so that’s got to be a factor in how many Latino/a authors get a publishing contract. Small presses have a much better record of publishing works by writers of color but, by their nature they aren’t able to attract as much attention for the writers or works on their list.

And last, but not least, what advice would you give to a writer battling self-censorship?

We all battle it. The real trick is to sink yourself deep into the story or into the character’s head. So deep, in fact, that you can’t think about where you want or don’t want it to go but just let yourself be dragged along. It’s probably one of the reasons I don’t outline. It’s way too easy to start listening to that horrible little naysaying censor’s voice if there’s an outline staring me in the face.

But even without an outline sometimes the self-censor gets through. So, I put music on loud and start writing. If the censor becomes insistent, I get up and dance. Then, back to writing. Dance. Write. Dance. Write. The censor will get tired long before you do. Trust me on this.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

"Sabrina Vourvoulias is a Latina newspaper editor, blogger and writer.

An American citizen from birth, she grew up in Guatemala and first moved to the United States when she was 15. She studied writing and filmmaking at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y.

In addition to numerous articles and editorial columns in several newspapers in Pennsylvania and New York state, her work has been published in Dappled Things, Graham House Review, La Bloga’s Floricanto, Poets Responding to SB 1070, Scheherezade’s Bequest at Cabinet des Fees, We’Moon, Crossed Genres Magazine #24, the anthologies Fat Girl in a Strange Land and Crossed Genres Year Two, and is slated to appear in upcoming issues of Bull Spec and GUD magazines.

Her blog Following the Lede was nominated for a 2011 Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) award. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and daughter. Follow her antics on Twitter @followthelede."

What if the Electoral College is Tied?

As I drove to the polling location near my home this a.m., I listened to some folks on NPR talk about what would happen in the unlikely event that the Electoral College is tied. Imagine the a scenario where we end up with a President from one party and Vice President from another. Have you cast your vote, today?