A Revision Update, and Revisiting Obsessions of Old X

A Revision Update:

I'm back from Nicaragua, where I had a marvelous time visiting haunts of old. In my first days back home in Panamá I was able to place Chapter 34 of The Saint of Santa Fe in the can. This was a particularly difficult chapter to tame, but I'm pleased with the results. I am now working on Chapters 35-38. Chapter 35 needs a little more work, but Chapters 36 and 37 are virtually ready to go.

Sunday, my wife and I will be heading for Costa Rica, where we will spend two weeks. Because my wife's trip is related to her work, I will be spending my days in the inn where we're staying, revising away. My hope is to at last finish The Saint of Santa Fe while there.

On the publication front: I received an email yesterday from Nicolás Kanellos, Director of Arte Público Press. He read the manuscript of Meet Me Under the Ceiba, says it's a "wonderful read," and is eager to publish the novel. There are, however, a few changes he has requested. If we agree on the changes (which I don't think will pose a major problem), expect to see Meet Me Under the Ceiba in print within the next year.

Revisiting Obsessions of Old:

Ana Castillo is one of the first Latina writers to open my eyes to the possibility of telling my own stories in English. I have loved her work for many years now, and I've had the honor of being introduced by her at my first reading of Bernardo and the Virgin, at the Book Expo in Chicago a few years back.

A couple of years later, she asked me to translate a few poems into Spanish from her collection, Watercolor Women, Opaque Men.

I invite you to read about this honor she bestowed on me in "Translating Ana Castillo."