Five Authors in the Spotlight

What are you currently working on?

Isabel Allende: I just finished a story about the recent years of my family in California. It is like a sequel to my book Paula. I’m also doing research for a historical novel taking place in the Caribbean in the eighteenth century.

Jorge Ramos: My eighth book, El regalo del tiempo: Cartas a mis hijos [was] published this September in Spanish and [will be published] next spring in English as The Gift of Time: Letters from a Father. I wrote 15 letters to my children about how much I love them and about all that I have learned as a father, a husband, a son, a traveler, a writer, and a war correspondent. In late 2008 I’ll publish my first fiction work, a children’s book, I’m Just Like My Father; I’m Just Like My Mother.

Javier Sierra: A new novel about the power of words and words of power.

Cristina García: A new novel tentatively called The Lady Matador’s Hotel. It’s set during one week in and around a Guatemalan hotel where lots of people and things are converging. I’ve also just polished up a young-adult novel titled I Want to be Your Shoebox that’s coming out next summer. It’s told from the point of view of a 13-year-old girl and her 92-year-old grandfather.

Victor Villaseñor: Right now I’m working on Crazy Loco Love. It’s finished—I’m just going through the final editing—and it will be out spring or summer. It’s a continuation of Burro Genius, which was my life from kindergarten to 16-years-old. This new book is from ages 16 to 20