What I will present here over the next couple of years is a steady flow of announcements of the publication of new books, primarily novels.
Mostly this reflects my (long overdue) loss of patience with the tedium of "traditional publishing" and embrace of smaller, web-based publishing houses who can do things fast without nitwit pestering from editors with their butts stuck in Manhattan and their concepts in the nineteenth century.
The first book, in August of 2008 from the new, and promising ADORO BOOKS, is
IMAGINARY LINES
Co-written by my friend and neighbor, Ana Maria Corona
This is a POD book, but hear me out: every word in it was previously published in venues ranging from the highest-paying weekly paper in the country to Harpers magazine.
The cover blurb/endorsement is by Luis Urrea, nominated for the Pulitzer and member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame.
The cover is by Victor Cauduro, one of the most prominent Mexican painters of his generation.
The book came off the press with orders from eight large bookstores.
It's not the average self-published indulgence.
In fact, it's quite a fascinating and emotionally affecting book. Several short pieces--mostly about the relationship of food and eating to culture, personal development, and love--alternate with longer pieces that explore individual lives, but always seem to illuminate the invisible frontiers that divide and unite countries, cultures, races, and the sexes.
It's got a lot do delight border-watchers, NPR-listeners, feminists, and gourmands and I richly recommend it if only for the charming insights into Ana's family and world view.
Available at this link to ADORO BOOKS