The People - The Stories

Some of the faces behind In the Cards...

Las Jaras & El Musico
Emilia Macias, her daughter Pachita,
and her son Salvador

El Cantarito, El Cazo, La Muerte
Elena Medina
(formerly Elena Tapia)

Las Jaras, El Musico, El Cantarito,
El Cazo, La Muerte
Salvador Medina

La Botella
(the instigating little brothers)
Albert, Richard, David & Bill Medina

El Violoncello
Salvador Medina Jr.

El Valiente
George Medina

El Melon
(the 3 vengeful little cousins)
Lorrie, Arlene, Christina

In the Cards: A Collection of Memories Inspired by Lotería

Christina Saballos

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La Chalupa - The Canoe

The rain persisted. Winter had brought, it seemed, an endless stream of water no one was prepared for, leading eventually to busted dams, overflowing rivers, collapsed roads, and uprooted foundations. Weather conditions mirrored the political climate in so much as torrential opposition increased and all that hope and faith is built on was buckling beneath insurmountable pressure. Tiempo de Aguas , is what my grandma had referred to once when sharing her stories - a time of great rains that brought with it a sense of reckoning. I listened to the beat of the drops, waiting for sleep to come. A humming serenade hitting my roof. A tinny drip-drip-drip syncopation falling from the awning to the medal garden-turtle below. Fatter base-line plops landing carelessly in the water-filled planter closest to my bedroom window. I let the rain spill into my sleep. I awoke to quiet radiance. No more rain, but a sunlight stretched so far it was white, not yellow. My bed wavered beneath me, a gent...

El Violoncello - The Cello

Lucy heard the deep, warm tones of the cello coming from the dining room and quickly turned off her small transistor radio. Not much could tear her away from the seductive rhythms of Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes or her favorite, Smoky. But when her older brother practiced the cello she was transported to distant places that looked nothing like the confined, chipped-painted walls of their home. She didn't know much about classical instruments or any music besides motown and her parents rancheras, but for some reason those low melodic notes made her think of places she saw only on television. She imagined great concert halls bigger than her school auditorium even, where fancy ladies in the audience sparkle with jewels and the musicians wear expensive-looking suits. Her brother, Sal, played on, oblivious to the world around him. She was careful not to let him see her. In the last few months he had grown more irritable, snapping insults at anyone who interrupted his concentrat...

Announcing the Next Project

I've been asked by a lot of people, "So what are you working on now?" Honestly, before last Sunday I didn't have a straight answer because all I was working on was fragmented ideas followed by quick notes jotted down in my little purple notebook. But this past Sunday I attended the Bay Area Book Festival with my family and got the inspiration, motivation, support, kick in the ass (call it what you want) to make a decision. Next project will be a children's illustrated book I'm calling The Big Brother Lessons: The Amazing Cape. A story about 2 young brothers, overcoming jealousy for a fantastic shared experience, and the wonders of a cape. I've already written the first draft but I want to try to go the traditional publishing route this time, which means lots of submissions to publishers and months of waiting. Got my narrowed down list of appropriate publishers, editing the next draft, and here I go.... Wish me luck! P.S. I haven...

Stories of Lotería

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