Stories of Lotería

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...

My first memory is of the lake when I was four years old.  I think that's my first memory. Truth is, I can't be sure. Between all the pictures that I've seen, and the countless retelling of events that I've heard, it's hard to distinguish authentic memory from plain old overexposure. I remember being inside an RV. It has got to be my memory because there are no existing pictures of the RV.  I remember heat, a lot of it. My mom and dad were there, along with my Aunt Gloria and Uncle George, and my cousin Lorrie. There were bugs - so many bugs.  And I distinctly recall a night on the road when I crawled up onto the overhead bed and popped my head out of a little sunroof opening, except this night it was better described as a moon roof because I laid eyes on the first amazing moon of my memory. The rest of the trip, filled in by my mom and those yellowing photos pressed firmly against the sticky pages of our 1980's photo albums (Why don't they make 'e...