Diana López
Author of CONFETTI GIRL
Thanking Readers
Every week, I get emails or letters from readers. Thank you so much for your encouragement. It’s been a wonderful pleasure to learn that both young people and adults are enjoying CONFETTI GIRL and that often mothers and daughters are reading it together. Here are some pics. Ashley and Christina from Garden City invented a CONFETTI GIRL game. As you know, I love board games, so I was thrilled to hear about their project. Also included are pics from a Chicas Book Club meeting. The members, Citlalli, Olivia, Katia, Magali, and Daniela, made beautiful cascarones. Thanks Ms. Mackenzie for hosting the club.
National Latino Writers Conference
I had the pleasure of being on the faculty for the 8th annual National Latino Writers Conference in Albuquerque. I hosted two workshops: one for writers interested in young adult fiction and another, along with my agent Stefanie Von Borstel, for writers who wanted a critique of their pitch. I even had time to attend the screenwriting workshop conducted by Marilyn Atlas. The best part of the conference was listening to all the Latino voices during the open-mike readings and visiting with the participants and with fellow writers like Lucha Corpi, Lydia Gil, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, and Luis Alberto Urrea. As you can see from the pics below, even La Muerte loves CONFETTI GIRL.
Ben Bolt
April Showers
Yes, it showered rain, flowers, and books this month! April began with a visit to Orange Grove. What a beautiful drive with a Texan landscape full of bluebonnets, Mexican hats, and Indian paintbrush. The colorful day continued at Orange Grove high school where I saw lots of feet covered in stripes, polka dots, and swirls. Thanks to Georgia Witt for organizing the event and donating a book to everyone who wore crazy socks.
I also touched base with students at the Young Authors Conference sponsored by the Edgewood School District. I joined YA author, Diane Gonzalez Bertrand, as we conducted creative writing workshops. Diane focused on setting while I focused on creating memorable characters. One girl, for example, created an underwater palace that is revealed during low tide, the only time her heroine can walk upon dry land. I hope she finishes her story because it sounds intriguing. Lucky for me, this year’s TLA Conference was in San Antonio. I joined local authors and members of the SHLW (Society of Hispanic and Latino Writers) at Paloma Blanca for dinner with Sarah Cortez – editor, poet, and cop. To learn more about her, visit her website. Before my signing at the conference, I visited my dear author friends, Lupe Ruiz-Flores and Maritha Burmeister whose children’s book, The Twelve Dog Days of Christmas in New York City has just been released. Then it was time to sign books! Thanks to all the librarians and students who came by, and a special thanks to my editor Connie Hsu and agent Stefanie von Borstel for a wonderful lunch at Azuca.
March Madness!
My March festivities began on the 5th-6th in Rockdale for the Tejas Art and Book Festival. On Friday, I visited 6th graders at Rockdale Junior High. They were a wonderful group with lots of insightful questions. The next day, I went to the library for the Book Festival. For me, the highlight was meeting young readers and listening to the Matinee Music Club perform songs about literature and reading.
On March 13, I read at Luminaria, an arts-enriched block party held in downtown San Antonio each year. I joined the charming and talented Nepthalí de Leon in Maverick Plaza where we read right next to the Fish Taco Booth. Yes, where else can you eat fish tacos and hear me read? I want to give a special acknowledgment to Nepthalí who completely mesmerized the children with his paintings and stories.
On March 23-24, I went to the valley for the Reading Rock Stars program sponsored by the Texas Book Festival and UT Pan American. Thanks to Clay Smith and Blair Newberry for organizing a wonderful event. I met children’s authors Mac Barnett and José Lozano, and touched base with my dear writer friends René Saldaña and René Colato Laínez.
Greenwood Library
On November 14th, I got to celebrate Corpus Christi Public Libraries’ Centennial Anniversary at Greenwood Library where I attended my first writing workshop in the third grade. We had a full house! My parents, nephews, and aunts came too! After my reading, Tricia, one of the librarians, gave a sock-shaped ribbon to all who wore wacky socks. We also had arts and crafts activities, and many enjoyed making cascarones and decorating socks. I’d like to thank Dorothea Castanon for organizing this wonderful event, and BESO (Bilingual Education Student Organization) from Corpus Christi A&M for bringing supplies and monitoring the arts projects.
School Visits
St. Philip’s College
Texas Book Festival
Jill S. Alexander, author of The Sweetheart of Prosper County
Heather Hepler, author of The Cupcake Queen
Jacqueline Kelly, author of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
On October 11th, I joined Larry Decker and Scott Bennet in Corpus Christi to film a book trailer for Confetti Girl. We are so grateful to Dorothea Castanon for letting us film at Greenwood Library where I took a poetry workshop when I was in the third grade. Next spring, the trailer will be presented at Scholastic book fairs around the country!
Latina Mothers & Daughters Conference
Thanks to all the mothers and daughters who attended my workshop called “A Quilt of Words” on October 9th at St. Philip’s College. We cut and pasted brightly colored paper to make quilt squares that the mothers and daughters used to write about a favorite memory they shared. Then we combined the squares and displayed our quilt at a banquet later that evening.
Writing Warriors!
My Hecho en Tejas friends and I met with high school seniors from Goliad at the University of Houston Victoria on October 1st. Many thanks to Macarena Hernandez and the LEAD department at UHV for organizing this wonderful event. Tony Diaz of Nuestra Palabra kicked off the day with a strong message: “Language is Power!” He also shared slide shows and video clips from Latino book fairs featuring Oscar De La Hoya and Edward James Olmos. After lunch, I gave a reading of Confetti Girl. When I finished the first chapter, one of the students asked a very insightful question: “If the story is so sad, then why does it have such a joyful cover?” The only way to answer was to pass out cascarones to make us smile.
Hispanic Heritage Month Continues
On Friday, September 25th, I met school librarians from all over San Antonio at the Library Roundup hosted by Region 20. Many thanks to Pat Anderson of Overlooked Books for helping me promote Confetti Girl and for setting up a panel presentation so that fellow authors David Davis, P. J. Hoover, and I could share classroom ideas. For me, the highlight of this event was meeting Andrea Garcia, the current librarian at Horace Mann Middle School where I taught for nine years and whose students inspired me to write for the middle grade age group. Speaking to Andrea made me remember Mann’s beautiful school building with its red-and-black checkered floor and beautifully landscaped courtyard.
The following day, I joined several local authors at a Hispanic Heritage Month panel hosted by SLHW. Lupe Gonzalez (author of Too Late for Romance) encouraged everyone to “write from the heart” and Bertha Jacobson (contributor to Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery) acknowledged that it takes a community to build a writer. I’d like to add that it also takes a community to build a reader.Hispanic Heritage Month!
Hispanic Heritage Month is here! The celebration began on September 15th at Twig Book Shop in San Antonio. Thanks to my friends and family who stopped by.
I also celebrated in Austin at Book People. I arrived early to enjoy a chat with Cyndi Hughes, who works with the Writers’ League of Texas. The audience included a who’s who of Texan writers: Dagoberto Gilb, Christine Granados, and Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith. Plus, two of my childhood friends came! Many moons ago, we were Baker Broncos, just like Lina.
