I want to be the kind of writer who isn't afraid to make you cry or laugh or dream. Words matter, they have power and beauty and freedom, and with them, you can make this world a better place. Don't believe me? Check out the PEN International Book Festival. http://www.pen.org/ And check out Robert Flynn's blogs on the site.

Now this is a book reading! At my favorite bar! La Azeneth, the owner of Salute!, is struggling to keep the historic bar open (Esteban Jordan performs there every friday night, like forever). So, a Benefit/Reading/Borlote: On Friday night, May 22nd, I will read the dance chapters from Golondrina as women dance-along and some may even read-along. MAMBO! RUMBA! SALSA!!! POLKA! DANZON! LO QUE QUIERAS!!!! The Dancers are: Norma Zamora; Florinda Castillo; Dee Murff and Janie Alonso; Jessica Cerda The artist Terry Ybanez will exhibit a series of prints that are golondrina-inspired, and the photographer Joan Frederick is exhibiting twenty years of Salute! Bar photos! Also for sale. Salute! Bar International 2801 N St. Mary's San Antonio 210.732.5307 www.saluteinternational.com The Reading begins at 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm. FREE. Includes Deliciosa Comida. Cash Bar. If you want to stay and hear Esteban, $10.00 at 10:00 pm PLEASE COME AND SUPPORT AZENETH AND LA MUSICA BIEN GROOVY!

But what makes Golondrina special, what drives its considerable innovation and perfumes its hundreds of tiny pleasures, is the sheer descriptive mestizaje beauty of the novel’s language, word-by-word, in English and en español. González wields Golondrina’s Tex-Mex dialect with real mastery; in her hands, the language is lyrical, big, luxurious, funny, and terrifying. González’s arsenal, linguistically and as a storyteller, is immense and complex, with Joycean neologisms (“cornpaste”) and fierce rhythm... Golondrina, for all its potential difficulties, deserves and has the power to attract a wide audience. If you care about the changing face and language of American contemporary fiction (of world fiction; East Indian authors in particular, primarily in the UK, are pioneering new forms of English phraseology, too), and if you love a good story, and appreciate vivid descriptions of Texas landscape, architecture, culture and history rendered with surprising touches of beauty and dark humor...

My girlfriend, Rosalinda Garcia, a teacher from Grand Prairie, Texas, has cancer. It's bad, and it's good in that Rosalinda is loving life every single minute. On Monday, April 20th, I'm reading at the Latino Cultural Center, a place that is a dream come true for me, as the appointee on the Commission for Cultural Affairs who initiated, and led its establishment in the early stages. I couldn't have done it without Maria T. Garcia Pedroche. Dr. Catalina Garcia. Diana Flores. Regina Montoya. Felix Zamora. And Rosalinda Garcia, who listened, protested, and helped me with her powerful listening, patience, support, protesting, marching, and most of all - love. So I am dedicating my reading to her. Golondrina, why did you leave me? is a love story based on my mother's life. And like her, Rosalinda is a golondrina: questioning, freedom-loving, fearless, and most of all, she knows that love is the land we're seeking. Reading for Rosalinda from Golondrina, why ...

Ok, so if you want to cry, laugh, dance, get a little nekkid, and celebrate this impossible state of Texas, please join me for my Premiere Reading in San Antonio y mas: Tuesday, April 14th, Northwest Vista College, Cypress College Center, 2:00 -4:00 pm Wednesday, April 15th, PREMIERE READING, Twig Bookstore, 5005 Broadway, San Antonio, 5:00 pm (Get your taxes done early !) http://www.sacurrent.com/story.asp?id=70048 Monday, April 20th, Latino Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas, 7pm Sunday, May 3rd, BookWoman Bookstore, Austin, Texas, 3pm Saturday, May 9th, Celebration of our Mother Tardeada, Pa'htilKali Gifts, 1024 Donaldson, San Antonio, Texas, 4-6 pm Friday, May 22nd, Salute! Bar (warm-up for Esteban Jordan) 9:00 pm $10.00 admission -- includes Esteban Jordan, Joan Frederick's twenty-years of photographs of the venerable Salute! Bar, comida, and dancing while I read and of course, when Esteban plays Sunday, May 31st, Retro-Mex Vintage on Hildebrand, 4pm Pilar is hosting - she...

I do not want to glorify war anymore. Gracias a Laura Varela, a filmmaker who envisioned these images, and Joan Frederick, who took these glorious photographs as San Antonio's Luminaria Celebration on Saturday, March 14, 2009.

Because women are here to heal the world. Men are here to destroy it. We are the ones who must guide men to use their power constructively. Have you ever seen a man cry? Believe me, they want to. The love of women for the world is a divine gift, and too often we have let men take it away. It is more powerful to love than it is to hate. The Alamo is a monument to war. Join me for a Reading/Platica and Q&A about the Yellow Rose of Texas and Reclaiming the Alma, the Soul of Texas. Saturday, March 14, 2009 3-5 pm Luminaria Reading Bihl Haus Arts 2803 Fredericksburg San Antonio, TX 78201 210.383.9723 photo credits: Joan Frederick @2008