On Sunday night I was working on chapter 14 of my current manuscript in progress, tentatively titled GOOD TO BE BAD (Berkley Heat, Jan. 2007). It was late, and I made a realization about something that needed to happen in the plot, or rather somePLACE the characters needed to be. The only available adult to use as a sounding board was my husband. Not my first choice since he’s not a writer, but he is a reader and could help me figure out if my realization was, well, real or a delusion brought on by deadline dementia.

So I explain to him the pertinent events in the plot that have already occurred. Then I tell him what I’m trying to achieve with this logistical shift. He nods and steeples his hands, as if in great thought, then asks me a question about my heroine that still has me gritting my teeth.

How big are her breasts?

WHAT??!!!!!!!! What on earth does that have to do with anything?

Resisting the urge to throw things at his head, I stomp out of the room. Naturally, being the sort of man who thinks that picking on his wife is a form of affection, he comes after me and claims he’s honestly trying to help. I growl at him to think of my heroine as the byproduct of Anna Nicole Smith and Dolly Parton if it will help him focus. Amazingly enough, he’s happy with that answer, smiles, focuses, and gives me a very intelligent answer. Grrr! As an aside, no, Morgan doesn’t have gargantuan breasts. She’s a normal woman, not an extra freak at a Ripley’s side show.

But it does lead me to wonder… What is it with men and breasts???

Happy Birthday to he
Happy Birthday to he
Happy Birthday to my hubby
Happy Birthday to he… who doesn’t want to talk about the fact he’s having another birthday.

But, as my dad would say, it beats the pine box.

Tonight, I dragged the house hermit out and made him mingle with people, relax with a few friends and a few beers. We skipped dinner. We didn’t have cake. We just laughed and danced and forgot yucky work stuff for a few hours. And he’ll never admit it, but I saw that smile. He had a good time.

I also didn’t forget a gift to let him know I care. Nothing says I love you quite like an iPod, so now he has his own (and can stop trying to steal mine!)

Our lives can be crazy and unpredictable. It’s filled with a lot of long hours and hard work, and occasionally, tough choices. But after more than twenty years together, I’m happy to have my sometimes shy birthday to coax out of his shell.

Life’s good!

Conventional wisdom would tell me that I should be shouting from the rooftops about my new book, bragging shamelessly that it’s fabulous and that if you haven’t read it, you’re missing out, etc. Consider the previous sentence my nod to that sort of thing so that I can get down to what I’d really like to discuss: American Idol.

In 30 short minutes, the new season will start. Now, I don’t usually make a TV commitment when I’m on deadline, as I am now. But at the moment, I’m regularly watching–count `em, folks–4 shows.

Whoever said reality TV is dead didn’t live in my house. 3 of the 4 shows I’m devoted to are reality TV. Partly because they are family friendly. Kids can pick up a lot of great values by watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Besides, Ty looks great without a shirt. (Shh! Don’t tell hubby I said that!) But second, I find people utterly FASCINATING. To see how they’re going to respond to different events. With American Idol, yeah, you want to know if they can sing. But some of them, you want to know where the heck they got their fashion sense.

So in just a few short minutes, I’ll be sitting down for another season of Randy, Paula and that sexy Brit everyone loves to hate, Simon. And I’ll be watching the folks who stroll across stage for their auditions. I once saw a T Shirt at a writers’ conference that said “Warning: Anything you do may appear in my next book”. Guess it’s too late to tell that to the people who appear on reality TV.

Okay, so I guess if I’m going to be that horn-tooting author that I’ve heard other authors claim to be, I’d say something like, “Watch for my next book. You may see the next American Idol in there.”

Becoming a Latina in 10 Easy Steps
Berkley Publishing
January 2006
ISBN 0-425-20755-2

One’s ethnicity should be a given, but for Marcela Alvarez who was born into a Mexican-American family and has been accused one too many times of not being Mexican enough, the challenge becomes, how do you become more Latina?

Well, there are many ways to approach this goal and Marcela, being a creative Hollywood animator, figures she will have no problem devising ten easy steps to make her into a model Latina.

However, when she reaches for the ten easiest clichés rather than ten real steps, all she gets is a domino effect of one disaster after another.

Author Lara Rios was kind enough to share some of her thoughts behind the creation of the book with me. Check it out!

BECOMING LATINA IN 10 EASY STEPS has been classified as chick-lit, but to me it’s just a story about learning to be who you really are. I wrote Becoming Latina in response to hearing quite often from reviewers and readers alike that books by Latino authors were not “Latino enough”. A funny comment, because Latinos are such a varied group of people. What is very Latino for one group, may not be at all for another. So I questioned, “what is it exactly that people think of when they picture a Latino?”

Personally, I don’t have many of the stereotypical traits that are considered “Latino”, however I am very much a Latina. Today I know this, but it wasn’t a conclusion that I came to easily, believe it or not. Growing up, it was difficult for me to figure out exactly who I wanted to be and where I fit in. Being Latina seemed to mean being Mexican which I wasn’t. But I also wasn’t Anglo, I was told by my “white” friends who were sure I wouldn’t burn as easily in the sun because of my Hispanic heritage. I was confused about who I was. My family didn’t help — they only seemed to make things worse. I found that many 2nd and 3rd generation ethnic-Americans face the same confusion of living in two words at the same time.

So I created a character, Marcela, who must face this issue. She is not Latina enough for her family and decides to become so. In showing the way Marcela attempts to become a bunch of cliches and fails miserably, I hope to show in a comical way that we (all women, not just Latinas) are all individuals. Each person has to follow her own dreams and not let society, family, or friends influence or dictate who she should be. The message is that it is impossible to become anything except what you truly are in your heart.

My goal also is to shake loose some of the stereotypes out there, and say that we haven’t all experience the same thing so we are not all alike. In writing my book, I intentionally populated the book with different “groups”. The rich Latinos, the middle class families, the gang member, the political activist, the Latino who is simply an American and could care less about her roots. My editor is Chinese and she told me that when she read the manuscript, she could totally relate to the heroine. So, rather than being a book about embracing one’s heritage, BECOMING LATINA IN 10 EASY STEPS is me saying, “hey, guys, stop with the stereotypes.” Take a real look, we Latinos are just like you. We don’t all speak Spanish, can’t all dance, don’t all cook wonderful meals, we come in every color and race, and some of us have never stepped foot anywhere outside the United States.

But this is all the behind the scenes stuff. Mostly, I hope people will just enjoy a good read with a few laughs, some tears, and of course, a satisfying love story.

Thanks for sharing, Lara!