Accolades

Just ten short months ago, Des Zamorano pioneered the Guest Author post here on the old blog with her novel, Human Cargo. Here's the book cover, to spark your memory:

In this mystery, Des' smart heroine, Inez Leon, is the private eye who tracks down some dangerous types and foils a heinous crime right here on San Gabriel Valley turf. It's an exciting read and now it's official: Human Cargo made the Latinidad List, Best Books of 2011. The list was created by Marcela Landres, former editor at Simon & Schuster and author of How Editors Think: The Real Reason They Rejected You.

In Landres' words, Human Cargo is: "A page-turner featuring a protagonist who could be your BFF—one who happens to be a PI with a black belt in Krav Maga."

You can download the ebook here and read it on just about any device, including a plain old laptop or desktop computer. You'll find more about Des and her work here.

It's exciting when our friends achieve. It's a thrill when they hit the heights. Congratulations, Desiree!

So, why the picture of the contemplative guy hanging out on the Caltech campus? Well, Inez has a boyfriend...

Guest Author: Des Zamorano and "Human Cargo"

I'm excited to host my first local writer guest post! Please welcome Des Zamorano, an Altadena author who has just published an engrossing detective mystery set in familiar surroundings.

cover art by Simone Rein

Isn’t it fascinating, that while even from childhood we viscerally know life isn’t fair, we still crave justice? We want a  world where good triumphs jubilantly, and evil, instead of building philanthropic foundations to cover up its crimes, actually withers, dies and rots.

That, in any case, is part of the reason I love mysteries. I’ve loved them since a friend of mine introduced me to the works of Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler, and I’m always looking for contemporary favorites, like Naomi Hirahara, Craig Johnson, and Gillian Flynn.

My protagonist, Inez Leon, a private investigator, kicked down my door  one writing morning, and refused to go away. I told her to beat it, I had a great American novel to write, filled with languorous language and sensuous subtlety. She rolled her eyes at me and sat down, then began pacing while I worked. Losing all patience, she rapped her Beretta on my desk and said, “My story’s the kind you actually read. And it’s all about right where you live, the nooks and corners you’ve never even visited.” I scowled, listened, and began writing it all down.

Human Cargo is the latest story she’s told me.  She has a knack for noticing things other people miss.

(Human Cargo is an e-book. If you can read this post, you can download it.) 

Do you have a suggestion for a local writer guest post? Are you a local (SGV), published writer/author/journalist? Email me. I'd love to hear from you.

Local Literary Lights

Before I moved here I didn't know many published authors. But in Pasadena you can practically see at night by the literary lights.

First I'll tell you about Roberta Martinez so you can immediately mark your calendar for an event at Vroman's Bookstore tomorrow evening. Roberta and her friend Patrick Conyers will present and sign their books. Roberta's book, Latinos in Pasadena, "chronicles the legacies of Mexican Americans and other Latino men and women who lived and worked in Pasadena. The Latino community has been an integral part of the San Gabriel Valley, and here is a book that gives it its rich due."

Full disclosure: I've met and enjoyed a lively email exchange with Roberta Martinez. I haven't read her book (yet), but with over 200 vintage photos it's just my thing and it's on my Christmas wish list. Roberta's got about six brains. And I know and she knows and you know that Latinos in Pasadena are people whose time has come.

I don't know Roberta's co-presenter Patrick Conyers, nor have I read his book, Pasadena 1940-2008. However he co-authored the book with Cedar Phillips, who wrote Early Pasadena. (Gotta love Arcadia Publishing for going with a good idea.) John gave me Early Pasadena for my birthday this year and I devoured it. (That's a figure of speech. I didn't actually eat it. I read it voraciously.) I'm a happy reader when you give me archival photos and accompany them with historical information.

And if you do those things with style you might just be Michele Zack, who recently published Southern California Story: Seeking the Better Life in Sierra Madre. Disclosure again: I know Michele. I haven't read her latest book (yet) but I read her previous one, Altadena: Between Wilderness and City (published by the Altadena Historical Society). I loved that one, too. Michele has a knack for digging up juicy little (or big) secrets a town might want to forget but really, really, ought to remember.

I think I could feature a local author every week and never repeat myself. Pasadena's crawling with 'em. Someday I'll even feature myself.
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Hey, why not today? Full disclosure: here comes a plug! My story, Belinda's Birthday, is in the running to be Story of the Year at the Rose City Sisters Flash Fiction blog. The story with the most unique page views wins, so go take a look. In fact, three other local bloggers--Susan Carrier, Desiree Zamorano and Margaret Finnegan--have published wonderful stories at Rose City Sisters. All are bright literary lights with whom I'm proud to share a similar flash fiction url.

Leave a comment if you've got something to say. And thanks for supporting your local literati.