Vivir el Dream

Hello, everyone,

In case you hadn’t realized, I wrote a book and published it on May 19th! It is called Vivir el Dream and is a Latino Christian fiction book about an undocumented college student trying to make her way in the world.

You can find it on Amazon for $16.99 in paperback, $3.99 in ebook. Also signed copies are available for $15 (plus $3 shipping if you’re not local).

I was inspired by my friends, family, church family, and community who haven’t given up even when they’ve been through unimaginably difficult circumstances. I wanted to give a glimpse into the life of undocumented people in the U.S.: why they come here, what they have to go through to get here, and what things are like for them once they arrive.

It is also rich with descriptions of authentic Mexican cuisine and culture and has elements of inspiration, light romance, and humor.

You can also find out more information on my Facebook author page and on the Facebook book page.

Here’s a little more about the book:

The fates of an undocumented college student and her mother intertwine with a suicidal businessman’s. As circumstances worsen, will their faith carry them through or will their fears drag them down?

Linda Palacios crossed the border at age three with her mother, Juanita, to escape their traumatic life in Mexico and to pursue the American dream. Years later, Linda nears college graduation. With little hope for the future as an undocumented immigrant, Linda wonders where her life is going.

 

Tim Draker, a long-unemployed businessman, has wondered the same thing. Overcome with despair, he decides to take his own life. Before he can carry out his plan, he changes course when he finds a job as a mechanic. Embarrassed about working at a garage in the barrio, he lies to his wife in hopes of finding something better.

 

After Juanita’s coworker gets deported, she takes in her friend’s son, Hector, whom her daughter Linda can’t stand, While Juanita deals with nightmares of her traumatic past, she loses her job and decides to go into business for herself.

 

Will the three of them allow God to guide them through the challenges to come, or will they let their own desires and goals get in the way of His path?

Random Thoughts/Amazing Discoveries

This has been a week for random realizations, thoughts, and “amazing discoveries” which if you know me or have seen me blog about my “amazing discoveries” before know that they are so amazing because it’s freakin’ amazing that I never realized them before! 🙂

1. I am following a slightly non-specific recipe for baba ganouj. It says to bake eggplants in an oven with the skin on but doesn’t say for how long or what temperature, so I pick a neutral temp (375) and just leave them in there. Right after I check on them and think, they’re looking done. I close the oven door again and *POP* Apparently if you leave eggplant in the oven too long, they explode. Very very messily…Ever try to get baked on eggplant off an oven wall? I have! It doesn’t work great!
2. My husband was watching “I Love Lucy” and suddenly there’s a scene with Ricky at the club where he’s talking to a bandmate or something. And, guess what…all that stuff isn’t random silly sounds as I thought as a child. He’s speaking Spanish! hahahah. I suppose this is the first time I’ve seen the show since being bilingual. As a kid it just sounded like blabber, like he was just stringing silly sounds together. But, hey, what do you know? Those silly sounds are the sounds of the foreign language known as Spanish. Amazing discovery: Ricky Ricardo speaks Spanish!
3. I’m going for a walk with my son and on the side of the road in our neighborhood is a dead bird, just looking like it died of natural causes. I pause and think about how a baby squirrel fell out of tree in our yard and died the day before. I have a moment where I consider an epidemic whose first signs are small animals dying but then I think…there are a lot of squirrels and birds in the world…why don’t I see more of them dead? Like where do they go? What happens to all their tiny bodies? I mean, seriously, people…where are all the dead animals? There are thousands of birds and tiny rodents and other creatures in neighborhoods everywhere. What happens to them when they die? Do other animals eat them right away? Because I never seem to see dead animals. Do they hide somewhere before they die? This idea is totally freaking me out, so if someone is a scientist in this realm…please fill me in. Like, where are all the dead animals? Because right now I’m also considering a Truman Show scenario where someone didn’t do his job on the set cleaning up a dead bird…

*Mike drop*