019: The Merida Writers’ Expo

Don’t forget that today (Saturday January 19^th) is the day of the Merida Writers’ Expo.  Authors, bloggers, editors and other literary types are gathering at the Merida English Library – and they want to meet you!

Our city has become a magnet for all kinds of artists. Many painters, sculptors, musicians, dancers, film makers and others have found their muse in Merida. But our city is isolated from other major Mexican arts centers. And so much of the talent goes unnoticed.

Before the idea of writing a book started to settle into my soul, I spent years penning     letters, class plans, and travel pieces. When I finally sat down to see what I could do, the words poured out of my mind faster than I could type. The next morning I showed Jorge what I’d written. “Do you think I could write a full length book?” I asked him.

“You’ll never know unless you try,” he answered. And I was off!

I finished in about six months. Several of my friends contributed their short stories to a section of the book, and another friend helped me edit. I called my book: Tomando Agua de Pozo – A Neophyte’s Guide to Yucatan, and I wondered, “Where to from here?”

I decided to self-publish because I couldn’t imagine that anyone would want to publish my work.  My son found a small print shop, and down I went with my pages. It took ages to typeset my English language text because the printer did not understand the language. I had to go through the proof with an eagle eye. I found hundreds of words separated like this: b-ecause ; r-ight; thro-ugh… What a tedious task!

A friend designed my cover, the pages were printed, and one December afternoon (on the   date I hosted the IWC tea at our house) the first 10 copies were delivered. We passed them around and everyone wanted one. It was heady stuff …

And so began my second career as a writer.

Would you like to hear more stories and know what we’re all up to?

Come and join us on Saturday at the Merida English Library, from 10 am until 1 pm. The address is:

Calle 53 No.  524, between 66 and 68, Santiago

Remember, there can’t be writers if there are no readers!

About these ads