A 2007 Gift to You from Las Comadres…

The Third Las Comadres Author's Teleconference
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
8:00pm Eastern Time, 7:00pm Central Time, 6:00pm Mountain Time,
5:00pm Pacific Time

Join Liz Balmaseda and comadres around the nation on February 21st, as she interviews author Cecilia Samartin, author of
Broken Paradise. (See below for a bio, description of the book.)

Our special gratitude to Comadre Marcela Landres for her support and expertise in guiding the development of this project and for performing the interviews for the two teleconference of 2006. Comadre Nancy Marmolejo also offered invaluable technical assistance and moral support!




Have you ever wanted to find out how an author writes a book? Where she gets her ideas? Who or what is her inspiration? What she hoping to accomplish? Now you can have these and many other questions answered in the Las Comadres Author Series!
Each month comadre guest interviewers, to be announced monthly, will interview a comadre author, whose latest book has just been released, in a teleconference. Don't wait to sign-up because the first 40 to register receive a free copy of the book compliments of the publisher, Simon and Schuster, Atria Books!
To register just fill out the form below. You will receive a confirmation with the date, times, and call in numbers for the teleconference. On the day of the teleconference, just phone in and listen to the interview! You may send questions to the author via Nora Comstock until four days before the teleconference.
Can't participate live, but are dying to know what was said? For $4.95 you can download a copy of the teleconference. You will need to send in a check. Instructions will be provided on the order form.


Windows into the Soul:
Getting to know Cecilia Samartin
author of Broken Paradise


Author Biography

Cecilia Samartin was born in Havana in the midst of Fidel Castro's revolution. She grew up in Los Angeles as a fully bicultural, bilingual American. She studied psychology at UCLA and Marriage and Family Therapy at Santa Clara University. Deeply concerned with the
lack of Spanish speakers within her profession, Cecilia has practiced within the Latino communities in some of the most impoverished inner
city areas of San Jose and Los Angeles. She lives with her British-born husband in San Gabriel, California. Broken Paradise is her first novel.

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In Broken Paradise, Cecilia Samartin offers heart wrenching insight into the tender balance between hope and grief that shapes the
immigrant heart and exposes the struggles of everyday people amid political turmoil.

Cuba, 1956: Cousins Nora and Alicia are accustomed to living among Havana's privileged class--lavish dinners, days at the beach, dances, and dresses. Their idyllic lives take a turn for the worst after Castro's rise to power. Food becomes scarce, religion is forbidden and disease is rampant. Alicia stays behind while Nora emigrates to the United States and struggles in an unfamiliar land. Both of their identities are challenged as they try to adapt to the changes forced upon them.

The situation in Cuba deteriorates and Alicia is beset by bad fortune, while Nora painfully assimilates into middle-class U.S. culture. Her heart, however, remains in Cuba. Letters between the cousins track their lives until Alicia's situation becomes so difficult that Nora is forced to return and help. But what she finds in Cuba is like nothing she has ever imagined.

 

Broken Paradise is an extraordinarily powerful novel about passion, love, and the heart's yearning for home.


Interviewing author Cecilia Samartin will be guest interviewer comadre

Liz Balmaseda

Liz Balmaseda is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winnering journalist, the screenplay writer for upcoming movies directed by Andy Garcia and writes for several mainstream publications including The Palm Beach Post. She was awarded her first Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992 for her writings on the plight of Cuban and Haitian refugees. Her second was awarded for breaking-news reporting in 2001 for her role in covering the story of Elián González. She also is writing a book to be released from Atria Books in 2008.

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Buy your book from a local bookstore or order from Amazon. Las Comadres is an Amazon affiliate and we make a small commission on each book sold. These funds will be used to keep our teleconferences accessible.