November 2005

Dear Friends,

Happy Fall! (No, I am not wishing a potential plummeting to the ground on any of you!) We blinked and it’s gone! Summer that is. All I remember was planting some snapdragons in my window boxes, handing over all my earnings to Home Depot, and enjoying a few gorgeous spring afternoons (for an unusually extended period of time, I must admit). Then before I knew it, everything took off at inordinate speed--between putting the finishing touches on En esta hermosa isla, heading out the door to initiate the second (and occasionally chaotic) leg of my book tour, and watching with horror and heartbreak the havoc that the Earth unleashed on Guatemala, Mexico, our beloved New Orleans and Florida, and Pakistan.

But now, I was left wondering, “Whatever happened to a nice, long summer?” With summer gone, we’ll systematically start building our cocoons and brace for a new winter. As one of my cats (Ricky) digs a comfy nest on my lap and demands my undivided attention (he’ll dance on my keyboard if necessary!), it is time to look to the future once more. As you may have noticed, parts of our site--for the first time--are finally in Spanish! This hopefully will help you polish your language skills as well as open our community to a new group of friends in the Spanish-speaking world. Even if you don’t speak the language, you can learn a new word here and there. But this is no arbitrary timing on my part; this exciting new feature serves to mark the arrival of En esta hermosa isla, the Spanish version of On This Beautiful Island. I feel immensely proud to finally bring home this very personal tale. In addition, the book will be introduced to Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries where hopefully it will find a new, welcoming home. Consequently, this new beginning marks the introduction of an exciting expansion of Exit Studio’s mission to explore themes from other lands of Latin America.

Even if you own a copy of the English version, immerse yourself in the romance and mellifluous cadence of the Spanish version! En esta hermosa isla will make its public debut at the upcoming Kennedy Center Multicultural Children’s Book Festival on November 5. The Reading Series at the festival is being dedicated to its founder, the late Toni Parker. Toni was a dear friend and supporter who I will greatly miss. I am also so looking forward to my second visit to Chicago this year when I will be reading to children at the Latino Book & Family Festival, founded by actor Edward James Olmos to promote Latino literacy, on November 12 and 13. For now, thank you for your support and interest, and I hope I will get to see most of you some time soon! Ricky finally has given me up and strategically settled in a placid sunny spot where his coat is shining as brightly as a chinchilla’s! So I say…Let sleeping cats lie!

With all my love,

Edwin