Category: Caridad’s News!

In our family Christmas Eve is the big day when we all get together! I love being able to spend time with family and friends and I even like all the cooking that involves.

I usually day before by running up to Union City to get some Cuban pastries, the port leg and other essentials. Later that night I prep the pork leg for slow cooking the morning of Christmas Eve. That involves squeezing a lot of citrus for the marinade, chopping tons of garlic as well as a number of other spices.

On Christmas Eve day I get up early, get the pork leg into the oven and begin with all the other cooking. A typical Christmas Eve meal is a mix of Italian and Cuban food. Shrimp cocktail. Grilled octopus. Stuffed calamari over linguini. Rpast pork with rice and beans. Yuca and plantains (maduros and tostones). Avocado salad (nom nom). Baked ham.

Although I like to bake, I don’t usually have time to do that on Christmas Eve so friends and family bring the desserts. Flan from my sister and delicious cookies from my friends.

It’s usually midnight by the time we finish cleaning up and then we hit the sack to wait for Santa and afterwards, visit family in Brooklyn Christmas Day. Another wonderful fun time!

What are your holidays like? I’d love to know!

I was lucky to be chosen to ghost write the novel for the Jane the Virgin television show. Writing SNOW FALLING and working with all the amazing talent on Jane the Virgin was amazing. I’ll be chatting about that tonight with Las Comadres!

You’ll also get to listen in on a chat with Sylvia Acevedo, the CEO of the Girl Scouts, about her book Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist. I can’t wait to hear her story!

For details on how to take part in the teleconference, please visit http://bit.ly/2PuCJ7g.

I always tell writers that there is no right way to write since the creative process is different for everyone. The only wrong thing to do is to not write! My process lately starts with handwriting ideas for the characters and the basic plot. Letting that sit for a day or so while I think about that initial idea before refining it.

I used to be a pantser, but can’t say I’m a plotter. I’m kind of a hybrid since I only lay out gross ideas for the plot and let the story move along as the characters demand. (Damn bossy characters!)

Right now I’m working on #4 At the Shore which will feature some new characters that I introduce in #3 At the Shore – Sea Kiss Salsa. In that story you get to meet Carlo’s brothers and I’m thinking that the next two books in the series will feature the younger sexy Gonzalez brothers, Tomás and Paolo. In #3 Army Ranger Tomás is home on leave to recuperate from an injury and I loved exploring what might be happening with one of the local business owners, Jesse, who you will also meet in #3.

I’m also busy with trying to get rights back to some earlier books as well as a proposal for some suspense/thriller stories. Wish me luck with both!

Don’t miss out on your chance to snare one of 20 Amazon Kindle copies of ONE SUMMER NIGHT that are up for grabs at this #Giveaway https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/a22bc6cd1f71d715

Thanks to my buddy Lois Winston for sharing an awesome website that features gifts for readers and writers. Please visit http://bit.ly/2Ov0mMs for more information!