Looking Back at 2013 and Ahead to 2014

by Linda Rodriguez

This will be a short post of mostly links to other posts because I’m battling pneumonia right now. I’m getting better, but with steroids, antibiotics, and the pneumonia itself, I’m just knocked pretty flat.

2013 was a terrific year. My first novel, Every Last Secret, was named a finalist for the International Latino Book Awards. My second novel in the Skeet Bannion series, Every Broken Trust, published in early May to lovely reviews and was the selection for September of the Las Comadres National Latino Book Club. I spent the summer and fall either touring or writing the third book in the series, Every Hidden Fear, which will launch May 6, 2014.

Also, in 2013, my book and I were featured on Cosmo, sandwiched between “The Joys of Hangover Sex” and “Hot Sex Tips,” and I wrote about that in “Interview Anxiety” here on The Stiletto Gang. http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/2013/06/interview-anxiety.html

At the beginning of the year, my friend Richard Blanco was named the Inaugural Poet, writing and reading a wonderful poem at the Inauguration, which some of the poetry and political establishments slammed, and I wrote about that here in “Of Tempests in Teapots, Po-Biz, and a Welcome Return to Sanity.” http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/2013/01/of-tempests-in-teapots-po-biz-and.html

In February on my own blog, I wrote a tribute to a dear departed friend and all those comadres who’ve made my life so meaningful. http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com/2013/02/comadres-forever.html

In April, on my blog, I put on my poet’s hat, which I’ve worn much longer than my novelist’s hat, and posted a two-part guide for those who want to learn to write or understand poetry, but can’t afford to go off to some expensive workshop.

http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com/2013/04/learning-art-and-craft-of-poetry-part.html

http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com/2013/04/learning-art-and-craft-of-poetry-part_26.html

And in June, I wrote about the writer’s dreaded enemy that keeps us cleaning fridges and Facebooking instead of writing in “Resistance.” http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com/2013/06/resistance.html

When summer turned into autumn, we had big changes here on The Stiletto Gang. Several of our established members said goodbye for various reasons of life cycle and schedule, and we added a whole new cohort of blog sisters—Sparkle Abbey, Sally Berneathy, Marjorie Brody, Lynn Cahoon, Debra Goldstein, and Kay Kendall. They’ve brought a new fizz and energy to our daily cocktail of musings and stories that we offer to our readers, and it’s been exciting to be a part of our new expanded group blog.

So here’s to 2014. I can’t wait to welcome this new year in—once I get well.