Pandora's Box Is Open

DEAR READERS, IN SPANISH, SPREAD THE WORD... Open Your Keepsake Box and join us, as we embark in a two-hour  journey  through songs that have impacted our lives, recollections of early childhood memories, places we've been to, family and friends who nurtured us, the grandmas, the moms, the dads, the aunties and the uncles, the smells we registered, the clothes we wore, the first love, the first dance, the first fall, the beloved departed, the fears, the tears, the joy, the happiness and unhappiness...Mixed it all up and own it, retell it, rescue it from oblivion, so you can embrace your own beginnings and re-create your destination. After all, we are our own memories in the nuances of images and words. Therefore, we have the power to rewrite them. Learn how to fictionalize real people and events in your life, and trim your story in pursue of a compelling and empowering memoir. EN ESPAÑOL, corre la voz ... ABRA EL COFRE DE SUS RECUERDOS y únase a nosotros, mientr...

I didn't find out that Gabriel Garcia Marquez had passed until I got home in the evening of April 17, 2014. I have to say, I've been avoiding visiting social media sites; they destroy my ability to keep the focus on my creative endeavors, and I no longer watch TV because I have a lot to read and reread. My phone had lost its charge, so I didn't browse the Internet for my dosage of news either on the train. When I got home at around 7:00 PM, I checked my Gmail account and found out about the death of the Nobel laureate through one of my students. I’m teaching a creative writing workshop that focuses on how to write effective short stories by mastering the craft of the genre; the essentials. Needless to say, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a name my students have become acquainted with by now, since I rejoice in sharing literary references that can aid them in their short story journey. Today, I happened to mention in class “La Viuda de Montiel” , one of Garcia-Marquez short...