I am happy to be hosting a guest today. She is Lone Star Legend author, Gwendolyn Zepeda. Welcome, Gwendolyn! She is going to talk a bit about what goes into her writing and her inspiration for the story. Please take it away, Gwendolyn!
For me, the main thing that goes into being a writer is thinking up ways to describe people and situations as accurately as possible, but not in a boring way. In Lone Star Legend, for instance, I had to think hard about how I could describe blogging so that anyone reading would understand it, whether the reader had ever blogged or not. Why would someone want to blog, even if bad things can come from it? I had to think about the real answers to that question, then haveSandy, my main character, show us the answer without me coming out and saying, “Listen, readers! Here’s what’s good and bad about blogging!”
My inspiration for this novel was partially the experiences I’ve had as a blogger and online entertainment writer over the years, and partially a few online scandals that were happening while I was writing the book. I used to write articles making fun of TV shows for TelevisionWithoutPity.com way back when it first started around a decade ago, and I’ve written my personal blog,Gwenworld.com, since 1997. So I guess you could say I had a lot of experiences to inspire me. =)
Awesome! Thanks so much, Gwendolyn, for a wonderful post today!
About the Book:
When Sandy Saavedra lands her dream job with the popular website ¡Latino Now!, she can’t wait to write hard-hitting pieces to combat all those stupid Latino stereotypes. While visions of Pulitzers dance in her head, her editor in chief is suddenly laid off, replaced by the infamous Dolores Villanueva O’Sullivan. Dolores has one mission: make ¡Latino Now! an internet phenomenon, no matter how many pandering puff pieces she has to pack onto its pages. Sandy doesn’t see how she can keep this job without losing her soul, especially when she’s sent to Middle-of-Nowhere Texas to investigate the dumbest legend her people ever created, the Chupacabra. She fears she’s about to fail an assignment-and lose her job-until she meets Tío Jaime, a grandfatherly hermit who might be crazy, or might be the best thing that ever happened to Sandy’s career.
About the Author:
Gwendolyn Zepeda lives in Houston, Texas. Her blog GwenWorld.com and her first book To The Last Man I Slept With and All the Jerks Like Him have been mentioned in the NY Post and Seattle Post. Zepeda is a member of Nuestra Palabra, which hosts Houston’s Latino Book and Family Fesitval, the largest book festival in Texas.
GCP will publish her first novel, Houston, We Have A Problema in January 2009.
My Review:
Gwendolyn Zepeda’s Lone Star Legend was not a bad read at all. I will be honest and say that it did start off a bit slow. I had trouble keeping focused on the book. But once I got past the beginning, I found that it is a book with characters that I enjoyed reading about and became friends with.
Zepeda takes us on a journey into the cyber world of online mags, blogs and gossip columns. Zepeda did a great job at bringing some reality into this book. She also added some humourous parts, which finally captured my attention and boosted my thoughts on the book. While this is one I felt was slow in the beginning, I still give it 4 stars and recommendation,if you want a book that will make you laugh and smile at the inside look of an average,everyday person whose private life quickly becomes public in the center of cyber world.
To learn more about this book,including purchasing information,please visit Hachette Book Group.
To see the author’s blog, please visit here.
Click here to follow Gwendolyn Zepeda on Twitter.
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