Another great audience at Barnes and Noble this afternoon. Didn't count how many people showed up, but it was a rainy Saturday afternoon, and I was a little worried the rain would keep folks away, but it didn't. They had to bring out two extra rows of chairs. Decided it was an "Irene" day, that is, a day to read those sections pertinent to Ivon's little sister, so I read the last part of the feria chapter, the chapter where their mother blames Ivon for her sister's disappearance and we learn of the history of her homophobia, and one of Irene's chapters after she's been captured, which gives us an entry into the dot.com porn business for which she's been kidnapped. The audience was a very informed group, and the discussion went far beyond "who's killing the women?" Thanks to Fabiola at B&N for setting it all up, and for including copies of my Chicano Art and Velvet Barrios books in the Desert Blood book display. Thanks also to the friends who took time to show up: Margie, Fernando, Choco, Andrea, Adán, Pablo, José, Rafael, Judy, even Anita Revilla who was home for the Easter holiday, and whom I haven't seen since she was at UCLA. A young woman named Cynthia also had me sign my Sor Juana's Second Dream novel, saying it was her favorite book of all time and that she'd read it, like, four times. Amazing! Stay tuned to a page of Gloria's terrific pictures from these events (once I'm able to upload pictures onto the site again). My next reading in San Antonio will be at Trinity University on April 12. Check out my website for time and place.

A phenomenal event at UTSA last night. Over 200 people in attendance and sold out of all the books. Arte Publico agreed to give the UTSA Chicana/o graduate students 40% of the book sales to help finance their way to the NACCS (National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies) conference in Miami next month, and they raised over $400. So that was a great benefit of the reading, and I'm happy to help. Read the very short chapter 1 again, which seems to rivet the audience whenever I read it, a small portion of chapter 4 to give them some background on Ivon Villa's motivation for returning to El Paso and wanting to adopt, and then broke in chapter 12, in which Ivon meets the mother of yet another child she can adopt and learns of the pregnancy testing and other sexual exploitations that occur when women apply for jobs in the maquiladora industry. Some great questions from the audience, particularly a discussion on NAFTA. My favorite comment was from a woman who asked if I thought the silence around the crimes was politically-motivated. What else could it be? If information is power, then silence, or rather the absence of information, the total lack of awareness, is the opposite of power, which of course makes it possible for the crimes to continue with impunity. Hopefully, Desert Blood will help to break that silence in the U.S. Got lots of flowers from the UTSA students and my friend David Zamora Casas, and Gloria had given me flowers earlier in the day, so the house is alight with flowers of all kinds. I want to thank everyone who attended, but especially mi amiga de corazón, Josie Méndez Negrete (you should look up her amazing book, Las Hijas de Juan, on amazon.com), for organizing the event. I'm donating 50% of any honoraria I receive for my book tour gigs to Amigos de las Mujeres de Juarez, a nonprofit based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, that helps the families of some of the victims that are affiliated with nonprofits in Juárez. My next San Antonio event is tomorrow, at the Barnes and Noble in San Pedro Crossing. Will my books be in the window there, too?

I want to pause here and thank, first of all, my partner, Gloria Ramírez, for accompanying me at the kickoff of the book tour in El Paso, but especially for promoting the book and my readings in the publication that she has edited for the last 17 years, La Voz de Esperanza (which many of you read or should read). My sabbatical in San Antonio so far this year has been amazingly productive, and, as I say in the acknowledgments in the novel, Gloria opened up the best room in her house so that I could have "a room of my own" in which to work. With four huge windows and a 12-foot ceiling, with beautiful Texas light and inspiring artwork all over the walls, not to mention the best Latina/o music collection on either side of the Rio Grande, it's been hard NOT to write. Here in this serene green room I finished revising, proofreading, and re-revising Desert Blood; I wrote a new short story called "The Sacrament," and had an old short story, "Lorca's Widow," finally accepted for publication (thanks also to la doctora corazón, Josie Mendez Negrete for workshopping the piece with me); in tribute to my friend and mentor, Gloria E. Anzaldúa (que en paz descanse), I wrote a new poem "Tu última cruzada" (published in La Voz last summer) and a memorial piece that was published in American Quarterly; I wrote an encyclopedia article on the CARA (Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation) Exhibition for the Oxford Dictionary of Latinos and Latinas in the United States; and, finally, after sixteen years since I'd written the first first draft, I finished the second first draft of my next novel, "Calligraphy of the Witch," a sequel to the Sor Juana book in which we learn what happened to her assistant, Concepción, after she escaped from the convent in Mexico City in 1683. All in all, despite emotional upheavals of differing magnitudes, the work flowed, and I am grateful for this time away from UCLA, for this room in Gloria's house, for the years and months that Gloria and I have walked the same path together, and for all the friends who have kept me going. I am truly blessed.

This reading was a fundraiser for Amigos de las Mujeres de Juárez. Arte Publico gave Amigos 40% of the proceeds of the book sales, and I signed at least 15 copies, if not more. Although I was worried the night before when Gloria and I stopped by the coffeehouse and didn't see any publicity for the event, all was taken care of and I had a full house for the reading. The owner and all the workers at Jamocha were very nice (really strong espresso, too!) and tried to be as discreet as possible whenever they had to work that cadillac of an espresso machine, which proved to be a bit of a challenge for my voice. Decided this was the crowd to listen to the autopsy chapter (Chapter 7). This was the longest Q & A session, I think, and it was extremely helpful to me to have the folks from Amigos present to help with the questions. Greg Bloom acknowledged my role as not only an academic and a writer but also an activist in this issue of the Juárez murders, mentioning my work on the conference at UCLA (see the Desert Blood Homepage for more info on the conference) and especially the "Lamento for the Mujeres de Juárez" altar exhibition done by the Esperanza Center's MujerArtes cooperative, which helped to generate upward of five-thousand dollars for Amigos. Signed books and chatted with friends (thanks to Rich Yañez and Rosario Sanmiguel for being there!) until 10pm. I was completely exhausted at the end of the night, but overall felt pleased and grateful for the outcome of the first leg of the book tour. Muchisimas gracias to Marina Tristan at Arte Publico for putting it all together.

What a great feeling it is to see one's novel in the window of a bookstore. Gloria took pictures of me outside my favorite Barnes and Noble in El Paso (Sunland Park). Karen, the customer relations person at that bookstore, was extremely kind and invited my mom, grandmother, Gloria, and me to coffee before the event. She set up a small area off the travel section with chairs so I could do more than a simple signing and I had a small but very interested and involved audience. I was going to read the autopsy chapter, but changed my mind and read Chapter 33 instead (aka "Rastreo"). The PA system was a little loud in the store, but otherwise, it was a good event. Sold over 20 copies, I think. Other than my mom, grandma Tey, and Gloria, my aunt Irma, Blanca's mom, was there, as was Blanca, Bianca and Fraisito, Margarita and Estela (my "compadre" and comadre), Deena, her sister Rita, and their aunt Tere, Lizeth, Alonzo, and Anais. To my TOTAL surprise, three very old friends, two from Eastwood High, Eric Morales and Marta Tavares, and one from Loretto Elementary, Laura Caballero, showed up. I think that was the highlight of the afternoon for me. I used to be on the newspaper and literary magazine staff with Eric, on the basketball team with Marta, and on the phone constantly with Laura.

Analinda and Arturo Guerrero, board members of Arte Publico Press who have recently returned home to El Paso after over twenty years away, hosted this private reception for me at Cafe Central in downtown El Paso. What a great event. Gave some extended background on Ivon Villa then read Chapter 21 (aka "Pay Day") and left everyone piqued for more. Sold out of all the books that Gabi brought to sell (it was great to have Gabi there, another native of the El Paso/Juárez border, now executive editor at Arte Publico Press). Excellent questions from the audience and terrific food, especially that asparagus and green chile soup. My mom and Gloria were with me.

Reading at UTEP, my first alma mater, went very well. Packed house, with standing-room only. Great introduction by Emmy Pérez. Gloria went with me, and all my family was there: my mom, Teyali Senior, my sister Sonia, my nieces Lizeth and Teyali III, my nephew, Alonzo Omar, my cousin, Blanca, my goddaughter, Bianca, even my tía Margot and her best friend Helen "la amenaza." Read Chapter 1, a section of Chapter 2, all of Chapter 4, and about half of Chapter 6. It was definitely too long. But the audience was right there with me, and when I checked, folks wanted me to keep going. Excellent discussion followed. Sold over 30 books and had a long line of people waiting to get their books signed. With the great review that Rigoberto González wrote for the El Paso Times, and this kick-off reading at UTEP, things bode very well for this book tour.