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Dear Subscribers,
Welcome to all, and
especially warm welcome to those of you who are new to this list.
===NEW EBOOK:
FRANCISCO I. MADERO'S SECRET BOOK OF 1911===
Francisco
I. Madero was the leader of Mexico's 1910 revolution and
President of Mexico from 1911-1913.
Apart from
its extraordinary content, and the fact that Madero's Spiritist
Manual is one of the earliest Spanish language manifestos
of this new religion, what stands out about this work is that
it was prepared precisely during the period when Madero's political
career was rocketing to its apex: he was campaigning throughout
the country for the Mexican Presidency, then fighting the Mexican
Revolution both in Mexico and, variously, from exile in Texas
and New Orleans; and then, running again for the presidency—
which, later in 1911, he was to win.
As Mexican historians
Enrique Krauze, Yolia Tortolero, Alejandro Rosas and Manuel Guerra,
among others, have emphasized, Madero's Spiritism undergirded
his political philosophy and actions as candidate for the presidency,
as leader of the Revolution, and as President, many of which
were incomprehensible to and/or misinterpreted by both his supporters
and his adversaries. For this reason, the Spiritist Manual
is a fundamentally important work for anyone who would study
Madero and the Mexican Revolution.
It is also a vital work in the history of both Spiritism itself
and modern gnostic Christianity. Whatever one's personal beliefs
may be, it would be intellectually naïve to dismiss Madero's
Spiritism as mere superstition, as most people who first hear
of it and indeed, most of his biographers, do. Spiritism emerged
in a context of the mid- to late 19th century's far-reaching
scientific experientation; moreover, it has its place alongside
other religions that emerged in the same century, among them,
Christian Science, Mormonism, Spiritualism, and Theosophy.
November 10,
2011 San
Miguel de Allende Author's
Sala Reading: C.M. Mayo (and Sandy Baum)
5- 7: 30 pm
Posada San Francisco (across from the Jardín)
70 peso Donation * 50 pesos for Sala Members
Complimentary Wine Reception
Sandy Baum, professional photographer and pilot, will give a
talk, "A Tale of Two Cities"
and
C.M. Mayo will present and discuss her translation—the
first into English— of Francisco I. Madero's
secret book, the Spiritist
Manual.
Because the Spiritist Manual
is only available as an ebook (and yes, more editions will be
available soon), I won't be able to sign books, but I will be
delighted to sign other books (The
Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, and Mexico:
A Traveler's Literary Companion, for example), and take
questions. I look forward to a very lively discussion!
==WRITING
WORKSHOPS==
February 20
and 21, 2012
San Miguel
de Allende
Two Day Writing
Intensive: "Techniques of Fiction" >>See a
profile
on the San Miguel Writers Conference website.
For both beginning
and experienced fiction writers, "Techniques of Fiction"
focuses on generating new material with exercises addressing
specificity, point of view, synesthesia, imagery, image patterning,
plot, rhythm, and the use and misuse of dialogue. The goal is
that by the end of the workshop, your writing will be of notably
higher quality.
Meanwhile, whether you take the workshop or not, help yourself
from "Giant Golden Buddha" & 364 more 5 minute
writing exercises.
==PODCASTS=== This winter I won't be
teaching at the Writer's Center in Bethesda Maryland as I usually
do because I'll be embarking on a new book project, a collection
of essays about West Texas, specifically, the area around the
little desert town of Marfa. As part of this project, starting
in January 2012, I'll be posting a monthly podcast. Check it
out at this link:
Watch the two promotional videos here: Where is Marfa?
and Where the Buffalo Is Marfa?
How
to Break a Writing Block
C.M. Mayo on the power on the five minute writing exercise. The
end of this podcast offers an exercise— so get out your
pen and paper. (For more exercises, visit "Giant Golden
Buddha & 364 More 5 Minute Writing Exercises.) *About 11 minutes. Please note that on
iTunes the timing is only 7 minutes, so if you're doing the writing
exercise, best to listen on podomatic (the button to the left).
Many
more of my podcasts on various topics, and including several
on the craft of fiction can be found here: http://www.cmmayo.com/podcasts.html
Well, for real, I am reading War & Peace. My goal is to get to
the end of this year without having to make yet another New Year's
resolution to read it! I welcome your comments.
This is the blog
I use to share my research into that 19th century period in Mexico
known as the Second Empire or "French Intervention."
Basically I am going through my files and bookshelves, one Tuesday
at a time. This research was intensive-- all for writing my novel,
The
Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, which is based on the true story. Posting
has been sparse recently but I did post a note about Don
Pedro de Montezuma's letter of warning to Maximilian dated 1864.
===INTERVIEWS===
All about the
secret book by the leader of Mexico's 1910 Revolution, Francisco
I. Madero.
"C.M. Mayo on Creative Writing:
The Best from the Blog,"
a 50+ page cornucopia of the tips from my writing workshops.
Click on the cover to download this fully formatted PDF (which
you can read on any computer and also open in iBooks).
[subscribers
receive the passwords for free e-books in the newsletter e-mail]
==OTHER RECENT NEWS===
Miraculous
Air,
my memoir of travels in Baja California, originally published
by the University of Utah Press and available in paperback from
Milkweed Editions, is now also available in Kindle wth a snappy new cover.
My translation of "Why
I Read," an essay by Mexican writer Agustin Cadena,
has been published in The Chatahoochie Review, and my
translation of Cadena's short story "Parque Murillo"
appears inthe anthology
Three
Messages and a Warning, edited by Eduardo Jiménez
Mayo and Chris N. Brown (Small Beer Press, 2011).
Cadena is such an elegant and vivid writer. If you read Spanish,
be sure to check out his blog, El
vino y la hiel.
Thank you for
your interest in my work and good wishes to you!
. C. M. MAYO
. LITERARY JOURNALIST
& NOVELIST . 
NEWSLETTER
From
Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion
