Marlene Perez's Newest Book Deal

Look for Marlene Perez's teen novel The Comeback, scheduled tentatively for Spring 2009 publication. The novel is an amalgam of teen popularity-themed novels with a twist---a popular girl is given the boot by the most exclusive clique at school and concocts a plan to win back her place in the popular circle. Perez is the author of another teen opus Unexpected Development published by Roaring Brook Press.

Isabel Allende's Antonio Banderas Fantasies

In an interview with Greensboro News and Record journalist, Peruvian-born, Chilean-national and The House of Spirits author Isabel Allende elaborated to journalist Tina Firesheets (firesheets...this story has got passion written all over it) about her previously confessed fantasies of Spaniard star Antonio Banderas. "The dream was after meeting him. Of course I have not told him about my erotic fantasies with him. I am a married old lady, and he is young enough to be my son. Why would he want to know such a thing?"

Carmen Rodrigues's Upcoming Novel

Carmen Rodrigues is joining Gaby Triana, Gary Soto, and a host of other Hispanic writers who are writing for a teen audience. The West Palm Beach resident's non-descriptively titled book Not Anything centers around Susie Shannon, a Miami teen who's in the middle of her identity crisis and has to tutor Danny Diaz, a school hottie, and in the process learns more about herself than she imagined.

The book is set to be released in February 2008, six months before her second teen novel A Little Something is scheduled to go on sale.

Miami Book Fair to Feature Major Latino Authors

The Miami Book Fair, which is scheduled to take place from November 4-11 while the street version of the fair will run from November 9, 2007.

A sample list of Hispanic authors who'll be making appearances and signing books: Teresa Rodríguez (The Daughters of Juarez), Raul Ortega (Desde la isla), Jorge Ramos (El regalo del tiempo), Gaby Triana (Backstage Pass), Andrea O'Reilly (Cuba: Idea of a Nation Displaced), Juan José Benítez (Caballo 8) and many others.

Visit Miami Book Fair for additional information and a more comprehensive list of Latino authors.

[Photo Credit: Teresa Rodriguez (Getty Images)]

Ernestina Sodi to Release English Version of Explosive Autobiography

Ernestina Sodi, Thalia's sister and the mother of the twenty-something Mexican actress Camila Sodi will soon release an English version of her 2006 autobiography Lìberanos del Mal. Deliver Us from Evil will recreate Sodi's headline-creating kidnapping and brutal rape. Ernestina has, in the past, gotten a lot of heat for her candidness, particularly from family member Laura Zapata who publicly denounced Ernestina's choice to recount being raped in the Spanish-language version of the book.

Photo Credit: Grosby Group

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Book Selected for Oprah Winfrey's Book Club

Nobel Laureate and current Mexican resident Gabriel Garcìa Marquez's 1985 classic novel Love in the Time of Cholera was selected by Oprah Winfrey's bookclub. This is of course, very timely, as the book's film version will be released in November. This marks the second time that the fantasy novelist's book has gotten this honor. In 2004, Ms. O hand-picked Gabriel Garcìa Marquez's most celebrated novel One Hundred Years of Solitude as a selection.

Mary Acosta's Latina Horror Novel

What's a Latina to do when her writing career is going amuck and when her wisecracks aren't enough anymore to smooth out her days? She resorts to the party life, of course. Such is the life of Milagro de los Santos (her name no coincidence we can be assured), the protagonist of Mary Acosta's upcoming book Happy Hour at Casa Dracula. Senorita de los Santos goes to a cocktail party and begins to show symptoms of a vampire-in-the-making after beign kissed and bitten! Acosta's book is set to be released by Pocket Boosk in January.