MONARCH BEACH, California, Dec. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — International award-winning author Cecilia Velastegui is celebrating her literary winning streak in 2015 by dedicating herself to her newest novel. Although three of her psychological thrillers and three of her bilingual children’s fables were selected as winners and finalists for a range of book awards this year, Velastegui is keeping up her writing pace. She is determined to delve into and showcase the depth of the Latino world.
Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151209/294476
Velastegui shared a quick toast with friends and fans at the Ritz Carlton—and went right back to writing. She said, “I’m celebrating the recognition my books received this year by purposefully writing my next novel, Lucia Zarate, based on the life of the world’s smallest woman.”
On November 7, 2015, Velastegui’s novel Traces of Bliss received first place in the Latino Books Into Movies Awards. This novel was previously selected for the prestigious National Latino Book Club by the Association of American Publishers and the international Las Comadres organization (http://publishers.org/news/5th-annual-las-comadres-friends-national-latino-book-club-underway).
Velastegui is keeping her fingers crossed that her novels get made into movies: “In 2012, both Maria Duenas and I received first place from the International Latino Book Awards, and her novel The Time in Between is now a captivating television series. I highly recommend it—and I hope some of her book’s cinematic good luck rubs off on my novels.”
Also recognized by the Latino Books into Movies Awards were Velastegui’s novel Missing in Machu Picchu and her bilingual children’s fable Olinguito Speaks Up—Olinguito Alza la Voz, which is endorsed by the Smithsonian Institution.
In June, Velastegui’s 2015 novel Parisian Promises received second place at the Paris Book Awards ceremony in France and received two awards from the International Latino Book Awards in San Francisco during the national conference of the American Library Association.
On December 7, the Latina Book Club selected Parisian Promises and Velastegui’s children’s fable Lalo Loves to Help—A Lalo le Encanta Ayudar for its Books of the Year list. Velastegui was delighted: “It’s an honor to be on the same list as my favorite authors: Paulo Coelho, Rudolfo Anaya, and Maria Duenas.” http://www.latinabookclub.com/2015/12/3rd-annual-books-of-year-list.html.
Velastegui further remarked, “[This year], 2015, has been amazing. It started off with a marvelous magazine article about my writing in Latino Magazine (http://www.latinomagazine.com/fall2014/fall2014/fabulous-fiction.html), and then Foreword Reviews wrote that I give my readers the world, which was followed by all the book awards. But my greatest satisfaction comes from meticulously researching novels that reveal the complexity of the pan-Hispanic world, from ancient Iberia to Latin America to modern-day Southern California.”
Learn more at www.CeciliaVelastegui.com.
Contact: Kim Martin at Libros Publishing
Email: librospublishing@cox.net
