Interviews
A Message from the Author
It is a well known fact that most, if not all, aspiring writers are always advised to start out by writing about themselves and their experiences. Odd isn’t it, that I should do so in my first novel, Eldorado in East Harlem, only to be accused by a critic or two of utilizing “stock characters” or conjuring improbable situations? With the exception of a minor figure or two the characters and setting one finds in Eldorado are based on facts and a real place: I grew up in East Harlem, and once encountered a merchant sailor as venomous as Fernando Fuentes met intricate women like Amanda Gomez, Luz Castro and Maria-Cristina Cruz and befriended a warmhearted, inspiring and erudite bibliophile like Silas Turnvil, who taught me a thing or two about life and triggered my lifelong passion for books. Not to compare myself to eminent authors of the past, but Rene Gomez, the protagonist of Eldorado, is as precious to me as Studs Lonigan was to James T. Farrell, David Shearl to Henry Roth and Ishky to Howard Fast. --Victor Rodriguez