Bruised Hearts, Mended Dreams manuscript

Full interview for the Next Big Thing

This post continues Sandra Ramos O'Briant's about her continuing success with The Sandoval Sisters' Secret of Old Blood. 

The working title for my next big thing, a 106k-word Young Adult, Chicano fantasy novel, is Bruised Hearts, Mended Dreams. It's a hardboiled adventure about the struggles of damaged teens to overcome their dark pasts on Earth and find meaning in a dangerous, dismal and repressive Otherworld.

I completed the second draft and aim to have it polished by April. The first three chapters are ready for an agent/publisher's eyes.

The idea for this book came out of wanting to do a YA prequel to my first Chicano adult fantasy novel, The Closet of Discarded Dreams. I want to contribute a latino fantasy for latino and other young people, especially boys. And secondly, from hearing about the experiences of abused young girls, I was inspired to include themes around sex.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I'm so out of the loop as far as pop culture, I'm worthless at this. My first choice for male protagonist: my son whose acting credits are shorter than my awards list. Female protagonist, the PR helicopter pilot in Avatar. In Bruised Hearts, there are five teenagers who call themselves The Indigos who could be played by the current Hollywood, Brat Pack of one multinational, a Chicano, a Chicana, an Hispanic and a white boy.

Provide a one-sentence synopsis of the MS.

I really need four paragraphs, but here goes:

Bruised Hearts is a hardboiled Young Adult fantasy about a teenaged Chicano couple teaming for their impossible mission, and the struggles of damaged teens to overcome their dark pasts on Earth to survive a wild, repressive and dangerous Otherworld.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I'm not interested in self-publishing it and am in the processing of polishing the first MS. I am looking for an agent or editor who wants a dark-themed (sexual abuse) novel certain to break new ground.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

10 weeks for the first draft (Nov./12-Jan./113), including time on the road while promoting my first novel. (I drafted that one in 6 wks.) I've got maybe a month more of work: April, 2013.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I'm aspiring to produce something at least as good as Paolo Bacigalupi's Ship Breakers or Drowned Cities, in character, theme and plot. Paolo and I differ on how to inspire kids in America's dystopian chaos, but I think we're both aiming to reinvent The Myth for a modern teen audience, to give them something more profound to believe in than what adult society is providing.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

Teens talk about sex. I'm tackling this tough topic around sexual bullying, from molestation to date rape and beyond. Specifically, I want to break ground on a discourse of how sexual abuse is tolerated in the Chicano/mexicano cultures. But Bruised Hearts will provide empathic, positive solutions and heroines for girls, as well as incorporate the trials of teenage boys.

I'll post more about this on La Bloga and on my book website, as well as on LinkedIn. 

Magic Night, Noche Mágica

This is one of my new picture book manuscripts. I hope it would become a picture book in the future.

MAGIC NIGHT, NOCHE MÁGICA

Story Copyright © by René Colato Laínez

Once a year, I have a double delight.
Two nights in a row, I have tons of fun.
First I have a magic night and then I have una noche mágica.

My Mamá and Papá help me carve a big pumpkin.
Triangles, circles, goggled eyes, knives going up and down and around and around.
We light the candle inside and the jack-o’-lantern casts a giant shadow.
Magic night, Halloween, here I come!


When the moon smiles and the stars twinkle, I make holes in a blanket and become a mean ghost.
“Boooo!” I holler and dash to the door. My friends are waiting for me.
Magic night, Halloween, here I come!

We knock at our neighbors’ doors.
“Trick or treat,” I say and smile from ear to ear.
Big, round, colorful, tasty candies fill my bag.
Magic night, Halloween, here I come!

Spooky music starts, children parade, everyone claps.
A little mermaid shakes her tail. A pirate carries a treasure chest.
I moan and move my arms, “Boo!”
Magic night, Halloween, here I come!

In the haunted house, bats fly in the ceiling. Spider’s webs cover the doors. A mummy follows us.
Magic night, Halloween, here I come!

Back at home, we eat our candies and tell scary stories.
“Too bad Halloween is over,” my friends say.
“This is only the beginning. I invite all of you tomorrow to una noche mágica.”
¡Noche mágica, día de los muertos, aquí voy!


My friends help me spread a white tablecloth on our table. We put marigolds in vases and light the candles.
“Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco,” we say.
Then we put my abuelitos and tíos pictures on the table.
“¡Noche mágica, día de los muertos, aquí voy!”

My friends and I draw and cut bones. We put them together and make calacas.
We dress them with fancy hats, colorful skirts, and elegant suits.
“La Catrina and Señor Calavera!” we say, dancing with the skeletons.
“¡Noche mágica, día de los muertos, aquí voy!”

“The sugar skulls are here!” Papá says.
“Bravo!” we all cheer.
We decorate the skulls with beads, feathers and colored foils. We write our names on the skull’s foreheads.
“¡Noche mágica, día de los muertos, aquí voy!”


“It is time to bake pan de muerto,” Mamá says.
“We are ready to help,” I say as my friends and I roll up our sleeves.
We mix water, yeast and flour in a bowl. Then, we add eggs, milk, butter and sugar. We roll the dough to make bones.
“¡Noche mágica, día de los muertos, aquí voy!”

We carry the delicious dishes to the altar: abuelito’s favorite mole, abuelita’s yummy carne asada, and tíos’ special hot chocolate.
We lick our lips.
“¡Noche mágica, día de los muertos, aquí voy!”

Mamá and Papá tell us stories about my abuelitos and tíos. We dance to their favorite music, cha cha cha. The windows open and cool air touches my cheek. The breeze hugs and kisses me just like my abuelitos and tíos used to do.
“¡Noche mágica, día de los muertos, aquí voy!”

We eat the yummy food. Then we go outside and listen to the mariachi music, visit the cemetery, and have a great time.
Yeah! Once a year, I have a double delight.
A magic night and una noche mágica.
Next year, you are invited too!