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Articles by Alisa Valdes
CRY | Kirkus Reviews
A conceptually intriguing story that struggles to balance its many important themes and characters. After lightning strikes the tree she’s hugging and her heart stops, a teen returns to life with the ability to see the dead. Thanks to her best friend and crush, Blake Abrams, who performs CPR, 16-year-old Altagracia “Grace” Martínez is revived. While she’s recovering, Grace, who’s a bisexual filmmaker and musician, finds her world forever altered when she begins seeing the dead everywhere.
Vote to protect New Mexico's lands for the future
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A Calamity Of Souls By David Baldacci — the best thriller books
David Baldacci has written a lot of books. Many of them instant best sellers that entertain the masses. But this novel is on a completely different level. A Calamity of Souls is the most profound and captivating story David Baldacci has ever told. It’s 1968 in southern Virgina and a black man is accused of killing the white couple he worked for. Jack Lee, a local white lawyer, believes in the man’s innocence and agrees to defend the accused despite never having been involved in a murder trial before.
HOLLOW BEASTS | Kirkus Reviews
by Alisa Lynn Valdés ‧ A New Mexico game warden finds herself in a race war that threatens to get personal. After her husband dies in a climbing accident, Officer Jodi Luna decides to leave Boston and her life in the academy to return to her familial roots. She even arranges to take her uncle Eloy Atencio’s position as Rio Truchas County’s game warden as he prepares to retire. Jodi is idealistic and proud to be working in an area that’s meant so much to her family.
April 2, 7 PM ET
Join authors Jordan Harper, William Landay, Susan Patterson, and Alisa Lynn Valdés along with Back Room hosts Karen Dionne and Hank Phillippi Ryan for an evening of great conversation! REGISTER The Authors William Landay is the author of All That Is Mine I Carry With Me and three previous novels: Defending Jacob, which won the Strand Critics Award for best mystery novel; The Strangler, listed as a best crime novel of the year by the L.A. Times, Daily Telegraph and others; and Mission Flats,...
Author Alisa Lynn Valdés is Back with a New Latina Heroine
Twenty years ago, Alisa Lynn Valdés released her first novel, "Dirty Girls Social Club." It was a runaway success and the writer published twelve more books in its wake. Then she took a ten-year break, coming back with "Hollow Beasts," a suspense/murder mystery that is out now as an e-book, and hitting bookshelves on Apr. 1. The novel introduces us to a new protagonist — rookie game warden and former poetry professor Jodi Luna.
SARS2 and B12 - A Fucked-Up Relationship
This post is available in audio format. I tend to riff a little more when I talk about it, so there are a few things in the audio that don’t appear in the text version. The following is a primer on my own SARS2 infection. Dropping it here for street cred. You can skip it. Or not. My first emergency room visit for my first SARS2 infection happened on March 13, 2020. My first symptoms were shortness of breath, elevated heart rate, and a weird sense that an electric worm was crawling through all my veins.
Do We Truly Understand Why Some Are More Vulnerable to COVID-19 Than Others?
Many studies over the past two years have shown that Latino, Black, and Native American people are more likely than white people to contract, become ill with, and die from COVID-19. Lots of news outlets have run with this information, making these “racial” differences pretty well-known.
We Spoke to Dr. Verduzco-Gutierrez About Long COVID - This Is What She Had To Say
For the past two years, we’ve had continuous coverage of the COVID-19 health crisis. In the United States, approximately 22 million people currently have the disease, and those numbers are expected to increase. According to the federal government, 100 million more Americans are expected to contract SARS-COV-2 in the coming months.
Long Covid Life
By now, you have probably heard the term “Long COVID” at least once. Maybe it was in a news story, from friends, or a healthcare worker. But what does that term actually mean, and — more importantly — how concerned do you and others in our community need to be? In this first weekly Long Covid Life column for BELatina, I seek to answer this. What is Long COVID? Long COVID-19 is a chronic illness triggered by a SARS-COV-2 infection.
These Are the New Urbano Artists You Should Be Keeping an Eye On
One of my guiltiest pleasures is jamming out to Urbano music. I do it everywhere — car, house, gym, funerals (okay, not funerals). But pretty much anywhere I need a mood boost (or a reason to feel okay about dating that guy 15 years younger than me) I crank up Wisin y Yandel. Yes, I know I'm a mom now, but I'm so not sorry. I'm always looking for new reggaetoneros and raperos to add to my playlist.
7 Latina Athletes Who Are Total Goals
It's great that as a society we continue making strides in promoting diversity in every aspect of our world, and the sports world is no exception. Having role models who look similar to us or have familiar last names is such a great encouragement for little Latina girls who are finding their way and voice in this country. They're represented, and maybe something they thought was impossible now seems a little bit closer.
7 Latina Athletes Who Are Total Goals
It's great that as a society we continue making strides in promoting diversity in every aspect of our world, and the sports world is no exception. Having role models who look similar to us or have familiar last names is such a great encouragement for little Latina girls who are finding their way and voice in this country. They're represented, and maybe something they thought was impossible now seems a little bit closer.
How Fanny Mendelssohn’s “Hiob Cantata” Inspired Me to Become a Screenwriter | Alisa Valdes
On a Wednesday morning in 1989, I sat in a lecture hall with about 300 other Berklee College of Music sophomores, 85 percent of them male. Onstage, professor Dennis LeClaire spoke with a confidence that belied his comb over. “Any final questions?” he asked. It was the last day of class. Trembling, a nineteen-year-old tenor saxophone major from Albuquerque more comfortable playing my horn than speaking to crowds, I raised my hand. “Yes, Miss Valdes?” All eyes snapped to me.
ICE's Abuse of Migrant Children Will Have Lifelong Effects – Just Ask My Family
Worldwide, disgust grows for Trump's policy of separating asylum-seeking Central American children from their caretakers, imprisoning them without adequate food, clothing, sanitation, bedding, medical care, or even toothbrushes. Doctors, lawyers, and journalists describe conditions at these camps as horrific and torturous. At least seven children have died in US custody, leading everyone from Amnesty International to Nicki Minaj to demand change.
First, aid: If students in Socorro, NM are going to succeed, they need help in & out of class
Principal Mario Zuniga stands in the hallway of Socorro High School during a break between classes. (Photo: Don Usner/Searchlight New Mexico) SOCORRO – Carlos slides through the windowless halls of Socorro High School with the grace of a jaguar, like he owns these disinfected floors, these metal lockers, this 7-foot sculpture of a Native American “Warrior” mascot in its glass case. Tight fade haircut. Zirconia studs glinting in his lobes.
First, aid: If students in Socorro are going to succeed, they need help in & out of class
Principal Mario Zuniga stands in the hallway of Socorro High School during a break between classes. (Photo: Don Usner/Searchlight New Mexico) SOCORRO – Carlos slides through the windowless halls of Socorro High School with the grace of a jaguar, like he owns these disinfected floors, these metal lockers, this 7-foot sculpture of a Native American “Warrior” mascot in its glass case. Tight fade haircut. Zirconia studs glinting in his lobes.
First, aid: If students in Socorro are going to succeed, they need help in & out of class
Principal Mario Zuniga stands in the hallway of Socorro High School during a break between classes. (Photo: Don Usner/Searchlight New Mexico) SOCORRO – Carlos slides through the windowless halls of Socorro High School with the grace of a jaguar, like he owns these disinfected floors, these metal lockers, this 7-foot sculpture of a Native American “Warrior” mascot in its glass case. Tight fade haircut. Zirconia studs glinting in his lobes.
First, aid: If students in Socorro are going to succeed, they need help in & out of class
Principal Mario Zuniga stands in the hallway of Socorro High School during a break between classes. (Photo: Don Usner/Searchlight New Mexico) SOCORRO – Carlos slides through the windowless halls of Socorro High School with the grace of a jaguar, like he owns these disinfected floors, these metal lockers, this 7-foot sculpture of a Native American “Warrior” mascot in its glass case. Tight fade haircut. Zirconia studs glinting in his lobes.
First, aid: If students in Socorro are going to succeed, they need help in & out of class
Principal Mario Zuniga stands in the hallway of Socorro High School during a break between classes. (Photo: Don Usner/Searchlight New Mexico) SOCORRO – Carlos slides through the windowless halls of Socorro High School with the grace of a jaguar, like he owns these disinfected floors, these metal lockers, this 7-foot sculpture of a Native American “Warrior” mascot in its glass case. Tight fade haircut. Zirconia studs glinting in his lobes.
First, aid: If students in Socorro are going to succeed, they need help in & out of class
Principal Mario Zuniga stands in the hallway of Socorro High School during a break between classes. (Photo: Don Usner/Searchlight New Mexico) SOCORRO – Carlos slides through the windowless halls of Socorro High School with the grace of a jaguar, like he owns these disinfected floors, these metal lockers, this 7-foot sculpture of a Native American “Warrior” mascot in its glass case. Tight fade haircut. Zirconia studs glinting in his lobes.
First, aid: If students in Socorro are going to succeed, they need help in & out of class
Principal Mario Zuniga stands in the hallway of Socorro High School during a break between classes. (Photo: Don Usner/Searchlight New Mexico) SOCORRO – Carlos slides through the windowless halls of Socorro High School with the grace of a jaguar, like he owns these disinfected floors, these metal lockers, this 7-foot sculpture of a Native American “Warrior” mascot in its glass case. Tight fade haircut. Zirconia studs glinting in his lobes.
First, aid | Santa Fe New Mexico | Searchlight New Mexico
Photo by Don J. Usner / Searchlight New Mexico RAISING NEW MEXICO By Alisa Valdes | April 24, 2019 | Photography by Don J. Usner If students in Socorro are going to succeed, they need help in and out of the classroom. SOCORRO – Carlos slides through the windowless halls of Socorro High School with the grace of a jaguar, like he owns these disinfected floors, these metal lockers, this 7-foot sculpture of a Native American “Warrior” mascot in its glass case. Tight fade haircut.
Chimpanzees, Bonobos and Cougars, Oh My!
Evolution explains MILF mania Shelby Criswell I turn 50 this month, and of the many surprises I've encountered in growing older, one has stood out: I get more hot, young guys now than I ever did in my youth. Weird. I never thought I'd be single in middle age, but that's what happened when my long marriage fell apart. Suddenly single in my 40s, indoctrinated by a culture that says older women are reproductively worthless, I braced myself for loneliness.
We’ve Separated Thousands of Latino Children Before From Their Families, and the Emotional Scars Still Remain
For now, at least, it appears that the collective outcry around the world from humans with, you know, functioning souls, against the Trump administration’s abusive and insane policy of separating migrant children, some as young as three months old, from their parents and caretakers at the border, might have worked to halt the insane practice that led the United Nations Human Rights Commission to declare us in violation.
Don’t Tell Latinas to Sit Down and Shut Up About #MeToo
It’s hard for any woman to go public with her story of being sexually harassed or abused by a man. She must deal with a dude who invariably denies everything. She’s gotta navigate a patriarchal society where police and the judicial system can be quick to discredit them. She has to manage the new trauma and retraumatization that come from having to defend herself and relive the abuse. No one does this just to get attention, just like no one would eat a box of thumbtacks to cure their hunger.
Author Alisa Valdes on Junot Díaz: ‘He Mistreated Me, And I Was Severely Punished For It’
In the days since author Zinzi Clemmons confronted Junot Díaz and accused him of sexual misconduct at a literary festival in Sydney, Australia, and later tweeted about her allegations, a number of other women have come forward with stories of alleged sexual harassment and abuse at the hands of Díaz. On Friday evening, author Alisa Valdes opened up about Díaz’s “misogynistic abuse” in a blog post titled, “I tried to warn you about Junot Díaz.
Celebrities Apparently Dread the Met Gala
The Met Gala never fails to be an incredibly rich source of drama: There are celebrity feuds, drunk ramblings, and transgressions by all the rebellious cool kids. But according to Page Six, while outsiders laugh and gasp and roll their eyes at every dramatic incident, the actual people at the event are miserable.
John McCain Doesn’t Want Donald Trump At His Funeral
If Donald Trump thought his decision to skip Barbara Bush’s memorial service would be the last funeral drama in which he’d find himself embroiled, oh, was he wrong. According to the New York Times, 81-year-old Senator John McCain is currently compiling his dream guest list for his funeral — smart, given the nature of death! — and Trump is not on it.
State auditor says awareness, pressure slowly chipping away at massive rape-kit backlog - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller says public awareness and pressure from his office has led the police departments in four municipalities to clear their backlogs of untested sexual assault evidence kits in the last couple of months, indicating that delays statewide in forensic testing for rape cases “has been mostly an issue of priorities.” “There is absolutely still a high level of discrimination against women and children,” who make up the majority of victims in sexual assault cases,...
Boy, 9, demands city clean graffiti at Ragel Park - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
The latest angry citizen demanding that Santa Fe do something about the lack of maintenance at its parks stands out from the others because he’s, well, a little kid. A determined little kid. Josh Almeida is only 9, but he’s on a mission to get obscene graffiti removed from Ragel Park. The graffiti includes a large carving of male sex organs inside the large red tube slide Josh says he’s loved to play on “since I was really young.” Ragle is a 38-acre park at West Zia Road and Yucca Street.
St. Elizabeth Shelter to celebrate 30 years with Plaza party - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Features
The year was 1986. Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer was smashing the airwaves, and President Ronald Reagan was slashing funds for mental hospitals, creating a humanitarian crisis across the nation, including in Santa Fe. In one year alone, Reagan’s policy of de-institutionalizing the mentally ill thrust 1.2 million clinically unstable Americans onto the streets, where most remained homeless.
Staffers, guests share why St. Elizabeth matters - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
Thirty years ago, a 26-year-old city planner named Edward Archuleta heard about a new homeless shelter in Santa Fe, started by Catholic nuns. Archuleta had noticed an explosion of homeless people wandering the city’s streets in the wake of massive cuts to social services made during the Reagan presidency — cuts that threw 1.2 million Americans into homelessness in 1986 alone, according to the National Housing Institute — and he was glad someone was doing something about it.
Events for Fiesta de Valle de Española underway - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
This year’s Fiesta de Valle de Española kicked off Thursday and continues around town through Sunday with a variety of activities, including dances, parades, musical performances and a coronation ceremony for La Reina and her male counterpart, a man who portrays Spanish conquistador Don Juan de Oñate. The festival has taken place on and off almost yearly since the 1930s, and commemorates Oñate’s arrival in the area in the late 16th century.
Social innovation experts to take part in panel discussion - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
Fifteen months ago, the board of the International Folk Art Alliance in Santa Fe took a chance on Jeff Snell, hiring him as the organization’s new CEO even though he’d announced in his interview: “I am not a folk art expert. Not even close.” The board hired him despite this shortcoming, Snell told The New Mexican, because he is one of the nation’s top experts in something else entirely: social innovation. An online service is needed to view this article in its entirety.
Neighbors push city to clean cactus from Las Estancias Park - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
Shasta Brooks would love to go fly a kite. For now, however, she can’t — at least not in the open space at Las Estancias Park, the closest public green space to the home she shares with her husband and toddler son. “The entire area is completely unusable,” Brooks, a Santa Fe attorney, said in an email to The New Mexican. “There are hundreds of prickly pear cactus growing throughout the park.” An online service is needed to view this article in its entirety.
All-woman motorcycle club to hold annual gathering in Santa Fe - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
Hear that gasoline growl? Feel the rumble in your rib cage? That’s because 400 hard core motorcycle enthusiasts are riding into town this week for a gathering of the Motor Maids, the continent’s oldest and largest all-women motorcycle club, founded in 1940. An online service is needed to view this article in its entirety. You need an online service to view this article in its entirety. Choose an online service. Current print subscribers Need an account? Create one now.
New Mexico Hispanics discovering and embracing their indigenous roots - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Features
Actress and former KRQE-TV news anchor Kim Trujillo appears in a new national video advertisement for the genealogy website ancestry.com, announcing with surprise that her DNA revealed she is “26 percent Native American.” As with many New Mexico Hispanics, Trujillo, born and raised in Belen, had considered herself 100 percent “Spanish.” “I am very proud to find out I’m Native American, though,” Trujillo told The New Mexican.
Garlic: A versatile vegetable, a farming tradition - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
My son and I arrived at the Sostenga Farm at Northern New Mexico College at around 6:30 a.m., and folks were already there in the cool, bird-chirp quiet of the three-quarter-acre field, setting up tents, tables, a grill for making blue corn pancakes and the stage where the king and queen of garlic would be crowned. These chipper people, who had gathered for Española’s ninth annual Sostenga Garlic Harvest Festival, were set to race each other at 7 a.m. in a garlic-picking contest.
Garlic: A versatile vegetable, a farming tradition - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Features
My son and I arrived at the Sostenga Farm at Northern New Mexico College at around 6:30 a.m., and folks were already there in the cool, bird-chirp quiet of the three-quarter-acre field, setting up tents, tables, a grill for making blue corn pancakes and the stage where the king and queen of garlic would be crowned. These chipper people, who had gathered for Española’s ninth annual Sostenga Garlic Harvest Festival, were set to race each other at 7 a.m. in a garlic-picking contest.
Santa Fean shares magic of model trains - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
When Ed Williams was a boy growing up in Batavia, Ill., he loved trains. He was lucky. His grandpa was a train engineer for the Chicago and North Western, a railroad that covered 12,000 miles of track in seven states. Grandpa used to take young Eddie into the big engine with him on runs. It was, he says, magical. When he was 13 years old, Ed got his first model train set for Christmas from his sound-physicist father. Also magical. An online service is needed to view this article in its entirety.
Descendants of New Deal architects champion progressive causes - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
On Friday, history — about history, as it turns out — was made in the Lumpkins Ballroom at La Fonda on the Plaza. That’s where five unrelated descendants of five well-known people who created and implemented the New Deal all gathered and met for the first time. They were on a panel to discuss the legacy of their ancestors’ efforts, at an event organized by the Santa Fe-based National New Deal Preservation Association. An online service is needed to view this article in its entirety.
New Deal hero ‘helped make this country better’ - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Features
Rupert Lopez is 100 years old, and his leg is broken. Yet, there he was, shuffling with small, self-determined steps behind his walker, from the table near the stage to the stage itself, in the Lumpkins Ballroom at La Fonda, to accept his award. “I’m here,” the Corrales man said in a hoarse and quivering voice, “because what we did was that important. I’m here to honor everyone else who helped make this country better.” An online service is needed to view this article in its entirety.
New Deal workers to be honored at symposium - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
The National New Deal Preservation Association is hosting a symposium Friday, June 24, in Santa Fe, featuring the granddaughter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and grandchildren of four of his top administrators in a conversation about the New Deal work programs that employed millions of Americans and provided relief to tens of thousands of people across New Mexico.
Humane Communities aims to end chaining of dogs by building fences - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
It’s a common sight in New Mexico: a dog chained or roped in a yard. In Santa Fe, however, chained dogs have become far less common in the past three years, thanks to a city ordinance that makes the practice illegal. Animal Control Officer Johnny Martinez said the rule has about a 95 percent compliance rate, due in large part to door-to-door education, outreach and enforcement from the city’s six Animal Control officers and their nonprofit partners.
Cooking with Kids forced to shift focus after funding cuts - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
For 20 years, the Santa Fe-based nonprofit organization Cooking with Kids has done exactly what its name describes: It has taught children in public schools how to cook with an eye toward fostering healthy eating habits.
A Reporter’s Notebook: It’s not easy finding a public restroom downtown - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
I’m standing just outside the women’s restroom on the first floor at La Fonda Hotel, off the Plaza, creeping people out. Maybe it’s the reporter’s notebook in my left hand. Or the pen in my right. Or the way I stare. I’m watching women line up, so many of them the line is out the door. I’m asking them questions. I suspect this could be the creepiest part of what I’m doing. Are they guests here? No, most of them say. Well, the ones who will talk to me, anyway.
Record crowd gathers for Movies in the Park opener - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
The gently sloping performance green at the Santa Fe Railyard Park became a colorful, squirming patchwork quilt of blankets, folding chairs, diaper bags and picnic baskets, as a crowd estimated at between 800 and 1,000 people came together at twilight for the kickoff of the free summer Movies in the Park series. A joint production of the city of Santa Fe and AMP Concerts, Movies in the Park entered its ninth year Friday night by screening Finding Nemo.
WWII veteran returns to Mora High School to receive diploma - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News
Thirty-one high school seniors, robed in green and white, lined up at the westernmost doors of the Mora High School gymnasium — boy, girl, boy. Square caps with tassels. Gowns. Giggles. Carnations. High-fives. A ceremonious end to a childhood in the verdant Northern New Mexico mountain village that 5,000 people call home. A start to whatever comes next.
Brians Sex Harassment Case Against City of ABQ
Hi. I'm Alisa Valdes, and I've started this campaign to help my fiance, Brian Mathews, raise money for his very expensive and emotionally draining legal battle with the City of Albuquerque.
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