Bio
Bienvenidos Homo Sapiens! and all other Homos!
1. Favorite toy as a child? –My best friend Antolinsito.
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I was born in Havana Cuba (Marianao) and raised in Hialeah (Miami) in a wacked-out Cuban barrio where I started cutting hair at twelve.
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2. What does the “L” in your middle name stand for? –Lezzie.
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As a teen, I hopped in my tiny convertible and zoomed to Boston, a foreign “country,” where no one spoke “Cuban.” I lived in Frigid Bean Town cutting hair, working at the library, dancing and drumming, nine years, and nearly froze my you know what off!
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3. What did you want to be when you were little? –I didn’t “want to be.” I WAS Jungle Girl, Mayritín, and lived with a gorilla family. I rode panthers and elephants and saved animals from extinction by using magical powers to shrink and stick them in the freezer until poachers disappeared.
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I’m back home in Miami where I worked as a Cuban chef, landscape designer, and library assistant until I became a full-time writer.
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4. Three wishes –1) For every toxic chemical on earth to be eliminated and replaced by nontoxic. 2) Find cures for every ill kid and person on earth. 3) That Homophobia dies.
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I love languages, landscape designs, architecture, art, literature, Bosa Nova, satire, friends from all over the world, ideas, words, writing, solar energy, everything Cuban, international foods, dogs & cats–I can go on till forever and eternity!
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5. What’s under your bed? –The Boogie Woman.
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I attended the International Institute of Boston and volunteered in their ESL tutorial program where I taught Central Americans how to speak English by using picture books. It was one of the richest, most fun, and emotionally gratifying experiences of my life.
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6. Favorite sandwich? –Elena Ruth with excessive amounts of cream cheese, dripping in massive amounts of strawberry jam/mustard/garlic sauce–not authentic, I know. Haven’t had one in six years. Still digesting last one!
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7. If you were crayons, what colors would you be? – Tangy Orange, Rich Rojo, and Cha-cha Chartreuse
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I’m passionate about promoting literacy, tolerance, and Green-living and I translate “Green” brochures from English to Spanish.
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8. Life motto –Question everything. Think for yourself so you can inspire others to become brilliant freethinkers who take action. Save the People! Go Green!
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Professional Bio:
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Mayra Lazara Dole’s just released novel Down to the Bone. has a full cast of Miami Cuban characters, was nominated for ALA BEST BOOK 2009, and submitted for consideration for the NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS. Her bilingual children’s books, Drum, Chavi, Drum! and Birthday in the Barrio, were critically acclaimed–Birthday in the Barrio is in the works towards becoming a short children’s film. Dole’s Afro-Cuban poetry and short stories have been published by Cipher Journal: A Journal of Literary Translation, PALABRA: A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art, VELVET, a UK lesbian literary magazine and many others. Mayra translates environmentalist Green brochures from English to Spanish.
DOWN to the BONE by Mayra Lazara Dole has been nominated for ALA’s BEST BOOK.
“… laugh-out-loud irreverent…” Starred, ALA Booklist review by Hazel Rochman
Books & Books I have no affiliation whatsoever with this bookstore but I’d rather you purchase my book at a small community store that cares.
Lambda Rising I have no affiliation whatsoever with this bookstore but I’d rather you purchase my book at a small community store that cares.
Mayra, I just got your book “Down to the Bone” and I can’t wait to read it.
I’m curious — whose hair did you cut at age 12? I cut my brother’s hair when I was four and he was, well… let’s just say he still had a soft spot in his skull. My mother just about had a heart attack.
I’m happy to find you in cyberspace!
–KT
KT,
You killed me! Hope your brother’s alive! At nine, I started snipping, then shaving my brother’s hair with a 99 cent gadget. By eleven, I had all the barrio boys lined up to get my infamous cuts. Since I did such a Fabulous job, my mom asked me for a “tiny trim.” She snoozed and I gave her the only haircut I knew: The Crewcut! She ran after me around the block with a broom in the air, “I’m going to kill you!”–in Spanish. The wig she wore for a year didn’t look too bad… Luckily, although I was punished, I went on to become a hairstylist and worked at a few different shops.
Thanks for your warm welcome, KT. I’m happy to find you too!
Ciao, and my condolences to your poor bro!
Mayra
My brother survived. But there were many times later on I wished I had given him a closer cut.
–KT
I reviewed your book at http://teenbookreview.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/review-down-to-the-bone-by-mayra-lazara-dole/! Loved it. I was also wondering if you might be interested in doing an interview on my blog? Let me know (teenbookreview at gmail dot com). Thanks!
Jocelyn
Thanks Jocelyn! I left a comment on your blog. Absolutely! I’d love an interview.
Hi Mayra!
I recently got your your book from the library because I am a gay woman and have always been highly interested in the Cuban and Hispanic cultures, especially in combination with the gay culture. I wanted to commend you on bringing so many different facets of all of these cultures into your novel. It has been extremely entertaining as well as educational! It makes me want to take a trip to Miami to experience it first hand.
I just wanted to let you know that I think the book is great and I hope you write more involing the subjects in Down to the Bone. If you have any ideas for great places to visit that would allow me to experience the Cuban/Gay culture….I would love to know.
Thanks for the great book Mayra and take care!
Hi Liz! Thanks so much for your comments. I’m excited that you loved my book. I haven’t been part of the gay scene in Miami in years–long story–but I hear that the best time to come is April and May to the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Check out Aqua Girl at South Beach (usually in May, also). South Beach and 12th street it the gay beach. The largest congregation of LGBT’s are in Miami Beach, particularly Lincoln R. Mall. Key West is very gay. Times have changed… Hope you have a fabulous trip!
Mayra reading all your anecdotes in “inmamaskitchen.com” has me laughing hysterically…out loud; my co-worker is looking at me as if I were a mad woman….me has transladado a un tiempo de mi joventud…I’m Puerto Rican with the majority of my childhood friends not to mention my first husband too, being cuban and I could totally relate to all you wrote. I haven’t had such a GREAT laugh in a while…merci, merci, merci…mil gracias.
I am looking forward to reading “Down to the bone” and will also look into the two children’s books you mentioned…my cuban-rican son is 19 and would so much appreciate your sense of humor as well.
Maybe it’ll be something i’ll save for my 9 mos old little Isaac….like his namesake, the child is always laughing.
Good luck with all your future endeavors….
Te lo mereces….
(at work so please forgive all the grammatical and typographical errors)
Migdalia,
What a delight it was to know that my anecdotes had you laughing hysterically! Thanks so much for your warm and motivating email–makes me want to rush to write more humor pieces. Cubans and Ricans are a crazy lot with so many similarities. Glad you could relate. I hope you and your teen son enjoy Down to the Bone and that little Laughing Isaac loves my picture books. Let me know. Good luck with all your endeavors and thanks again for the inspiration!
Hi Mayra, congrats on your new book, I just had a quick question as a Cuban trying to write something of our heritage to leave behind, what is a good place to start when looking to get published in South Florida? I’m not a writer by profession just by heart… Gracias.
Hola, Jose,
Thanks for the Congrats! I don’t know of a single publisher in South Florida. I bought the Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market and familiarized myself with publishers searching for multicultural novels. Harper Collins–my publishers–are in New York. Once you have a novel finished, you can submit to publishers interested in Cuban-American novels. !Mucha suerte!
Congrats on your book.I loved it so much I read it in three hours. Are there going to be any sequels to the book?
Wow! You read Down to the Bone in THREE HOURS? You must be a genius! Thanks for the congrats. It would mean the world to me if you wrote a review on Amazon about why you loved my book (I’d love to know details). I’m thinking of writing a sequel. What/who would you like to know more about? Thanks again! Mayra.