Bogota has its share of problems. It’s a big, noisy, gritty city with more inhabitants than it can reasonably handle. Unlike back home, demand for public transportation is enviably high: bus it and they will come. Supply is another story. Foto: Carlos Julio...
What a joy this week to head to Barranquilla for Carnaval with my best buds Shane and Ali. Barranquilla hosts the second largest Carnaval in the world, with Rio (natch) holding the top spot. I don’t know… I can’t quite imagine more feathers than what...
I bet that’s not a headline you could have predicted. Me either! I was surprised to read a story about USAID outfitting city vultures with GPS and cameras to try to track urban dumping. Yes, really Knowing USAID as I do, I read between the lines of the story a...
It strikes me that Villa de Leyva is the perfect little Colonial town for a lazy vacation. It’s 3-4 hours’ drive from Bogota, settled in a warm valley, full of restaurants and hotels, and very peaceful and safe. Oodles of stars become visible as night...
I’m back in Bogota and working feverishly on new queries, new agents, new chances. At the advice of a particular editor, I queried one last week and was almost instantaneously rejected. But she was nice about it, I suppose. It just reminded me how unpleasant it...
What does it mean when something has been self-published that on its face has no literary merit? Does it mean: a) the publishing world is f&%$d? b) readers have no interest in something deep and pensive, but will buy whatever is simple and clich’d? c)...
