The Latina Book Club
welcomes back author Edward Cisneros aka Eddie C. He has revamped and revised his old book,
HIS-PANIC, to bring us the new improved version – HISPANICUS: THE APOSTATE LIFE
OF ANTONIO PINTERO. It’s the dirty,
gritty story of a 15-year old drug dealer who rules the streets of New
York. Before we share an excerpt from
his book, we asked Eddie C about how New York City inspires much of his
writing.--mcf
Q: How does New York City and its
dark underbelly inspire you?
EDDIE C: I think for visualization
purposes, you can easily move away from the neon lights of Times Square and
perhaps move a little further uptown, soak in a totally different
atmosphere. Maybe journey out to the Bronx, Brooklyn, certain parts of Queens.
It’s not to say that New York in
general is this entire rotten apple, but there are parts that can give you that
grime and realness, in order to authenticate what you write about. I've always
said that I was fortunate to have been raised in a let's say decent
neighborhood, but I grew up knowing individuals, hung out in certain places and
witnessed situations that have truly helped me in my writing, especially
for this series of Hispanicus.
Q: Do you have a favorite part of town?
EDDIE C: I'm a Queens boy so go figure that my series
deals with the Bronx. But I don't think I can be biased towards one particular
place. I think there is much to do all over New York and its outer boroughs. On
any given weekend, I may hang out in Astoria, or in the city, the village,
Brooklyn, wherever. I have what Latinos call "patas caliente", hot
feet, so wherever there's something going on, a party I'm invited to, I say,
let's do it.
Hispanicus:
The Apostate life of Antonio Pintero
By Eddie Cisneros
EXCERPT
I remember covering my
ears. I tried anything to block out the horrible sound. “Please God, I promise
I will do anything, just make her stop.” I prayed again. I know I was sincere
and passionate about my plea. When suddenly, I felt a calm come over me. I felt
relaxed and unafraid. The banging had stopped like magic.
I was young but at that
age I still had some kind of faith in a higher being. I prayed at night before
going to bed, asking for forgiveness on what Rolando was teaching me. I asked for
my mother to get better one day, for my brother to be like any other normal
boy. I would follow along with my grandmother by making the sign of the cross
every time we passed Woodlawn Memorial cemetery on a bus ride back to my
apartment. I would even go to church with her on occasions, always asking to
light the candle after she'd made a donation.
I felt relieved. For the
first time, God had truly answered my prayer by bringing light to such a dark
cloud that always hovered in my apartment. I slowly began to slide out from
under the bed. After all my praying and crying, I looked down at my hand and
remembered the reason for all the drama. I still held onto the bag of Mister
Blackstone. Wiping away the tears from my face, I then massaged my cheek. Surprisingly,
the sting was also gone. A faint smile began to form on my face as I stared at
the door.
I was beginning to feel
relaxed; suddenly, the door flew opened by a kick from Mildred's dirty foot.
She quickly ran into the room grabbing me by my hair and pulling me down to the
floor. She then proceeded to finally yank the bag of heroin from my hand.#
BOOK SUMMARY: HISPANICUS tells the fictional story of
Antonio Pintero, a once big time drug dealer from the Bronx who as an adult is
retelling his life story in all its vivid detail. Antonio scrambles to make
certain things right fearing time is running out on him. The first
installment introduces the main character of Antonio, an innocent child
growing up in the early eighties surround by dysfunction in the worst of forms.
He would see the effects of drugs firsthand, dealing with a
heroin addicted mother sick with AIDS and a controlling stepfather that
pushed a business on him, teaching the young boy to bag marijuana at the age of
five and at twelve already out in the streets and selling it. The series of HISPANICUS
is tough, edgy and gritty. It is the painful story of one man desperately
seeking balance in his life after years of selling drugs and a childhood lost.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Employed as a doorman
for over twenty-four years, Eddie C has been quoted as saying “I am not a
doorman who chooses to write, but a writer who happens to be a doorman.” Apart
from his novel series of Hispanicus: The
apostate life of Antonio Pintero, Eddie has two finished screenplays
under his belt. A stylized thriller titled BEND about New York City homicide detectives
on the trail of a serial killer, and its sequel. He also served as a
contributing writer for the real estate website BrickUnderground.com
for two years, with more than forty posts in a bi-weekly segment that was
titled “A Doorman Speaks” which dealt with the inside workings and stories in a residential building, all voiced
by none other than, a doorman. Eddie also has a memoir of sorts even though he
continues to work in said field, titled “Opening Doors: A New York City
doorman's secrets and stories”, which has garnered the attention of several
blog websites in the past including write-ups in New York magazine and the New
York Post. The project is on the shelf as of now with the hopes of it being
shopped to publishers in the near future.
Follow him on Twitter @eddiecauthor.
READ LATINO !