It’s my first historical novel and I’ve loved the new direction it has taken me in. As soon as I heard the story, I couldn’t get the question out of my mind-if you were forced to leave the only home you had ever known and had only a box in which to preserve your memories, what would you choose to save? From that question, Next Year in Havana was born. Because they weren’t able to take valuables and mementos with them, my family gathered in the backyard of their home under the dead of night and buried them for when they returned. Q: What inspired you to write Next Year in Havana? How is it different from your other novels?Ī: Next Year in Havana was inspired by a family story my father told me about the night before my family left Cuba in 1967 after the Cuban Revolution. Seven years ago, I started working on a new book, learning more about the business side of writing and growing my craft, and I never looked back. It wasn’t until I started querying agents looking for representation and receiving rejections (rightfully so- the book was pretty terrible) that I realized how badly I wanted to be a writer. Q: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?Ī: I started playing around with writing a novel about 10 years ago, but it took me ages to actually finish it.

This is such a tough question for me! Some of my perennial favorites include The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif, Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire, but there are definitely loads of other books that could easily make this list.

Q: What are some of your favorite novels?

Book next year in havana