I had a wonderful time presenting MELTED AWAY at the Miami Book Fair this past weekend. I met new readers, listened in on fellow authors’ readings, and schmoozed with longtime friends and colleagues from the Miami area. I also got to hang out with climatologist Michael E. Mann, who endorsed my book before I was… Read more »
Barbara Drake-Vera
Barbara to appear at Miami Book Fair, Nov. 23!
I’m so pleased to announce that I will be presenting MELTED AWAY at the Miami Book Fair on November 23, 2024. 📚✨ Details: Sat., 11/23, 10 a.m.-10:45 a.m., Magic Screening Room, Bldg. 8, 1st floor Join me & hundreds of other authors across all genres for a week of incredible events including author discussions, the… Read more »
Meeting the Voracious Readers of The Villages
My fall MELTED AWAY tour took a unique detour to The Villages today, to a lovely used & new bookstore called All Booked Up. This was a meet-and-greet event, not a reading, and I talked with some very interesting people and garnered some new readers. It was great to get a check at the… Read more »
Drake-Vera Meet & Greet at All Booked Up, Oct. 15
Readers in The Villages area: I will be at the indie bookstore All Booked Up on Oct. 15, doing a meet-and-greet and book signing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Stop to chat, grab an autographed copy of Melted Away and see some of the artifacts from Peru that I’m bringing with me!
When Denialism Meets 140-MPH Winds
I don’t know. Honestly. Last week, northern Florida was hit by Hurricane Helene, and now Hurricane Milton is barreling toward Orlando, and I am feeling overwhelmed. After Jorge and I cleaned up the debris from Helene, I quickly wrote an essay centered on the feelings evoked by a woodpecker’s nest blown down in the storm…. Read more »
I Signed the Wall at Midtown Reader!
Midtown Reader (Tallahassee’s indie bookstore) made me feel right at home on Oct. 3, when I appeared in conversation with poet Virgil Suarez. Smart questions from the audience and insights from Virgil made this an evening to remember. Being invited to sign the library-papered restroom wall was a thrill — adding my book’s title and… Read more »
Save the Date! Oct. 3, Barb Drake-Vera in Tallahassee
Thrilled to announce I’ll be in conversation with poet/novelist/artist/FSU prof Virgil Suarez at Midtown Reader & Piebrary, in Tallahassee, on Oct. 3, at 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. We’ll be talking about my hybrid memoir, Melted Away, which traces my journey in Peru as a climate reporter and carer to a father with Alzheimer’s. I’m also… Read more »
What Sparked My Hybrid Memoir? Read My New Guest Blog Post
My new guest post is up at the September LSU Press blog. It recounts what prompted me to combine two storylines in Melted Away, one centering on melting glaciers in the Andes and the other about caring for my father with dementia in Lima. Here’s the opening: Readers often ask me questions about Andean culture… Read more »
We Had a Ball at The Lynx Books!
Climate-distress specialist Brittany Rivers, LMHC, and I had a great time presenting on climate emotions at The Lynx Books, in Gainesville, on 9/2. Despite it being Labor Day, 20+ people showed up, including my dear friend and mentor Jill Ciment and a Peruvian-born environmental-sustainability professor who drove up from Fort Myers! Brittany and I loved… Read more »
Save the Date! Sept. 2, Barbara Drake-Vera at The Lynx
Dear friends and readers, Does thinking about climate change make you anxious, nervous, angry or depressed? If so, you aren’t alone. Climate emotions can be overwhelming, and many of us grapple with a mix of feelings on a daily basis. To help our community, local therapist Brittany Rivers, LMHC, and I will be giving a… Read more »
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- Books & Books, in Coral Gables, is one of my favorite bookstores. I used to sell books there (in the original storefront) in the 1990s, and in the early 2000s I wrote their monthly newsletter. I remember reading Henry Miller’s “Tropic of Cancer” in the front window of the Books & Books location during Banned Books Weeks. Owner Mitchell Kaplan’s commitment to freedom of expression has never wavered. Credit: Books & Books
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- I used to lose myself in the stacks of the Strand Bookstore, in lower Manhattan, when I lived in the East Village in my 20s. If someone would like to throw me a post-reading party in the Strand’s atmospheric Rare Books Room, I would not mind at all. Credit: Booksbooks431
