Texas Writer Wins Four International Latino Book Awards

On May 31, at the 2007 International Latino Book Awards held in New York, "The Mystics of Reyesville," a novel by Texas writer/artist Corinne Chacon, was recognized for Best Cover Illustration, Best Softcover Design, and was also awarded Second Place for Best Romance-English and Honorable Mention for Best Mystery-English. The first in a fascinating series of mystical novels celebrating the Mexican culture, the Mystics of Reyesville tells the tale of a woman who must confront her past after returning to her Texas home town. The awards are sponsored by Latino Literacy Now and held in conjunction with BookExpo, the country's premier publishing event.

San Antonio, TX (PRWEB) June 11, 2007 -- On May 31st, at the 2007 International Book Awards held in New York, The Mystics of Reyesville, a novel by writer/artist Corinne Chacón, resident of San Antonio, was recognized for Best Cover Illustration, Best Softcover Design, and was also awarded Second Place for Best Romance-English and Honorable Mention for Best Mystery-English.

Chacón, a writer/artist, created the illustration that serves as the book's cover (which she also co-designed). The first in a series of mystical novels celebrating Mexican culture, The Mystics of Reyesville tells the tale of a woman who must confront her past after returning to her Texas home town. Chacón describes the novel as "a tasty serving of Tex-Mex mysticism with a side order of love and secrets," and plans to write an entire series about the mythical south Texas town she named Reyesville, its powerful Mexican-American families, and the spirituality and sensuality of the Tex-Mexican culture that is interwoven into their lives.

The life-long student of mysticism and politics began writing the book in 2005 while she was working full-time as a nonprofit administrator. As the manuscript began to take shape, she began to study the publishing industry to learn about transitioning to a writing career and retired in early 2006 to pursue writing full-time. Chacón felt driven to document and preserve Mexican healing customs, which she says, "contribute to a sense of connection that is crucial to emotional well-being--wisdom that the world needs now more than ever." It was also important to her to create stories that tell the full picture of the Mexican-American experience in the U.S. Her book was published in December, 2006, in collaboration with iUniverse, Inc. It is available online at iUniverse and Amazon.

She is currently working on the sequel to "The Mystics of Reyesville." More information on her work, including her blog, is available on the Internet at www.reyesville.com.

The event was held in conjunction with BookExpo, the country's premier publishing event, and broadcast live over the Internet by Diversity Broadband TV. The webcast will be archived for the next few weeks at www.LBFF.us. The awards are sponsored by Latino Literacy Now, a non-profit organization, to promote literacy and to honor literary excellence in English and in Spanish from the U.S., Mexico, Central and South America, and Spain.

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