Last Seen in Havana author copies.

It has happened to me so many times (sixteen, to be exact), but the experience has never lost its shine. It’s still the same feeling of happiness, awe and dazzle I felt when my first novel was published back in 2004. That luminous moment when I open the box containing the author copies and take out a hardcover smelling of newness, ink, and pages waiting to be read…

And I look at the book, hug and kiss it, savoring the fact that I have in my hands the tangible result of months, or in this case, years, of work.

It couldn’t have come at a better time, and I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful Christmas gift.