Blog
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The invitation to deliver the keynote speech for the 2025 Local Authors Showcase at the San Diego Public Library was both an honor and a writing challenge. What could I possibly tell an auditorium-full of authors about writing? I decided to skip the usual stories about how my childhood as a dedicated bookworm/nerd and cut…
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This has been a brutal year for loss. My mother passed away in April, and my book baby daddy died today. We all knew this day was coming. Robert Alejandro had been struggling with cancer for eight years, surviving on his partner Jetro’s Budwig Protocol diet. But eight years is a long time even…
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It’s a bit embarrassing how choked up I get, talking about the way books change lives and why I believe books in print are the most affordable works of art. Watch the interview at the link below.
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A Bookish Auction Today is the last day to bid one books and literary services donated by over 900 authors, illustrators, editors and literary agents in Books for Maui. Proceeds from the auction sales go to support wildfire relief efforts. Whoever places the winning bid on The Mango Bride will get a surprise book as…
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Producing Pandemic Bread was a true community effort. Professor Zeinabu Irene Davis recruited undergraduate and graduate students from several universities to work as crew, promising limitless food and their first IMDB credits. Seasoned actors Princess Punzalan, Becca Godinez and Claire Simba worked for the most modest wages that SAG would allow. Rizzhel Javier let us…
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A story about my day job as an interpreter went from an online performance on Generation Women’s virtual stage; to online publication in Zocalo Public Square; to an abbreviated version published in the San Diego Decameron Project; to an onstage reading at the Cygnet Theater; to a film adaptation, directed by award-winning filmmaker Zeinabu Irene…
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DimeStories is a monthly Flash Fiction open mic event that began 19 years ago in The Grove, a knitting supply and book store in the South Park neighborhood of San Diego. I began reading excerpts from short stories I’d written for my horror collection Spooky Mo then eventually started writing new flash fiction pieces. It…
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I am honored and delighted to be part of Authors in the Tent, a series of filmed interviews featured in Literary Hub and hosted by San Diego novelist Ona Russell. Previous guests include such distinguished writers as the German novelist Bernhard Schlink, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hector Tobar and Representative Adam Schiff. https://lithub.com/marivi-soliven-on-the-challenges-of-being-a-faceless-interpreter/ Ona films the…
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Pandemic Bread on Fireside Last Friday Susan McBeth, indefatigable advocate of authors and founder of Adventures By the Book hosted a free virtual event on Fireside, a revolutionary new interactive streaming platform that invites the audience to participate in the show. Director Zeinabu Irene Davis, Screenwriter Marc Chery and I talked about the process of…
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Last Memorial Day weekend indie filmmaker Zeinabu Davis gathered a cast and crew to shoot a film based on my short story Pandemic Bread. The story was inspired by my day job which involved interpreting end of life calls between doctors, Covid patients, and their families. At the height of the pandemic, I was called…