REMEMBERING MONTREAL AND BURT BACHARACH by Lu Sobredo   It was a warm summer night in 1988. It was my first trip to Montreal, Canada. I did not know what to expect. I would soon discover when I picked up the hotel phone. Those were the days before cell phones. For the first time in my entire adult life, I traveled outside the U.S. by myself.   I had traveled with my family in my youth. And after college and a job that pays, I traveled with my college best friend Donna to Hawaii and all over Europe, except Spain. Spain came later as my destination of choice after I married the love of my life in the early 1990s.   But back to my first night in Montreal. I picked up the hotel phone to call home to reassure my Papa and Grandpa (I lost Mom to the big C only six years before) that I arrived safely in a luxurious Marriott Hotel in Montreal. The shocking part was discovering that the phone operator greeted you in French. I was rattled at first, found myself responding in Spanish...

ASPIRING NOVELIST’S NOTES   Nearly three months into the process, with most of the first two months spent on planning, research and solidifying the concept for a novel, yesterday was an unusually slow writing day for a change. After three pages to Chapter 21, I mostly listened to music, reread and did light editing of already written chapters. The rest of the time was spent noting points of self-discovery during the process.   Here’s a partial list of what I’ve observed so far about writing my first novel:   1.    Research is important. In as much as my work is fictional , I decided to stay true to the time period, events and locations within which my characters navigate. I wanted to honor the essence of the story and my protagonists’ journey.   I would be remiss not to thank our brother/sister friends Ruben Lopez and Noelia Jimenez for making it possible to call Madrid, Spain a home base for my family. Because of them, I hav...