Save the Date, October 18th @ The Historical Society of Washington D.C.

Washington DC (and Cleveland Park and Georgetown) history buffs take note:

October 18, 2009 Washington DC
Historical Society of Washington DC
C.M. Mayo on The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, a novel based on the true (and suprisingly Washingtonian) story

Sunday Afternoon Author Series

---> 2:30 pm (please note time, has changed) <---

801 K St NW at Mount Vernon Square, Washington DC 20001

Free and open to the public
www.historydc.org

Who knew that Mexico once had a half-American prince? Or that this little boy’s future was hotly debated not just in Mexico but in Washington D.C. and in every court in Europe? Set in the mid-19th century when Maximilian von Habsburg was Emperor of Mexico, C.M. Mayo's novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is based on the true and never before completely told story about a half-American, half-Mexican boy who, as in a fairytale, became a prince and then a pawn in the struggle-to-the-death over Mexico's destiny.

Published by Unbridled Books this May, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire has already received numerous glowing reviews, including from Publisher's Weekly, Latin American Review of Books, the Austin American-Statesman, Mexico Connect, and Library Journal, which said, "Mayo’s cultural insights are first-rate, and the glittering, doomed regime comes to life."

This novel incorporates original research into what is also a very Washingtonian story, for the prince's mother was from a prominent Washington family, and his father, Angel de Iturbide, second son of Mexico's first deposed emperor, Agustín de Iturbide, had come to Georgetown in Washington DC as a young boy and eventually served as the Mexican legation's secretary.

C.M. Mayo will present the novel and discuss the story behind the story of Mexico's last prince, a descendant not only of an emperor of Mexico, but of an old Washingtonian family, and why it has been obscured for more than 100 years.

Read more at http://www.cmmayo.com/last-prince-of-the-mexican-empire.html

More anon.

The Writers Center: C.M. Mayo, Luis Alberto Ambroggio, Yvette Neisser Moreno & Company--- and Grover Cleveland at the 7-11?

Sunday's reading at the Writers Center in Bethesda MD was such a delight. My dear amiga, historical novelist and fellow Writers Center faculty member, Ann McLaughlin, gave the introduction and read her favorite passage from The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire-- which she knows so well, having critiqued multitudinous drafts! For the record, it was the scene where Maximilian watches the sunset from the roof of Chapultepec Castle, rendered, but of course, in Maximilianesquely labyrinthical syntax (& toss in the Deities of Memphis, swords of light, an eagle skimming the treetops...) Gracias Ann!

Read Art Taylor's full report on the event over at Art & Literature...

And thank you also to everyone at the Writers Center, especially Sunil Freeman and Kyle Semmel (the Writers Center's blogger extraordinaire--- check out First Person Plural)-- and my fellow readers, poet Luis Alberto Ambroggio and his translator, poet Yvette Niesser Moreno (pictured right, photos by Kyle Semmel), who read such superb poems and so beautifully. Their new book, Difficult Beauty, will be available shortly.

It was a heartfelt pleasure to see my dear friend travel writer Sara Mansfield Taber, as she was the one who, many years ago, when we were fellows at Bread Loaf, first introduced me to the Writers Center. Other writers in attendance: Dylan Landis, who has a new and much-vaunted book of short stories coming out this fall, and my fellow Unbridled Books novelist, Stephen Evans; John Curry (with whom I'm cooking up a panel for the American Independent Writers Conference this June-- stay tuned; the talented short story writer and novelist Ellen Prentiss Campbell; poet, translator and publisher Robert Giron (who just brought out an amazing anthology, Poetic Voices Without Borders 2); poet and childrens book writer J.D. Smith (whose book on mariachis will be featured on this blog asap); poet and Momotombo editor Francisco Aragon; poet Judy McCombs, book blogger Serena Agusto-Cox (at her blog, Savvy Verse & Wit, check out her report-- and a contest for a free copy of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire) and fiction writer Art Taylor, who reports for Arts & Literature.

And last but certainly not least, medievalist and blogger (Quid Plura?) Jeff Sypeck, who alerted me to a tromp l'oeil of--- surely it is--- President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland, on the side of a 7-11 at the corner of Connecticut and Porter, DC.



What, by Jove, does this have to do with my novel? Well, the prince's mother, nee Alice Green, grew up at Rosedale, then one of the grandest country estates in the District of Columbia. In the late 19th century, a substantial chunk of it was sold to President Grover Cleveland. His country house has since been torn down, but the now very urban neighborhood around old Rosedale is known as Cleveland Park.

Thanks to all my friends, Americans and Mexicans, long-time and new, it was grand to see you!

More anon.

Rosedale, the Historic Country Estate in Washington DC Founded by General Uriah Forrest

Apropos of the publication of my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, new on the webpage: Rosedale, Washington D.C.'s Historic Estate founded by the prince's great grandfather, General Uriah Forrest.
(I snapped this photo a few years ago, in winter, obviously. Right now the lawn is emerald-green and the trees in glorious bloom.)
Photo Copyright (c) C.M. Mayo

Read an excerpt from the opening of the novel, "The Darling of Rosedale" (originally in Potomac Review).