San Antonio entrepreneur Brenda Espresso is peeling again the layers with a uncooked new private narrative, Maya Blue: A Memoir of Survival. The true story of affection, hazard, and survival will likely be launched on Might 20 at booksellers nationwide.
Her story — assume Working Lady meets Taken — invitations readers right into a harrowing world few escape. The guide begins with Espresso’s marriage to her late first husband, Philip Ray, when she was 21 and he was 33. They lived in San Antonio’s notorious and since-razed “Spy Home on the Hill,” an opulent Artwork Deco treasure at Interstate 35 and Judson Road recognized for its historical past of harboring Nazi spies. She describes their life as a fairytale — till it wasn’t.
Ray based Datapoint Company, which invented the primary private pc and microprocessor, and Favor, the primary smokeless cigarette. The latter resulted within the couple being watched and threatened by the Huge Six tobacco corporations for endangering their major income supply.
Earlier than heading on an prolonged trip, Ray forgot to refill a prescription for Valium, which he took to deal with insomnia. Every week with out the drug left him irreparably modified. His lifelong curiosity in science and studying, mixed with an altered mind, led to him educating himself the best way to make cocaine within the basement of their infamous house.
He grew to become more and more risky as he grew to become hooked on the substance and started consuming copiously. He finally succumbed to lung most cancers, leaving Espresso a widow with a mountain of debt and the duty of preserving the general public firm she helped him begin.
After the ordeal with Ray, Espresso prioritized her well being and well-being, with a solo journey to the ruins of the traditional Mayan metropolis of Tikal. She encountered extra trauma when she and her cab driver had been compelled 20 minutes into the jungle at gunpoint by the Guatemalan Military.
In the present day, Espresso is the creator behind 1010ParkPlace, voted one of many prime 10 blogs for ladies over 50 by FeedSpot. By Maya Blue, she opens up about her unbelievable life, inspiring readers of all ages with a narrative of entering into her energy, discovering her voice, and surviving the unthinkable.
“So usually, girls need to please these round them, and in doing so, sacrifice massive items of themselves,” says Espresso. “They put themselves final, if in any respect. However because the flight attendants inform us earlier than takeoff, put by yourself masks earlier than placing a masks on another person.”
Named for the blue pigment produced by the traditional Maya and different Mesoamerican cultures, Maya blue, artwork historians say, is the strongest, most resilient pigment recognized to man. In the present day, Espresso makes use of the colour as a descriptive metaphor for her power and the power of all these going through the unimaginable.
“Our power comes from by no means surrendering our voice,” she says. “It is probably the most useful device we have now, and with it, we will survive virtually something.”
Maya Blue is a suspenseful, fast-paced memoir that reads like a thriller, interesting to Breaking Unhealthy and Narcos followers. The publication not too long ago earned a Kirkus star, a highly-coveted distinction from Kirkus Critiques to books deemed “exceptionally meritorious.” Kirkus robotically nominates starred books for the celebrated Kirkus Prize.
Alamo Metropolis readers can join with Espresso in individual at certainly one of a number of upcoming occasions. Forthcoming guide signing occasions embrace:
Might 19, 5-8 pm — Paloma Blanca Mexican Delicacies, 5800 Broadway St.Might 21, 5:30-7 pm — The Twig Guide Store, 306 Pearl Pkwy. #106May 30, 6 to 7:30 pm — Nowhere Bookshop, 5154 Broadway St.June 4, 6 to eight pm — Magnificence Lab, 1826 Nacogdoches Rd.
