California-based author Alex Espinoza finds solace with the release of his intricately woven debut novel “Still Water Saints,” a story set in Southern California which follows the lives of visitors to a botánica.
As one chapter of his writing career ends another begins as Espinoza embarked on a book tour throughout California and a special visit to the OLLU campus on Feb. 28.

The novel allowed Espinoza to showcase his skills writing a character-oriented work of fiction. Espinoza, who is the youngest of 11 children, stated that although he comes from a large family he avoids using his family members as characters in his works. However, with the main character of “Still Water Saints” Perla Portilla, a widow and owner of the botánica, he made an exception.
           
Espinoza stated that while he was writing the novel his mother was going through a tough time; he “drew from (his) mother’s experiences” and the outcome was the closest that he has come to using his family within his works. 
           
Although Espinoza has received formal education, having earned his B.A. in creative writing and also being a graduate of the MFA program in writing from the University of California, Irvine, he credits his working-class upbringings as a major factor in his writing career.
“It helped me develop a strong work ethic,” Espinoza said.
           
Having held jobs such as a used appliance salesman, a cashier and a retail manager, he has gained the discipline needed to devote his time to writing. As Espinoza tells his students: “You can’t learn it through osmosis.” Espinoza has learned that the old fashioned tools of reading and writing have helped him attain his strengths as a writer.

“I feel like I have a lot to share, especially with the Latino community,” Espinoza said. 
The past few years Espinoza has visited San Antonio during the summer to participate in Sandra Cisnero’s The Macondo Workshop. The workshop is a gathering of writers and takes place for a week during the summer.

“I love San Antonio,” Espinoza said. “I think I was a Texan in another life.”

He calls the workshop “the gift that keeps on giving.” Espinoza stated that he finds the experience very humbling. The times that he has spent at the workshop have not only enabled him to become a better writer but also helped him discover his desire to become an activist.

Espinoza has begun work on his second novel and he has stated it will be different from his debut novel. The novel will be told by one person and will take place in the 1930s and ’40s. It will be about a Mexican actor in the Golden Age of Hollywood and how he deals with the studio system’s method of reinventing people and how they “erase traces of ethnicity.” The focus will be that of an identity crisis.