Tim Wendel

ESCAPE FROM CASTRO'S CUBA was named a finalist in the 2022 New Generation Indie Book Award competition in the Action/Adventure (Fiction) category.

This is a case where I didn't even know the novel was in the running as the good folks at Nebraska Press entered it on my behalf. Thanks, gang.

ESCAPE is the sequel to CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, which was completed during my time in the Johns Hopkins Writing Program. (It was my thesis project.)

Nebraska Press now has ESCAPE and CURVEBALL available in print and ebook. I narrated the audiobook for ESCAPE.

 

Thanks to Greg Rienzi for the terrific review of ESCAPE FROM CASTRO'S CUBA in the Winter issue of the Johns Hopkins magazine. He detailed my inspiration for the new novel. How I couldn't get Cuba out of my mind after my fourth trip to the island in early 2017. One of the amazing characters I met on this visit was our 80-year-old landlady, who first came to Havana as a member of Castro's revolutionary army. 

Greg's piece closes with a quote from Billy Bryan, protagnoist of the new novel and its prequel, CASTRO'S CURVEBALL: "Cuba is beautiful, but has a dark heart."

True, so true.

In addition, here's an online chat Greg and I had about ESCAPE for the JHU Hub -- https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2021/winter/escape-castros-cuba-wendel/ 

Just finished the audiobook version for 'Escape from Castro's Cuba.'

The new novel will drop March 2 from Nebraska Press, with blurbs from Daniel Silva, Jane Leavy and former big-league pitcher Luis Tiant.

We're in the process of scheduling virtual events with such outstanding independent bookstores as One More Page in Arlington, Virginia, and Books & Books in Miami.

More news soon.

 

What to do during the pandemic? Hunker down in the home studio and narrate some more audiobooks, right?

The latest is my novella HABANA LIBRE, which came out with CityLit Press a few years ago. The story of an odd couple -- a young sailor and a showgirl -- who dare to escape by sea from Havana and it can now be found on all audiobook outlets. Good fun to narrate a novella that Holly Goodard Jones said is told with "tender complexity and rich detail."

It's also an appetizer to my new novel, ESCAPE FROM CASTRO'S CUBA, which is also set in Havana. A sequel to CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, it will be out this spring from Bison Books.

More on that soon. In the meantime, enjoy the HL audiobook.

During such surreal times, I returned to the studio and finished the GOING FOR THE GOLD audiobook for Audible. This was my first book and details the U.S. Olympic hockey team at Lake Placid. Fun and a little strange to relive those days.

In addition, ESCAPE FROM CASTRO'S CUBA, the sequel to CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, my first novel, is in process at University of Nebraska. This will be a Spring 2021 release, so stayed tune.

The news that the U.S. and Cuba are seeking to normalize relations put my first novel, CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, back in the spotlight, as well as my novella, HABANA LIBRE. Check out my column for USA Today about the sea change in the Caribbean.

Thrilled to have HABANA LIBRE now available on ebook formats -- Kindle, Nook, etc. Thanks to Gregg Wilhelm and the good folks at CityLit Press for making this happen.
Ebook cost? Only $3.99.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D9CMGYE/ref%3Das_li_tf_tl?tag=draft2-20

We're finishing up the final edits for the novella Habana Libre, which will be out in early May. I'm very happy with the cover. What do you think? Thanks to Gregg Wilhelm at CityLit for going the extra mile with this.
The photo is of Superstorm Sandy when it neared Havana before barreling north  Read More 

I had a great time on Tuesday in Frostburg, Md., talking mostly about Summer of '68 but also reading from Curveball and even discussing Steve Dalkowski of High Heat fame. The acoustics at the Lyric Theatre, right there on Main Street in Frostburg, were outstanding and the crowd was fantastic. Thanks to Gerry LaFemina  Read More 

Editing continues on High Heat (Da Capo Press). Pub date has been moved up to March 9, 2010, and the full title is now "High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball and the Improbable Search for  Read More