The Feisty Side of Cuba
Whereas Occidente (Western Cuba) was the economic and cultural powerhouse of the island - the domain of the great sugar planters and the cosmopolitan merchants of Havana - Oriente (Eastern Cuba) was a relative backwater, downright barbaric in the eyes of occidentales, with its petty landowners, its indecorous mixing of the races, and its annoying revolutionary fervor.
A Graveyard for My Darlings
“Murder your darlings” is perhaps the most disturbing advice proffered to newbie novelists. If you’re not in this illustrious category, you might be understandably befuddled. Basically, it means don’t get too attached to anything you write — characters, storylines, highfalutin prose — because chances are you’ll have to cut it.