Why should I include the Spanish city of Algodonales?

19 Days and still counting...

Why Algodonales, Spain?

As many of you already know, I write fiction books as well as my genealogy series.  One of the many reasons I am going to Spain (besides loving Spain, wanting to speak Spanish, meeting Spaniards, seeing cousins, photographing the fabulous villages, eating tapas, drinking wine, and, and, and...) I will also be researching how Spanish flamenco guitars are made for Book 4 of my Callinda Beauvais Mystery Series.  

Finding Algodonales:  One day a couple years ago, I was invited to record a video telling our immigration story and focusing on how my Spanish ancestors' immigration impacted the descendants (like me) and whether their exodus was a success for those of us carrying on their names, cultures and values.  It was exciting although I couldn't speak Spanish... I had never heard of the town of Algodonales.  Señor Jose Luis Sanchez Mesa assured me there would be a translator, so I did it, stumbling, stuttering and all.  

I just watched both of these again, recorded from my office in 2014  

My original recording was the best... https://vimeo.com/115398428 

Unfortunately, I pronounced Algodonales wrong...so Jose Luis asked me to re-record it.

In the re-make, I am near fainting and I forgot to smile...: so I am not attaching it (smile)

In Book 2 (Wine, Vines and Picasso) of my series, I´d already created friends for Pablo Picasso, a side venture in a Spanish vineyard in Andalucia and gave him a hidden cache of 70-year old brandy...

So of course, I'd found the Spanish town for my book...especially after I learned that there is a Spanish guitar factory in Algodonales. You can visit the Valeriano Bernal facility http://valerianobernal.es/ing/flamenco.html

Here in Arizona some months ago, I went to a concert by a local (Tucson, Arizona) flamenco guitarist named Domingo DeGrazia and the flame burned brighter.   Now, Book 4 will show how Callie aids Picasso´s dream of a Flamenco Art Colony to fruition - in ALGODONALES.     (photo: Wikipedia)

Domingo DeGrazia has agreed to an interview before I publish Book 4 (Flamenco Strings: Uncorked) and I am anxious to get it on my calendar after I return from Spain.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMBN8fRv2IM

Next post:  Trujillo, Spain and the mysterious Barquilla connection