Virginia Geddes

I had an absolute necessity to publish the story contained in my screenplay Viva Cuba Libre because, although it is in fiction form, it represents the real story of my husband's experiences participating in the Cuban counterrevolution against Castro and reveals much information that has never before been exposed to the public. After my huband passed on, I felt a strong obligation to "save" this story before it was lost forever. As I have zero patience and skills for the whole process of submitting to publishing firms, I was thrilled when my writer cousin Julie Painter suggested using Smashwords--perfect for me as my primary goal was to "get it out there" for people to read.

Outside of writing the screenplay, which was more of a mission than anything else, I have written two novels (in the reject trunk) and many short stories, some of which have been published. The pleasure of writing these stories was that of expressing myself in a disciplined and creative way. Each story was like a birth, creating something that didn't exist before and now entered the world, bringing with it the satisfaction of having accomplished what I had envisioned. One series of stories called "Brazilian Elevator Tales" developed in reaction to problems such as corruption and senseless beaurocracy that I encountered in Brazil, where I live, and which, of course, exist in all countries. I had a good time making humorous accounts of these problems from the points of view of humble elevator operators.