Character Interview with Adrian Sanchez from John DeSimone's The Road to Delano

We’re thrilled to have Adrian Sanchez from John DeSimone's The Road to Delano.  It is a pleasure to have him with us at The Literary Nook!


What is your name?
            Adrian Sanchez

What do you look like?
            I’m tall, slim, even thin, but muscular, fast twitch, with brown skin, black hair,
            And I smile all the time, at least I try.

Where are you today and what are you doing?
            I’m at school on the baseball field, running, getting ready for practice to state. I
            Feel the most comfortable here, as I was made to run and hit and catch.

Describe the outside of your home.
            We live on the east side of town, the barrio, so my house is a bit rundown, but   neat. Papa keeps it neat, a trimmed lawn when it grows. And no cars parked on      the grass.

You come face to face with your worse enemy. How do you react?
            My worst enemy are those who think I can’t perform, that I’m not good enough to        make it. 
            I push myself to perform, to get good grades, to be the best player on the field.

You keep a photo album of memories from your lifetime. If you could only keep one photo, which one would that be?
            A photo of my mother and father when they were young. Next to it is a photo of           my junior prom, Darcy and I.

A police officer stops you for a minor violation. What violation is that and how do you react?
            In this town a cop stopping any Mexican can become a momen of truth. I’m respectful, always. Its usually because my taillights in this old jalopy stop working.

What is your favorite piece of clothing?
            My baseball uniform.

Do you have any phobias? What are they and how intense are they? How have they impacted your life?
            I fear failure more than anything else. I fear I won’t be good enough to compete             with others.

Open your wallet, purse, or briefcase. What do you find?
            A crumpled photo of Darcy and I.

You move into a new home. What's the first thing you buy for it?
            I don’t know if I will ever move into a new house, but if I do, and I can afford it I would buy Papa a new rocker, and throw out that ratty one he’s been sitting in for years.

How do you feel about mortality?
            Man, that’s a cruel question. I’m not even 19. That’s not time to think of death.
            This is the year to blossom, to run into the future.

What scares you?
            Having to go work the fields for a living like Papa. I’ll never do that.

How would your parents describe you?
            Intense. Focused. Ready for action.

What’s the last thing you do before you go to bed at night?
            Pray the act of contrition. Pray for forgivenss if I was lazy that day.

Who is your best friend?
            Jack Duncan, a cool dude.

Who is your worse enemy?
            Defeat.

Are you faith-oriented?
            Of course. I am a Catholic.

Are you married or in a relationship?
            I’m in a relationship with Darcy. When we graduate from high school, we’re      going to college together.

Do you have children?
            Hey, not yet, man. Give me time.

Where is your favorite hangout?
            With my buddies at the burger place downtown.

You are at the zoo. What is your favorite animal?
            Man, teenagers are animals. But if I had to choose one I like, the cheetah. It’s fast, its sneaky, it uses it’s speed to survive.
           
You just woke up to find that war has been declared. What’s the first thing you would do?
            Go and enlist.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
            Dimaggio. 

If there was one thing you could change about yourself, what would that be?
            I’d like to be a switchhitter, slam runs from both sides of the plate. And I don’t intend to be poor, so people look down on me. That’s a fact.
About the Book  
Title: THE ROAD TO DELANO
Author: John DeSimone
Publisher: Rare Bird Books
Pages: 320
Genre: Historical Fiction

Jack Duncan is a high school senior whose dream is to play baseball in college and beyond―as far away from Delano as possible. He longs to escape the political turmoil surrounding the labor struggles of the striking fieldworkers that infests his small ag town. Ever since his father, a grape grower, died under suspicious circumstances ten years earlier, he’s had to be the sole emotional support of his mother, who has kept secrets from him about his father’s involvement in the ongoing labor strife.

With their property on the verge of a tax sale, Jack drives an old combine into town to sell it so he and his mother don’t become homeless. On the road, an old friend of his father’s shows up and hands him the police report indicating Jack’s father was murdered. Jack is compelled to dig deep to discover the entire truth, which throws him into the heart of the corruption endemic in the Central Valley. Everything he has dreamed of is at stake if he can’t control his impulse for revenge.

While Jack’s girlfriend, the intelligent and articulate Ella, warns him not to so anything to jeopardize their plans of moving to L.A., after graduation, Jack turns to his best friend, Adrian, a star player on the team, to help to save his mother’s land. When Jack’s efforts to rescue a stolen piece of farm equipment leaves Adrian―the son of a boycotting fieldworker who works closely with Cesar Chavez―in a catastrophic situation, Jack must bail his friend out of his dilemma before it ruins his future prospects. Jack uses his wits, his acumen at card playing, and his boldness to raise the money to spring his friend, who has been transformed by his jail experience.
The Road to Delano is the path Jack, Ella, and Adrian must take to find their strength, their duty, their destiny.
Barnes & Noblehttps://bit.ly/381fQT9
Book Depositoryhttps://bit.ly/2Ld0z82
About the Author 

John DeSimone is a published writer, novelist, and teacher. He’s been an adjunct professor and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. His recent co-authored books include Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan (Little A Publishers), and Courage to Say No by Dr. Raana Mahmood, about her struggles against sexual exploitation as a female physician in Karachi. His published novel Leonardo’s Chair published in 2005.

In 2012, he won a prestigious Norman Mailer Fellowship to complete his most recent historical novel, Road to Delano. His novels Leonardo’s Chair and No Ordinary Man have received critical recognition.

He works with select clients to write stories of inspiration and determination and with those who have a vital message to bring to the marketplace of ideas in well-written books.

Website  → https://www.johndesimone.com/

Twitter  → https://twitter.com/JRDeSimone

Facebook  → https://www.facebook.com/bookwriter718/

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