Praise for
Thelma T. Reyna’s book
The Heavens Weep for Us and Other Stories

2010 National Best Books Awards: Finalist
Short Story Category

“Beautiful short stories….brilliant writer…as good if not better than Jhumpa Lahiri, Sandra Cisneros, J. California Cooper, or Philip Roth, for that matter.”
--Robin D. G. Kelley, Ph.D.,
Award-winning author of 6 books, including the definitive
Thelonious Monk: An American Original

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“Reyna demonstrates an assured literary style....With the 12 stories that make up this collection, Thelma T. Reyna paints a candid and unflinching portrait of what it means to walk this earth and experience both the good and the bad. This is an important, rewarding and ultimately inspiring book.”
--Daniel J. Olivas,
Author of 7 books, including Anywhere but L.A.

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“In this engaging debut collection, Thelma Reyna introduces us to ordinary people whose stories resonate with universal truths. Reading her stories is
like opening a gift, evoking both pleasure and surprise.”
--Rose Guilbault,
Author of Farmworker’s Daughter

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“I was intrigued how Reyna takes mundane life and makes the story marvelous. I thoroughly enjoyed this little nutmeg book; like life, it is full of sweets and spices—a surprising savory read.”                 
--Mark Lamonica,
Author of 4 books, including Whacking Buddha and
Junkyard Dogs and William Shakespeare

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“An honest, real, and motivational collection of short stories that deal with life’s unfairness and the human ability to overcome or renounce. Readers can relate to
each of the stories....Reyna beautifully sums up the various and diverse life experiences that humans live through.”   
--Teresa Carbajal Ravet,  
SententiaVera.com

Praise for
Poetry Book
Breath & Bone
(Finishing Line Press, 2011)

“These poems are songs of survival. The breath in this collection is baby's breath, lover's breath, mother's breath, the spirit of stars and silence, the dust of Texas roads.  The bones are the bones of memory, old blankets, empty bottles and the sleeping bags of homeless vets. Moving us through poverty and pain, and even beyond death and anger, Thelma T. Reyna gathers her breath and bone into one strong voice that testifies to the healing power of telling the truth.”

--Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D.
  Pushcart Prize nominated poet, columnist at LiteraryMama.com and author of many 
  books, including the novel, Shamrock and Lotus, and a book of poetry entitled This
 is how honey runs, based on her Co-Creating  practice

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“In Breath & Bone Thelma Reyna explores the terrain of moments, some physical, some emotional, some symbolic. Her mapping of this topography is both lyrical and tactile, taking each of these poetic moments and making them identifiable and transcendent at the same time. Thelma’s language suggests the natural world, while it brings out a wide expanse of human experience from birth to death, with material poverty and emotional wealth being central aspects of her characters’ landscapes. Breath & Bone reaches in scope well beyond its two dozen pages and takes the reader past its own horizons.”

--Annmarie Lockhart
   Founding Editor of the online journal, vox poetica

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“Reyna's poetry is a collection of daguerreotype photographs: haunting, timeless, well-crafted. Each poem brings the reader into a definitive moment in time, the moments revealed by just enough light to remain both mysterious and obscure and to remind the reader that a real human being is speaking through the verse. Sincerity is her strength. Reyna keeps gorgeous poetry alive, every phrase perfectly placed and laced with big moments of wow.”

--Lisa Marie Basile
Author of A Decent Voodoo, 2012; Founding Editor of
Caper Literary Journal;  Editor of Vwa: Voices of Haiti  poetry anthology

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“Breath & Bone confronts rewarding passions and others painful on the page. An admirable boldness to this chapbook.”

--Pat Mora
   Recipient of four Southwest Book Awards, Premio Aztlan Literature Award,
Ohioana Award, and the Pellicer-Frost Bi-National Poetry Award;
author of more than 30 books