Author of the novel The Trumpet Lesson and the textbook Thinking Things Through,
Dianne Romain writes, teaches, and dances in Guanajuato, Mexico, the site of her novel.

The Trumpet Lesson

Fascinated by a young woman’s performance of “The Lost Child” in Guanajuato’s central plaza, painfully shy expat Callie Quinn asks the woman for a trumpet lesson—and ends up confronting her longing to know her own lost child, the biracial daughter she lost to adoption more than thirty years before.
Read the opening pages>>

“Romain spins a tale of flight from truth-telling—truth-telling to others, truth-telling to one’s own heart—and of the harm this can do to both till such behavior is changed. Finely crafted, sensitively written, it is a story which will generate self-reflection in many readers.
–Thomas M. Robinson, D. Litt., D. S. Litt.
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Classics
University of Toronto

“A beautiful story of a woman adapting to a foreign land, The Trumpet Lesson breathes with the authentic atmosphere of Guanajuato, colorful characters, how a trumpet lesson feels, musical lives, and plenty of philosophy. Bravo!
–John Urness, Soloist and Principal Trumpet of the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra.

You can help me with my next novel!

Comment on my description of Sofia and Hope. Suggest crazy, playful, serious, whatever-you-like, alternative titles.

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Why I Watch World Cup Soccer

When Mexico plays in the World Cup, Guanajuato’s streets are empty.

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Write yourself a fictional fan letter.

Want to get to know your ideal reader? Write yourself a fictional fan letter. So recommends Gabriela Pereira of diyMFA. I attended Gabriela’s “Rock Your Revisions” session at the Writer’s Digest Conference and afterward signed up for her Platform Master Class webinar....
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So how was the Pitch Slam?

That depended on the lines. When I signed up for the slam I had learned from the conference website that the slam was 60 minutes long and that each pitch and response lasted three minutes. Wow, I thought, I can see lots of agents that way. Not quite. When I inquired...
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Hey, I hear you’ve finished your novel. So when’s it coming out?

First things first. A perfect pitch. 100 words that capture the spirit of 100,000. That takes time. I finished my novel in April and began drafting, polishing, discarding, redrafting, and repolishing my pitches, agent query letters, novel synopses, and sample pages in...
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The Gas Man Blues

A musician friend with late-night hours once lamented the early morning call of the gas delivery man in his neighborhood. I understood how my friend felt, but I thought the gas man might have a lament of his own.   The Gas Man Blues (The Gas Man Cometh) By Dianne...
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Guanajuatense writers from the past

Emma Godoy, born in Guanajuato (1918) and died in Mexico City (1989), obtained a doctorate in letters from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and later studied philosophy at the Sorbonne. A professor and a writer, Godoy’s works include biographies, short...
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Making gorditas

Let’s start with a pleasant sound from daily life: patting gorditas into shape. When baking on a comal, they smell good, too. And stuffed with a filling of your choice, they taste great.
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Callejón del Beso

Why not riff off one of the legends set in Guanajuato’s callejones? The legend of the Callejón del Beso tells of the tragic love between a poor miner and the daughter of a man who demands that she marry money. One night the miner climbs to a balcony opposite the house...
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Café Tal

On the corner of Sangre de Cristo and Temescuitate, Café Tal attracts residents and tourists who come to read, write, chat, or study Spanish. Some stop by Café Tal merely for the coffee. The roaster’s a beauty!
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