TSSoE

In the “wow, this is really happening,” category of this whole experience, The Secret Side of Empty has been reviewed by Publishers Weekly! I was shopping for bedding in preparation [...]

“I am like the blot test of heritage. People see what they want to see.” M.T. “You can’t judge people by who they’re related to. I am the poster child for that.” M.T. “He hugs me, and I feel the [...]

Chelsea is golden-haired, rich, drives a BMW and attracts guys without trying.  Also, she’s a great best friend to M.T., the main character. Chelsea first caught M.T.’s attention in [...]

M.T. has a lot of things going for her.  She gets great grades without trying too hard.  She has an awesome best friend, Chelsea, who has stuck with her since kindergarten.  She’s just met [...]

Nate is the kind of first boyfriend M.T. has always dreamed of having: sweet and cute, with a great sense of humor and a terrible jump shot.  A little bit shy, he first tells M.T. that he loves [...]

Technology makes possible unprecedented connections between readers and writers.  Whereas before students could only connect with authors that traveled to their part of the world, today, with [...]

Click here to download a PDF of the Common-core aligned discussion guide for THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY by Maria E. Andreu Why doesn’t M.T. want to be called by her full name? Why is M.T. so mad at [...]

  M.T. – M.T., or Monserrat Thalia (her “real” name she wants everyone to forget) is smart, popular and something else nobody knows… undocumented.  Learn more about [...]

For victims of domestic violence National Domestic Violence Hotline—www.thehotline.org Domestic violence:  National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, www.ncadv.org, 1-800-799-7233 For suicide [...]

People often ask me which parts of TSSoE are fiction and which are based on my life.  The truth is that it’s all fiction and it’s all real life.  No writer, no matter how inventive, [...]

Music played a big part in the writing of The Secret Side of Empty, both from the way I envisioned certain scenes to songs that put me in the right mood for writing.  Since the story is inspired [...]