The Last Toltec King
A novel by Julie Black
J u l i e M. B l a c k
Julie M. Black (b.1963 - ) has a degree in History of Latin America from the University of California at Davis. While a graduate student, she studied at the Mexican National Autonomous University (UNAM) in Mexico City. She lived in Mexico after graduating from U.C. Davis, where she spent more than a decade teaching English and History in Morelia, Michoacan and San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. She currently teaches in Austin, Texas where she resides with her son.
"I am a struggling reader. When I was a child, I was easily frustrated with comprehension, as I could not contruct meaning from the sea of words on the pages. I lacked the focus and concentration necessary to pay attention to what I was reading. As a result, I quickly gave up, and went outside to play in the mud and climb trees.
"I eventually began to read on a consistent basis in college. As a history major, I was required to read, on average, five hundred pages a week. As you can imagine, my reading skills soon strengthened, but the challenges of being a struggling reader have remained with me to this day. I have learned to compensate by pre-reading, re-reading, and reflecting. And re-reading again.
"The fact that I have been able to produce a literary work of this magnitude is a testament to never giving up. The Last Toltec King took over fifteen years to bring to completion, with gaps in the writing process that lasted for several years. But perseverance pays off and after what seemed like eons, I finally reached those words of finality "The End."
- Julie M. Black