![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Teaser-graphic_Episode-17_Ana-Veciana-Suarez_07-16-26-300x300.png\")
<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Few writers embody Miami\u2019s literary evolution as fully as Ana Veciana-Suarez. A former
Miami Herald columnist, longtime journalist and acclaimed author, she joined me on the latest
episode of The Miami Book Hub to discuss the winding path from newsroom deadlines to
historical fiction\u2014and the persistence required to build a life around words.<\/p>\n
Ana began writing early, despite growing up in a family that, like many immigrant families,
favored more practical professions. An English teacher encouraged her to join the newspaper at
Immaculata-La Salle High School, setting her on a path that led from the Miami News to the
Miami Herald, where she worked as a reporter, feature writer and columnist.<\/p>\n
Journalism, she explained, offered an immediacy that fiction does not. \u201cYou have the immediate
rush,\u201d she said. \u201cIn journalism, it\u2019s pretty instantaneous.\u201d Today, she continues working as a
freelance medical writer for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, a role that has
immersed her in scientific and medical research.<\/p>\n
Her love of fiction, however, never disappeared. Her first novel, The Chin Kiss King<\/a>, drew Dulcinea imagines the life of the fictional muse who inspired Miguel de Cervantes to write Don Ana first encountered Don Quixote in its original Spanish in high school and spent decades The eventual novel required extraordinary research: Cervantes biographies, out-of-print books, Although Dulcinea transported Ana across centuries and continents, Miami remains central to \u201cMiami will always be my home,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the place that made me who I am in so many We closed with advice for writers. Talent matters, Ana said, but talent without discipline and Her second essential instruction was equally direct: read widely. Writers learn by studying how Ana also reminded readers to reach out to authors whose work moves them because writing can Learn more about Ana Veciana-Suarez and her books at www.AnaVecianaSuarez.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch this episode and explore the wider world of The Miami Book Hub (Podcast + Newsletter
inspiration from her family and the Miami neighborhood where she grew up. Her latest novel,
Dulcinea<\/a>, travels much farther\u2014to 16th- and 17th-century Spain.<\/p>\n
Quixote. Told through a dual timeline, the novel follows her dangerous journey from Barcelona
to Madrid after receiving a deathbed request from Cervantes, while also tracing their earlier
relationship.<\/p>\n
carrying the idea of its largely unseen woman with her. \u201cI always thought, I want to write about
this woman,\u201d she recalled. \u201cOf course, it took me about 50 years to get to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
personal diaries, travel journals, municipal records and even historical weather reports. That fact-
checking instinct, she acknowledged, comes from journalism. As a fellow writer with historical
elements in my own forthcoming novel, I could relate. \u201cI\u2019m a big fan of history, and I want to get
it right,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n
her identity and work. She described our community as a \u201ccity of neighborhoods,\u201d held together
by connections that often feel closer to two degrees of separation than six.<\/p>\n
ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
persistence is not enough. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have the self-discipline and persistence to put your butt
in the chair, you\u2019re not going to get anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
other writers build stories, create pace and work across genres. \u201cLife is more interesting when
you mix,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
be a lonely profession. I added that it does not have to remain one: \u201cWriters need community.\u201d
Through organizations, workshops and conversations like those fostered by The Miami Book
Hub, writers can find companionship, instruction and encouragement.<\/p>\n
+ Column)\u2014Miami\u2019s Home for Readers, Writers & Resources\u2014at
www.ThreeTreasuresPress.com<\/a><\/p>\n
\n Connect To Your Customers & Grow Your Business
\n<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780414665_361_Bugle-Boy.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 Few writers embody Miami\u2019s literary evolution as fully as Ana Veciana-Suarez. A formerMiami Herald columnist, longtime journalist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-346029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}