In this pic, author-editor Joaquin Peralta is writing right-handed. He is ambidextrous and sometimes can be prevailed upon to show us at BalonaBooks how he can write with both hands (at the same time). Joaquin comes from a famous Old California family, but says since his ancestors were from the "poor relatives" part of the family, he can only fantasize about ranchos and pesos.

Married with two children, Joaquin is a graduate of the University of the Pacific (Romance languages and philosophy) and has edited some very popular BalonaBooks, including John-Browne's Body & Sole, BUDS, and The Far Side of the Moon.

He is author of the very funny An Almost Private Eye, which presents Joseph O. Kuhl as nearly ready to perform as Balona's first professional detective. Almost, but not quite.

Joaquin is a teacher of English and foreign languages (he can read in seven of them), plays hockey, viola, and chess, and has already completed two more works, both of them historical fiction to add to BalonaBooks growing list in that genre. He says, "The first is about a kid who is kidnapped at the time of the California Gold Rush, about 1850 or so. I call it Bandits! and the exclamation point after the title is there for a purpose that you will understand when you read the book."

The second one is an exciting story about two Boston kids abandoned in Gold Rush San Francisco. Titled Emma Snow: At the Edge of the World is now on the market.

Joaquin's E-Mail

Click to meet Balona authors Jon Riis , Jonathan Pearce, and John Graves.