Candela’s Secrets and Other Havana Stories

Betty Viamontes, author of the highly rated autobiographical novel Waiting on Zapote Street, was born in Havana, Cuba. Her work is known for its honesty and its ability to keep readers engaged from the moment they start to read. Betty, her siblings, and her mother migrated to the United States from Cuba in 1980, when Betty was fifteen years old. They left Havana on a shrimp boat on a stormy night, when many men, women, and children lost their lives, traveling on overloaded vessels similar to theirs. Upon her arrival to the United States, Betty had to master the English language and become acclimated to a new culture. Betty completed graduate studies in Business and Accounting, as well as a Graduate Certificate Creative Writing, at the University of South Florida, and moved on to a successful career in Accounting. Her creative works have appeared on various literary journals and newspapers. In 2015, as a tribute to her mother, who passed away in 2011, and to fulfill her last wishes, Betty Viamontes published a memoir-style novel, based on her family’s life in Cuba, entitled Waiting on Zapote Street. This novel was selected by a United Nations book club for its February 2016 reading and received excellent reviews. Betty enjoys giving back to her community. She is a regular speaker at the University of South Florida and other professional organizations, and is active at the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, where she is currently the Chair of the FICPA Healthcare Conference. She derives her passion from her mother who was a teacher for many years and instilled in her the importance of an education, perseverance, and hard work.