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shenandoah river

I took this picture on the Shenandoah River. The river cabin was my refuge — my place for writing, where the tensions of work and life would float away. It was a place to collect my  thoughts in an organized way so I could tell my stories.

ABOUT Carlos

How it Started

I started writing El Capitan so I could capture the stories of my father, of his life growing up in Ecuador and then in Colombia where he met my mom. We call him Papito. The grandkids shortened Papito to “Pito” and my mother, Mamita, became Mita. I thought that one day, when our kids and grandkids were old enough, they might want to know of these stories that tell of the place where it all began for them and to know real courage that is not the make-believe kind. Pito and Mita are my heroes but Pito is now with the Lord. That is how El Capitan started. In the writing it evolved into a more complex story.

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Getting it done

I had no illusion that writing was something I could do par excellence, but I was determined to do it well enough. It took many rewrites and a little bit of help from my friends like Margarita to edit the version now on Amazon and a video book trailer that you see on the Home Page by Haseeb. That is how it started with the first book called El Capitan, a book of fiction though the stories in the story are very real.

Other books followed: Security in a Web 2.0+ World, published by Wiley in 2009, eNikita written with J. Patrick Skaar from Norway and Beenchen written for Sabine, aka Beenchen, who has been my life’s partner in thick and thin. There is more writing in my future, the Lord willing, but it will have to wait for when I hang up my cleats in a few years.

Video Trailers

what people say

Book Reviews

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El Capitan

“I enjoyed this story very much. This is a story of parts; very much a soccer story, but also a story of coming to America and of coming of age. I think the overall theme of the book is of the fundamental need for people, regardless of age or culture, to feel included in the society in which they live. While this book is well written and blessedly well edited (unusual for independently published authors) it will take focused reading to keep track of both the jumps in the time line and the constant changes in the point of view. The resulting collage reads very much like a complex parable, the characters are almost symbols of the virtues, faults or lessons they are meant to represent. I am a compulsive reader in almost all genres, but my final analysis of any book I read simply comes down to whether I liked the story well enough to re read the book. El Capitan sits on the shelves of books I will keep and read over again many times in the future.”

Posted on Amazon, November 19, 2013

“A story with a message, It was well written and kept my interest from cover to cover. I purchased copies for my college age grandsons.”

Posted on Amazon, November 19, 2013

 “As I read the story, I appreciated the building of the characters. I found myself becoming interested in what happened next. The dynamics of a good soccer story, combined with the real world events of life around us, resulted in a very enjoyable story for the entire family. From my son (almost a teenager) to my wife, and myself -we all enjoyed this book.”

Posted on Amazon, November 19, 2013
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eNikita

“What attracted me to this book was the idea of a dark thriller with links to cyberspace, not only as it created an intriguing storyline with twists and turns that makes any novel an interesting read, but that it felt believable and plausible, if not frightening. Today most people trust the internet too much and the power it has on our lives is scary . Most make the mistake of thinking that virus and cyber attacks are petty criminal and individuals with opportune technical skills are scattered, lurking. That there is a more dark and organized crime reality would scare people to the core. The writers of eNiktahave real life experience of that world, both are experts in Cybercrime and Internet security, Carlos Solari is a noted innovator in Cyber security, working for companies like Bell Labs, with the FBI as well as Chief Information Officer at the White House. Co writing with Norwegian, John-Patrick Skaar brings an interesting element to the narrative, internationally speaking. And you can tell, the story is full of references from their careers and experience. A great story altogether with many of the subplots hinting towards a real insight in to the cybercrime world, in terms of law enforcement, and criminal behavior while well giving an American and European perspective through out.”

Posted on Amazon, November 19, 2013
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