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S.A. Esa (San Antonio girl) Valerie Menard is a freelance writer and editor. She established S.A. Esa Enterprises, a freelance writing and editing service, in January of 2000 after Hispanic magazine, where she worked for several years as an editor,  relocated to Miami, Florida.

Before joining the magazine she was the managing editor for five years of a bilingual weekly newspaper, La Prensa, based in Austin, Texas. At La Prensa, Valerie became an expert on the Hispanic market and an advocate for Latino causes.
At Hispanic, she continued on the same course and promoted stories that addressed the important political and social issues facing Latinos like, environmental justice, immigration, bilingual education, and affirmative action. As a freelance writer she has written for several publications including The Austin American Statesman, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Estylo, Hispanic Market Weekly, Latina Style, Agenda, Hispanic Trends, and Latinos on Wheels.  She has also written biographical books for children as part of the Real Life Reader Biography series published by Mitchell Lane.
Marlowe and Company published her first solo book project, The Latino Holiday Book, in 2000 and revised it in 2004. The Latino Holiday Book explores the cultural, religious, and historical celebrations of U.S. Latinos. The Spanish version of the book, ¡Celebremos!, was published by Random House Español in 2001.  Her third book, Latinas in Love, a relationship book for Latinas based on Ms. Menard’s experience as an advice columnist, was published in 2003 by Marlowe and Company. She received the 2003 Latino Spirit Award from the California Latino Legislative Caucus in recognition for her literary contribution to the Latino community. Personally autographed versions of all three books are available for purchase from this site.

Born in Glendale, California, Ms. Menard was raised in San Antonio, Texas and is a second-generation Mexican American. She attended the University of Texas at Austin where she earned two bachelor’s degrees—one in English and the other in journalism.