The Roots of My Writing
I was raised in a blue-collar town of Northwest, Indiana, but traveled frequently between the United States and Mexico since a very early age. The experience created a sense of wonder, wanderlust and connection to people, and also an appetite for good stories. My mother and many other family members are great story tellers. And from them I have learned a great many skills. I also learned that every voice has value. It was also from their stories, sometimes extracted from memory after many years, that I learned that stories have more value once we share them.
I began writing when many of us do, as a child in school, but also at home, with my mother. As a former teacher, she made us listen and write. She told us stories about family and about the history of Mexico and the country's peoples. My father was not as creative with his stories, but he did share how his difficult childhood had shaped him and taught him the value of hard work. Creative work demands imagination, hard work, time and discipline. They are not always easily combined, but when they do, I do my best work.
It was in high school that I began to see the potential of my writing, but it was not until I was college that I found a mentor who encouraged me to write. She was a great professor who saw potential I never really knew I had. And it was because of her words, that I have made writing my life and have taken great risks to improve my craft. I returned to Mexico to work as a reporter, later returned to graduate school, and have dedicated myself to make my stories (and others' stories too) come to life.
Why the image of Mayan script?
The ancient Mayan people developed a system of writing, and it's because they did, that we know -- through their own words and images -- who they were, who they valued, how they saw themselves. They spoke and wrote for themselves, and unknowingly, for us. We can now know their thoughts after many centuries. Writing is the miracle that made it possible. I believe this is one of the reasons Mayan scribes were so valued, and it is because of their beautiful work that Mayan people today can learn about their own history.
I was raised in a blue-collar town of Northwest, Indiana, but traveled frequently between the United States and Mexico since a very early age. The experience created a sense of wonder, wanderlust and connection to people, and also an appetite for good stories. My mother and many other family members are great story tellers. And from them I have learned a great many skills. I also learned that every voice has value. It was also from their stories, sometimes extracted from memory after many years, that I learned that stories have more value once we share them.
I began writing when many of us do, as a child in school, but also at home, with my mother. As a former teacher, she made us listen and write. She told us stories about family and about the history of Mexico and the country's peoples. My father was not as creative with his stories, but he did share how his difficult childhood had shaped him and taught him the value of hard work. Creative work demands imagination, hard work, time and discipline. They are not always easily combined, but when they do, I do my best work.
It was in high school that I began to see the potential of my writing, but it was not until I was college that I found a mentor who encouraged me to write. She was a great professor who saw potential I never really knew I had. And it was because of her words, that I have made writing my life and have taken great risks to improve my craft. I returned to Mexico to work as a reporter, later returned to graduate school, and have dedicated myself to make my stories (and others' stories too) come to life.
Why the image of Mayan script?
The ancient Mayan people developed a system of writing, and it's because they did, that we know -- through their own words and images -- who they were, who they valued, how they saw themselves. They spoke and wrote for themselves, and unknowingly, for us. We can now know their thoughts after many centuries. Writing is the miracle that made it possible. I believe this is one of the reasons Mayan scribes were so valued, and it is because of their beautiful work that Mayan people today can learn about their own history.