Being on La Lista Podcast

It is difficult to live in the present when being asked, Why do you write?  I mean, I don't know why I write, I just know that I have to. I have to write, or my thoughts spill into the night air and assemble upon someone else's imagination. At least, that's my fear or what I envision anyway. When I don't take a hold of my dreams they don't just vanish, but they find a new host - someone hungrier. I am often awake or shaken awake in the quiet hours of the night by the sensation to grab these invisible things...these thoughts to manifest them as a scribbled words on the journal beside my bed. Writing. It helps me create meaning out of memory and imagination. It gives my personal life nectar, and it fuels the worlds I create when writing a script or a play. From my childhood diaries to my traveling journals, I have learned about the stages of my life by reviewing writing from my past. Sometimes I feel like I wouldn't know where I was standing if it was not explained through text. I struggle with writing, like most writers do, but she has been my companion since a young age.  

I live in a perpetual cycle of reality and magical realism that stems from an active imagination. This imagination has blessed me with amazing results on creative projects. It has also cursed me with over dramatization of the regular hiccups in mundane life. I overthink things; therefore, I must write. I love telling stories. Without story, there is no experience only cold action and reaction. Writing gives the world color, and breath, and beauty, and pain, and everything. 

I write about immigration, misfits, broken cities, futuristic bodies, and hopeful souls. Characters which reflect the inner child in me.

The interview... 

On the other side of the screen, being patient with me and my twisted face, as I waited for memories to gather into my head for a coherent sentence, was Rubén Mendive - creator, producer, and interviewer for the entertaining and touching podcast LA LISTA: A Latinx Writers Podcast. A podcast he created to break the Hollywood myth that there are no Latinx writers in Los Angeles...and oh boy you can't hear me, but I am laughing. Hello! Here we are, Hollywood. Who comes up with this stuff, really?

Thus, many of us Latinx writers who have been interviewed and many of us who have been listening to the podcast, are elated and grateful to have Ruben come up with this incredible plan to show how deep our pool of Latinx writers really is.

The questions are simple enough: where do you come from, who are you (in your eyes), tell me about your past and family, and what do you call yourself. And I suspect that some of you are wondering why these questions are relevant to a writer. Well, writers have to know who they are to write honestly. It's a practice.

It's actually a phenomenal thing to write a coherent sentence, and something I strive for and will hopefully achieve in my lifetime is to write simply. A simple sentence to express something simply. Something to stew on for people to reflect upon. Rubén is an active listener, which is a rare gift. I shared so much of my personal history, and it speaks to his interviewing skills. In the process of being heard, I connected memory to who I am today as a writer and storyteller. It was pretty cool.

This is what I call myself. 

In this interview I talk about family, Perú, Immigration, my undocu-childhood, my first kiss with a gang leader, the 90's, the beach and returning again to the states as a teenager in high school. I talk about inspirations and my artistic community. Overall it was a positive experience, and I hope every Latinx writer in this city and world gets interviewed by Rubén Mendive. I love listening to this podcast and I loved being interviewed on it. Please support La Lista Podcast and check out the links below to learn more about their work. Happy New Year y'alls.

Learn more about La Lista by clicking here.

You can listen to my interview by clicking here.