Amping Up the Mom Tension in "La Bruja del Barrio Loco"

5/13/2018

Foto por Catía Matos

Well, that seemed like the appropriate thing to do, especially since it's American Mother's Day. The tension between Elisa and her mother hits close to home. I mean, if you are a Chicana academic, and your mom hasn't called you out for pursuing your career, and "neglecting" your partner and/or children, count yourself as the exception. My mom still tells me my husband is neglected. Whatevs.

In "La Bruja del Barrio Loco" which is now hitting 86 pages (yeah!), I amplified that tension, but also had a longer interaction with La Bruja when Elisa visits the shop.

Well, my daughter summons, emphatically.

Be the best Mom version of yourself. #Resist

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Dr. Jesú Estrada,
Chicago, IL

I grew up on the outskirts of Yuma, AZ, close to the Cocopah reservation. Because I was ever-bored, I became an avid reader of Spanish comic books and anything in English. Then I moved onto Steinbeck and Stephen King and now read international authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Atwood, and Roque Dalton. I also read a lot of coming of age fiction.

I have been writing stories in both Spanish and English since I was six years old. My fiction and poetry focus on working class issues, primarily about laborers in the Southwest. I also write non-serious fiction, like zombie fiction (I was into it before it got popular with the Walking Dead series, which I love) and dabble in magical realism with a fusion of cuentos and folklore.

I have a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition from Washington State University, a Masters Degree in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors of Arts from Northern Arizona University. I have also taught creative writing, and will do so, summer 2018. Currently, I live in Chicago and teach full-time at Harold Washington College to an amazing student population.

More about me. I am happily married, been so for almost ten years, and have a fabulous eight-year-old who makes my life phenomenal: He too is starting to write short stories. I had a second baby, Simona (3), which put a temporary set-back on the publication of my first book, but made my life infinitely more wonderful. My husband is also incredibly supportive, and I have enlisted him to market whatever I do that is worth marketing. He also books my readings.

That damned itch just won't let me be, so I'm back to my original love of words. Puro Amor!