This is the second interview for Count on Me: Tales of Sisterhoods and Fierce Friendships virtual Book Tour organized by Condor Book Tours. Las week, Las Comadres interviewed author Lorraine López about her story in this wonderful anthology. To read the interview visit http://www.labloga.blogspot.com/2012/12/guest-comadres-golden-age-of-bookstores.html
Today, Las Comadres interview author Reyna Grande.
Reyna Grande on Count on Me
LAS COMADRES: Have you had a chance to read any of the stories?
REYNA: Ihave. I think I have read most of the stories and I’m really impressed withthem and I think that my favorite is Carolina DeRobertis’ piece- because it wasvery profound and I just love her writing .As I was reading it, a lot times Ifelt like getting up to grab a highlighter so I could highlight some of thosesentences because they were just absolutely beautiful. The last essay which Ijust read last night was Luis Alberto Urrea’s piece. And again, they’re justreally incredible and very touching and I love the topic – writing about aComadre. The comadres that I am reading about are just really amazing people.
LAS COMADRES:Is there a character in the book you most identify with?
REYNA: Ithink I just really enjoy reading these stories because every writer who haswritten a story for the anthology, they all come from… it’s just interesting tome to see how the writing prompt which was to write about a comadre, howeverybody just made that their own, you know? And how diverse each story is…and that is what I really like about this and also I love learning about whothe people in their lives are because some of these writers and some of them Ihave met in person and some of them I haven’t met in person but I’ve read theirwork and these essays are so personal. But, it really gives me a chance to get to know them through thesepieces they turned in for the anthology. For me that’s been one of the reasons whyI enjoyed reading the anthology so much because it really gives me a chance toget to know these authors whose works I admire; to get to know them in a morepersonal level.
LAS COMADRES: Your story is about a mentor and aboutfriend, about somebody that… really – truly is credited with where you are andhow you moved forward as a student. What do you hope readers get out of yourpersonal story?
REYNA: Wellthere’s two things, the first thing is that what I would like them to see isthat when you are going through really difficult times its okay to ask forhelp. I think that sometimes we fail to do that; sometimes we are dealing withproblems on our own and we’re afraid to seek help. And for me- that was thebest thing I could ever do was to go look for Diana and to share with her whatI was going through. Otherwise she wouldn’t have known about it and wouldn’thave been able to offer that help to me. The other thing that I would like my readers to learn from my story ishow teachers and especially right now – with the situation that education is in– with so many teachers that are being criticized and being laid off and allthese horrible things that are happening to teachers right now I would likepeople to see what a big difference a teacher makes in the life of a student.There’re so many people like Diana who go above and beyond what a teacher is.They don’t just limit their teaching to the classroom. (But) They also careabout their students enough that they worry about their students’ personal livesand what’s going on outside the classroom with them. For me – this is my love letter to Diana and all teachers.
LAS COMADRES:So Diana, does she know about it?
REYNA: Yeah,she knows about it. I sent her a copy just before I submitted it. I wanted herto read it, (just) out of respect, because I wanted (her) to see what I hadwritten about her, and I wanted her to tell me if she was okay with that. Just to get her approval. Yeah, she… I think the first time Iever thanked Diana for what she did for me was in 1999 when I graduated from UCSanta Cruz and the university actually flew her up there so that she could beat my graduation. So, Diana knows and I always make sure to tell Diana howgrateful I am for everything she’s done for me. She was very happy when I told her about the anthology andwhen I told her I was writing about her.
LAS COMADRES: So, you’ve seen the theme of the bookand the topic of everybody choosing to write about a comadre. Do you thinkthere’s a distinction between saying you have a friend or saying you have acomadre?
REYNA: In away – yes, because a comadre, (I think) its a little bit more than a friend.You know, I think the meaning of a comadre definitely goes beyond just aregular friendship. And, for me – that’s why I consider Diana my comadre,because she’s not just a friend that goes in and out of my life. She’s someone that’s really importantand whom I’ve known for a long time and who knows everything about me and who isalways there for me. And, she accepts me for who I am, and she has always beenvery encouraging, always pushing me to become a better person. So to me –that’s what a comadre is – and it’s someone you know and you want to have arelationship with for the rest of your life.
LAS COMADRES: So why do you think – give me three (ifyou can narrow it down to three) main reasons why a woman needs a comadre inher life.
REYNA: Well,I think a woman needs a comadre because… there’s always going to be moments inyour life that you cannot face on your own and they can be great moments thatyou want to share with someone and they could be very difficult moments thatyou need someone to hold your hand, to tell you that things are going to beokay. And sometimes your family – you might not have that kind of relationshipwith the family member, and you might find it in a friend that might give youthat support and who can be there for you when you need her.
LAS COMADRES: Now I'm going to shiftover to questions about you. Wheredo you get your inspiration from – not just from writing – but just life ingeneral? Are there sources that you get your inspiration from?
REYNA: I’vealways drawn my inspiration from my childhood experiences because I had apretty difficult childhood and a lot of the things that happened were just verytraumatic and they left a lot of scars. And what I've always done –(like) with my writing but also withanything, anything that I try to do; any goals that I have. I always look at mychildhood and all the hardships that I went thru and the sacrifices that had tobe made. I always tell myself that I have to honor those sacrifices and I haveto honor all that pain and hardship and heartbreaks that I went through. Theway to do that is by making good choices and by working hard to make my dreamsa reality. (So), you know things sometimes get hard but I always tell myselfthat I have gone through worse. If I made it through that, I can make it thruanything.
LAS COMADRES:So you use your experiences in your childhood.
REYNA: Yeah,I think I definitely learned a lot when I was a kid about sacrifices andworking hard and not letting anything bring me down. I learned to find my innerstrength. And that’s what I …whenthings get hard or I have challenges that I’m dealing with, I always look at mychildhood and try to find that strength that I know is there within me.
LAS COMADRES: Are there specific literary works that you might draw yourinspiration from?
REYNA: Ihave a lot of favorite books, actually and sometimes when I have writers blockand I can’t write, I go to those books and I read through them and I find myfavorite sections and I get inspired again to write. Some of those books are TheHouse on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, whichis one of my favorites; The Prophet, byKaliel Gibron; and I like The Fountainhead by Ann Rand; and I like Margaret Atwood’s works also. So that’s what I do –I just look thrumy bookcase and pick out a book and I read – and then pretty soon I feel likewriting again.
LAS COMADRES: What do you consider your greatestachievement?
REYNA: Mygreatest achievement is getting my MFA, because I come from a family thatdidn’t have a lot of opportunities when it came to education. I know - mygrandmothers …probably only went to first or second grade and my own fatheronly went up to the third grade. My mother only studied up to the sixth grade.So, you know going from that kind of background to having an MFA and being thefirst in my family to graduate from college – to me, that’s the greatest thingbecause I feel that because I have been able to accomplish that – now my ownchildren are going to go to college and my nieces and nephews are going to goto college because I’ve done it already. I can push them to do it; I can give them advice; I can guide them throughtheir college experience.
LAS COMADRES:Yes, you’ve definitely changed the future for your family, for the nextgeneration…sometimes I think we take that for granted.
REYNA: Yeah,I think so too. But I always tellpeople –especially, you know I do a lot of speaking at high schools – I alwaystell those kids that it only takes one person to change the course of a family.And so I encourage them to be that one person that going to make a difference.
LAS COMADRES:Do you get a chance to spend much with family? …with family from Mexico?
REYNA: Oh,from my family from Mexico… I don’t get to see them a whole lot. I try to go toMexico as often as I can – which is not as often as I would like. I would saymaybe like every three to four years I’ll go to Mexico to visit my family. AndI have some uncles and aunts and cousins down there and I like to go therebecause it keeps me humble. You know, I think sometimes I lose sight of thingsand sometime I forget that there are people that have less than I have and thatI shouldn’t complain or that I shouldn’t want more than what I have. So when Igo down there, it makes me appreciate what I do have and it snaps me back intoreality. Like for example, a fewyears ago when I had my daughter we were living in a two-bedroom house and onebedroom was for me and my husband and the second bedroom was for my son andwhen we had my daughter she was sharing our bedroom. You know we had her crib in our bedroom. And then my husbandand I decided to start looking for a bigger house. Now that we had two kids wesaid “well, lets look for a three bedroom house” and I went to Mexico aroundthat time that we were looking for houses. I went to Mexico to see my familyand my uncle said ‘oh, what’s new in your life” and I just started telling himthat we were house hunting and we were looking into a bigger house because mydaughter, who was nine months old, needed to have her own bedroom. And then, I just caught myself and Ilooked around and I realized who I was talking to; and I was talking to myuncle who lived in a one room shack with his seven children and his wife andI’m telling him that we need a bigger house because my nine-month old needs herown bedroom. Do you know what I’m saying?
LAS COMADRES:Yeah, yeah – it snaps you back to reality.
REYNA: Iwanted to slap myself. It’s so inconsiderate and I wasn’t doing it to brag orto be inconsiderate. I just lost sight of where I was or whom I was talkingto…. Then I realized that over here in the US, a lot of times we want a biggerhouse and we want a bigger car and we want more of this and more of that and alot of times we’re not happy with what we have. When I go to Mexico – Iremember that. I remember that! And that’s why I try to go -so that I don’t forget where I come from.
LAS COMADRES:Do you have a favorite motto or quote – something that stays with you everyday? That guides you?
REYNA: Well,there’s one that kind of ties in to what I was just talking about, and it goes “The less I want, the less I need”
LAS COMADRES: Do you know who said it?
REYNA: Idon’t know who said it…but it just stayed with me. You know I try to say thatto myself everyday. ‘The less Iwant, the less I need’ because sometimes I do start wanting things that Ireally don’t need. So, I say that to myself. And then, there is a quote by Ernest Hemmingway that Ireally love about writing. “There’s not much to writing, you just sit down atthe typewriter and bleed”. I love that quote because I feel like a lot of timespeople don’t understand what – all the emotional exhaustion that comes when youwrite because you really are bleeding, you know. Especially like my writing – I write about pain and aboutloss and my writing is really depressing because it comes from this part ofmyself that has a lot of that pain that just needs to come out. A lot of timeswhen I'm done writing for the day, I just feel so emotionally exhausted, and Ido feel that I just bled all over the page.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder