Belinda Acosta Answers Latinitas' Questions!

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Comment by Anna-Alizette on August 10, 2009 at 8:35pm

I would like to know where the name "Ana Ruiz" originated from. I find the ties that are similiar to and unsimiliar to the character of "Ana Ruiz" and the me "Anna Ruiz" to be very funny. Tio Marcos? That would be the name of brother! Totally ironic. Belinda Acosta, I am Anna (pronounced Ana) Ruiz. Why did you choose such a name?

Comment by Belinda Acosta on August 10, 2009 at 7:45pm

What would I like to say to my readers? Well, first: Hello! Thanks for reading! Thanks for your interest. Thanks for the props! Thanks for taking the time!

Comment by Belinda Acosta on August 10, 2009 at 7:43pm

RE: Latinitas--The next book in the series is Sisters, Strangers, and Starting Over. I think it comes out around this time next year. In that book, Beatriz is the main character (Ana's best friend in the first book).

Reactions to Damas has been good, so far. Of course, people tend to only send me the good reviews!

What is my favorite thing about the book? Honestly? I don't know. I need some distance to figure that out.

Comment by Belinda Acosta on August 10, 2009 at 7:39pm

RE: Vanessa Silvas questions-- First off, I'm glad you could follow the Spanish! It's not that hard, right? Plus, I bet you know a lot more than you think you know. I think that's the case with most people and language—if they're open to it.

Why did I write a book about a quince? I was approached to write the book. The actual quinceañera experience is not my own, but all the dramas in the book—the breakup, the mother-daughter relationship, the love story between Diego and Sonia....I've lived through all of that stuff! Thank goodness all that heartache and misery finally came in handy! :-D

I had to do research on the quinceañera tradition, through several sources...online, meeting people, books, etc. I had read Julia Alvarez's Once Upon A Quinceañera shortly before the book project came to me, so the ritual was in my head. I like rituals and was curious about this one. In the end, Damas is not about quinceañeras, it's about the people and their relationships to one another. I mean, rituals are interesting, but what people bring to them are much more so.

Comment by Belinda Acosta on August 10, 2009 at 7:30pm

Re: Cloud.eah - Being a Latina writer and writing about a Latina experience, was it difficult to get your book published? Yes and no. There is a lot of hunger for what I call "the brown dollar," and there are plenty of people out there trying to figure out how to cash in on it. The problem comes when there is a conflict between bringing what you know is real and true, and what sometimes is not readily accepted by those in positions of authority.

I remember there was a lot of discussion early on about the use of Spanglish through out the text. There was an early concern that readers would have trouble with it. But it's a very real, legitimate way of speaking and there's a way to do it with out always doing a direct translation, back and forth--which is one, kind of clunky way of dealing with it.

Even though there is a hunger for "the brown experience," until there are more of us in positions of authority, it will be an uphill battle. Not impossible, but time will always be spent having to explain yourself and why you're doing something. I mean, look at Latinitas--it was created because there was nothing in the world like it and I think it remains unique and vibrant because of the authentic voices behind it--not someone else's idea of what it should be. And the world is changing, quite rapidly. I think the hunger for information about the brown experience is only going to get larger. I welcome that, because until quite recently, the brown experience was defined by the coasts—LA Chicanos and NYC Puerto Ricans and Cubanos. Pero, we're all over the place! I was born and raised in Nebraska! As big and brown as I am, someone's going to tell me I don't exist? Por FAVOR!

Comment by Belinda Acosta on August 10, 2009 at 7:15pm

Advice to aspiring writers who want to be published: Don't be in a hurry to get published. Be in a hurry to be a good writer. In order to be the best writer you can be, I think you have to decide for yourself what that means. There are plenty of ideas in the world about what is "good," what is "quality". What do YOU think those things are? Find those writers who match your idea and study them. Why does the work strike you? Why does it move you? How does it work? I've always found that weak or mediocre work is easy to pick apart. The better something is, the harder it is to decipher—that doesn't mean you don't try, it just means that the seams are well tailored. Don't you want to be that kind of writer? That's what I'm working toward.

Comment by Belinda Acosta on August 10, 2009 at 7:11pm

Re: Alicia - what made me want to become a writer. I think I was probably like a lot of writers in that I liked to read. After a while, I discovered it was the thing I was best at, so I pursued it.

Comment by Belinda Acosta on August 10, 2009 at 7:09pm

Re: Alicia - what made me want to become a writer. I think I was probably like a lot of writers in that I liked to read. After a while, I discovered it was the thing I was best at, so I pursued it.

Comment by Alicia on August 10, 2009 at 5:21pm

Is there anything you would like to say to your readers?

Comment by Latinitas Magazine Intern on August 10, 2009 at 5:12pm

What reactions to the book have you received so far?

What is your favorite part/thing about the book?

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