Ask the Author: Johanny Ortega
Answered Questions (10)
Johanny Ortega
A cool, relaxing soak turned ugly when a hand crept from underneath the water. Why did it have claws with dirt and dried up blood underneath its nails?
Johanny Ortega
I tend to drive the same route to and from work but one day a small voice inside my head said to go in another direction. This direction takes longer so I never take it. But for whatever reason that day, I got ready early, had a whole fifteen minutes to spare, got in the car and instead of turning left into the highway, I turned right because something told me it would be fun to take the scenic route in. After I came to work that day, I come to found out there was a fatal accident around the same time I pass the highway junction. It was bad, a semitrailer that loss control and took out a lot of cars. Some people didn't make it.
A long time ago, I had my coffee grounds read and the lady told me, I had the spirit of an old lady that hung around me to thank me for what I've done. I knew when she told me that, that my grandma (Mamá); the lady that raised me but died of cancer, had decided to stick around with me. You see, when things got really bad, I became her 24/7 personal nurse, at home, and in the hospital. She didn't know English and I didn't feel like it was right for her to be in a strange place with people she can't understand so as a high school student I lived in her bedroom till she was discharged. I would go to school from there and come back there. I wonder if she's still hanging around. If she was the one that saved me that day.
A long time ago, I had my coffee grounds read and the lady told me, I had the spirit of an old lady that hung around me to thank me for what I've done. I knew when she told me that, that my grandma (Mamá); the lady that raised me but died of cancer, had decided to stick around with me. You see, when things got really bad, I became her 24/7 personal nurse, at home, and in the hospital. She didn't know English and I didn't feel like it was right for her to be in a strange place with people she can't understand so as a high school student I lived in her bedroom till she was discharged. I would go to school from there and come back there. I wonder if she's still hanging around. If she was the one that saved me that day.
Johanny Ortega
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Sylvia Garcia-Moreno
The Hacienda by Isabel Caña
Witchlings by Claribel Ortega
Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl by Joya Goffney
Lulu and Milagro's Search for Clarity by Angela Velez
The Hacienda by Isabel Caña
Witchlings by Claribel Ortega
Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl by Joya Goffney
Lulu and Milagro's Search for Clarity by Angela Velez
Johanny Ortega
I want to be friends with the Cullens. So for me Forks, Washington.
Johanny Ortega
I haven't gotten that. I do have days when I don't want to write and I either go on hikes, ride my peloton or clean. Doing things that have me moving usually get me thinking back about the story I'm writing, where I'm taking it and how it will turn out at the end, which ends up motivating me.
Johanny Ortega
I love that I get to mash lived experiences with made up stuff. In other words I get to exaggerate the truth to make it more dramatic and entertaining. Since I can remember, I've been an exaggerative oral story teller so that trait definitely passed over to my writing.
Johanny Ortega
By reading the previous chapter or if I am starting the first chapter by reading the outline, or if I am starting the outline by reading the 'why' in my story and the character bio. I also listen to music without words, the genre depends a lot on what I'm writing.
Johanny Ortega
Practice. Writing gets better with practice. I have seen my evolution by comparing works from two years ago, a year ago, six months ago and today. Also read (audiobooks count). There's nothing like reading a polished literary work to help a writing become attune to what a story should feel, sound or look like. Mind you, every story will be different but story telling stays the same. By reading an aspiring writers learns the art of story telling. I would also add, read widely and currently.
Johanny Ortega
I have come full circle. Mrs. Franchy's Evil Ring and the Six Months that Changed Everything is about a stepchild learning to trust a stepparent, even after previous trauma from a former. When I immigrated to the United States at the age of nine I came to live with my dad and his wife. Also when one of my stepchildren was nine, she came to live with me and her dad for six months. So when I say I've come full circle, I have. That moment of noticing how the roles had changed and I have the opportunity to do things better, didn't go amiss with me. So I wrote this book.
Johanny Ortega
Mrs. Franchy's Evil Ring and the Six Months that Changed Everything. I love long titles by the way. This book has been with me for a while, going on two years now. I'm doing re-writes on act two currently (that will be the toughest) and once I'm done with re-writes I will push it to the copy editor. This book will be ready to be on bookshelves by September of this year and I am so excited to have you read it, gift it to your children or family, or donate it to a school or classroom. In this book I tackle a question that stayed with me as a stepchild: why must I accept someone I don't know as a family member.
As a child I felt thrust into trusting complete strangers who happen to be family even though I was not familiar with them. I gave this challenge to Isla and watch her handle it way better than me when I was nine. Even though the subject can be intense, I made the book light hearted.
Last thing I'm going to say: One of my rescued dogs may or may not have a role in the book ;-)
As a child I felt thrust into trusting complete strangers who happen to be family even though I was not familiar with them. I gave this challenge to Isla and watch her handle it way better than me when I was nine. Even though the subject can be intense, I made the book light hearted.
Last thing I'm going to say: One of my rescued dogs may or may not have a role in the book ;-)
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