Road Trip to Las Cruces, New Mejico, los estados unidas by Juliana Aragon Fatula

2017 Denise Chavez Casa Camino Real, Las Cruces, NM

She gathered nine women and she made ten around her long writing table. The kind you find at the library. Everything had a story. An amazing story. I learned about the holy tortilla with the face of Jesus. I never knew. I learned about history, music, literature, Greek theatre; I created my own myth ofrenda from a recycled cigar box. It became magical, too.

Afterwards, Denise and I sat in the sweltering heat, 108 degrees on Saturday, and I interviewed her for my blog. I used my iPad video camera and it looks beautiful. The audio is perfect. I can hear every nuance in Denise’s voice. Like when she asked how much for an iPad. I said, “a hundred bucks.” She sat up with a jolt and said, “What? A hundred? I gotta get me one of those!” Then the interview began. I asked the questions my husband had argued were too much for first questions. He said ask those later. Denise, said, “No. Those are the questions to ask.” And they were. She told me stories and we laughed. She told me tragedies and I nodded my head and smiled tight lipped. I knew her stories like they were mine. I’ve read her books and she has a style unique to her and her alone.

I’m here to learn from the master and transfer that knowledge to other women writers of color. The doctor orders; she said, “Juliana, drive to Las Cruces and go get you mojo back.” And I did. Denise Chavez changed my life.

When I made it home to Colorado, I walked in the backyard and started the irrigation pump for my Chicana Garden. Everything in bloom, birds chirping, dogs barking…I felt alive and content to be who I am and where I am. So what if I’m not Stephen King, I’m a talented writer with a bright future. I need to surround myself with other writers from time to time to remind myself that I’m a writer. Yes, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, a teacher, a mentor, but if I don’t write, I get a little crazy. No one understands this dilemma more than a woman writer and in my case a woman of color.

Denise Chavez is my mentor. I’m going to study and learn everything I can from this woman; they don’t make them like her anymore. She’s original, traditional, spiritual, humorous and professional. She’s the cat’s meow. She raises funds for feral cats to be neutered. She holds press conferences at her bookstore for los libros traficantes to support the books that have been banned in Arizona. She teaches writing workshops to the community and welcomes anyone to her adobe.

Someday when I finish my novel: the Colorado Sisters, I’ll thank Denise in the acknowledgements because she taught me something valuable: I am a writer.

My interview with Denise Chavez is coming soon. Keep posted.