Saturday, February 8, 2014

Blending in the Flavor of the Southwest - Multi-Cultural Romance Author Terri Molina


 

Hello All, thank you for stopping by. I’m thrilled to be a part of Multicultural Highlight here at RTG.  I’m Terri Molina and I write Latina Romance.  


It’s kinda funny to me to refer to my work in a specific culture. When I started writing it was just fiction. Yes, my characters are Hispanic, but that’s because it’s my world. I knew I could write believable Hispanic characters because it’s who I know. It wasn’t until I’d completed my second novel when a writer friend I’d met in a writing forum told me I should be pitching my books as Latina romance (because editors and agents were looking for those types of works). It felt strange to me, but I did and  landed an agent a year later, but it took some time before my first novel sold.


 During that time of submitting, I was getting word from agents and editors saying they were looking for Latina characters and novels with strong, smart, successful women. Uh.....no offense to my family or the Latina community, but to me, that just wasn’t realistic. How could I write those types of characters when I didn’t even know any? Growing up in Southeast Texas, as a orphan with six brothers a sisters, all I saw was poverty and living month to month on welfare. My aunt (who I lived with after my mom passed) was ‘old school’. She didn’t foresee a future where women ‘ruled’ or Mexican’s were anything more than migrant workers, so she didn’t encourage us to ‘reach beyond our potential’. In fact, no one really did (including my teachers in school) because all they saw was a family on welfare who’d never be able to afford college so don’t bother telling them their options.

Yeah, that’s what I came from.

So that’s what I write.

My characters are based on real life people I know, or people I’ve met over the &*&^% years I’ve been alive (heh), or situations I’ve been in. My characters and settings are stored memories of my home and family and writing about them keeps me close to them.

I often say my stories are loosely based on actual events (although not always my actual events) *wink* 



To read an excerpt of my works, seek me out at:  http://www.terrimolina.com/read-an-excerpt.html

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, or my blog Behind Brown Eyes

And, just for stopping by, I'm giving away a copy of your choice to one of my works (that makes sense in my head).  Just leave a comment below, then email me your choice of story at TerriMo2@yahoo.com

And, check out my website for the cover reveal of my upcoming re-release of DARK OBSESSION.

5 comments:

Paty Jager said...

It's refreshing that you are staying true to the culture when publishers want you to write it unrealistically. I have a Venezuelan character in one of my series. I don't know if I portray him right or not. I had a woman who was married to a Venezuelan help me come up with the character. I've been watching The Bachelor because Juan Pablo is Venezuelan who has become Americanized and that is my character.

Thank you for being at Romancing the Genres.

Terri Molina said...

Thanks Paty. So you only watch the Bachelor for "character research"?? ;-)

Sarah Raplee said...

Hi Terri,

They say to write what you know. I loved your characters in Her Will, His Way.

They seemed completely real and down-to-earth.

I'm looking forward to reading another of your books.

Terri Molina said...

Thank you, Sarah. And I'm looking forward to meeting you in person at the Desert Dreams Conference. =)

Judith Ashley said...

Hi Terri,

I'm just now getting caught up on reading and commenting. I think our writing is stronger when we stay true to ourselves. Latina authors of today can look around and see more and more successful Latina women in the world around them. A good change from my way of thinking.