Origin
Tears of the Moon: The Book of My Heart
Of all my characters, Katja's life most closely resembles my own lived experience as an American girl growing up in Mexico. I was an anomaly both in Mexico and the U.S., never quite fitting into either world. But from a young age I always felt a pull to ancient civilizations, mythology, and ruins that surrounded me.
Tears of the Moon
Continued from above . . .
Having grown up in Mexico City with a father who took a particular interest in anthropology and archaeology, I had ample opportunity to visit ruins in and around the area. I also lived in Guatemala and Bolivia for several years each, so I probably visited more ancient American ruins by the time I was 17 than most people see in a lifetime.
I could not resist setting this story in El Tajín, just before Cortez' arrival on the continent. The ruins there are some of my favorite, and archaeologist's theories about the ball game played there always fascinated me. One of my favorite reads in Latin American Literature is Los Pasos Perdidos (The Lost Steps) by Alejo Carpentier. The framework of my story aligns with the idea of a civilization unchanged by time that cannot be found . . . but it can find you.
The flip side of this story takes place against the backdrop of the infamous 1994 presidential election year in Mexico. Political intrigue, corruption, and a major unsolved assassination ruled the headlines during my senior year of high school and truly shaped the landscape at the time. I enjoyed adding my own fantastical spin on the still-unexplained events.
All my life I was too American to be Mexican, but when I moved to the United States, I was too foreign to fit in. It took some soul searching to find my place and realize that to some extent, every person feels like they don't quite belong. Although this is a love story to third culture kids everywhere, the message is universal.
Editors
To see this manuscript, please contact Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.