Abuelita's Magical Molcajete is a fun, heartwarming, magical story filled with delicious food, hope, and nine meddling, ill-tempered, sassy, cigar-smoking, tequila-drinking, tech-savvy, unstoppable ghosts! Its readers will long to connect with family and friends, launch new cooking clubs, spend countless hours making family recipes with multi-generational, cross-cultural friends and family, create a run on pink conchas and fluffy flour tortillas, and drive molcajete sales.
In November 2020, during the height of our pandemic, I found myself in our local San Diego emergency room needing IV medication for an existing condition. I knew I'd be ok and stable in a few hours, and I felt guilty for occupying a bed when the hospital staff was overwhelmed with Covid patients. I listened to doctors and nurses race from room to room, making urgent phone calls, and heard a patient screaming about their high temperature and begging for help.
Death was all around me, and I was terrified. I started thinking about my life. There was so much more I wanted to do, but how much time did I have left? And I asked myself, "What would I do if this was the last year of my life?" And my answer surprised me. Without pausing to contemplate my response, I said out loud, "I'd be writing every day."
And then I went deeper. Why write? I wrote a book about my mother's death a few years ago, and I have a food blog. But I'm by no means a professional writer. And again, the answer came so quickly. I had a daily writing practice when I wrote my first book. And that practice made me feel so incredibly alive and connected to some dormant part of my being.
So the following morning, home from the hospital, I woke up at 5:45 am and wrote the following:
"I am answering my divine appointment calling me to be an author and share my voice. What am I to write about today? Please guide me. The storyteller, the creative voice, must be used. The real magic of your life will unfold here, in words, in your ability to use the written word to connect with others, to bring them joy, and to inspire. Your last chapters are about connecting and writing…
Let's begin…
"BANG, BANG, BANG!" There was a loud noise coming from the kitchen.
I woke up every morning and started each writing practice with a sentence or two to reconnect me to the power and voice of creativity. And for months, my story had no title, just the date 11/30/20. There was no outline or concern about this becoming a best-selling novel; I was letting the story pass through me and loving every minute because I genuinely wasn't worried about the outcome. My commitment was to write.
Each morning, I sat in my comfy writing space with my little Shih Tzu, Sophia snuggled next to me; I saw the scenes with my characters unfolding as I wrote as quickly as possible. During one of the most isolating periods of my life, my fictional characters kept me laughing, brought a few tears, and were like an injection of dopamine every morning.
On numerous mornings, my husband would come in and find me typing away on my laptop and ask me, "why are you smiling?" And I'd look up and tell him about my characters’ latest antics.
The meddling ghosts in this story are based on women I love, and my heart is filled with beautiful memories of cooking with them. They are responsible for my addiction to flour tortillas, tacos, tamales, enchiladas, salsas, poloze, well, all Mexican food! I took a lot of creative liberties with their personalities in my book, but they were all phenomenal home cooks, and some smoked cigars, played poker and drank tequila. And it was a gift to spend more time with them in our favorite place, a kitchen with magical shopping, clean-up services, laughter, gossip, and love!
By February, I had a title; by April, when I had 50000 words, I decided to chat with my writing consultant and the first draft of my manuscript was finished in June.
That one question has changed my life because after decades of dreaming and wanting, I've finally accepted that I am a writer, and it's not a definition earned by the number of books I sell or followers I have on social media. It's a part of my DNA, soul, and essence, and writing and creating makes me HAPPY and fulfilled.
And now, this story is ready to be shared with others! If you decide to read it, I hope it fills you with joy and inspires you to connect with family and friends and cook delicious food!
Be well, familia,
Molé Mama