While Latino Heritage Month officially draws to an end, it certainly shouldn’t stop anyone from learning, celebrating or sharing all things Latino/a. Especially authors!

Over the past year or so, I’ve been getting to know JoAnn Hernandez. She’s an amazingly energetic soul!! I recently did an email interview with her. I admire her candor, ambition and confidence. Just read and see!

What’s the last thing that made you smile? These questions!

How/when did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I was very old. Sooo old. I was an undergraduate in my 30s. I wrote and wrote, and because it was so easy, I never thought about it as a career. Also I had never seen a published book written by a Latino/a. I was 35 when someone handed me a one page list of books written by Latino/as. I was startled. I didn’t think we could read much less write. At 39, I joined a women’s artist group. They were the ones that made me realize that I was a writer. They encouraged me. They said, “The universe needs your voice.” Really?

How do you incorporate culture into your writing?

I don’t. I write about people who love, want, hurt, yearn, and dream. If they happened to also be of color then they are. I see passion come to individuals differently depending on their environment and goals. If I have to choose a “culture” then that’s what it would be.

What are some of the books you remember reading as a child?\

I can’t. Read “Ceremony” by Leslie Maron Silko twice. Read the bottom of pg 180 and top of pg 181 for a most beautiful love scene.

Twitter or Facebook? Twitter @BronzeWord and @LatinoBookNews

American football or soccer? Football I played football while I was in high school. I was captain of the defense, middle linebacker.

Mountains or oceans? Oh dear. Being that I lived several blocks from the Pacific Ocean for a few years and never went there, I should say Mountains. Yet, any time I have gone hiking I hurt myself. I sprain my ankle or fall and roll down the mountainside. I spent many years next to the Green Mountains. The thing that surprised me is that after all the “work” of getting up to the top, all you see when you get there is more mountains and trees. Gee, I had a tree in my backyard I could have looked at that and not gotten hurt.

Meat or vegetables? Vegetables but have to have hamburger often.

Rain or snow? After living 23 years in Vermont, oh Lord, no more snow. Rain, any day.

What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?

The writing. The ideas. The revision. The editing. The rewrites. The only part that is most difficult is getting published by white NYC.

Which of your books or short stories would you like to see as a movie? Being that I only have two books, my choice would be “The Throwaway Piece.”

Who would play the lead? Gee, I don’t know. So many young actors abound and I haven’t kept up. Not the girl that played Juno. Too passive. Not Dakato Fanning. Too blonde.

What would the theme song be? Gee, these questions are making me feel really, really old. “Born to Run”? I know there is a better song and don’t know which it is.

Where is the furthest away from home you’ve ever traveled?

When I married, I lived 2400 miles away from my hometown of San Antonio, TX.

I traveled from Burlington, VT to San Francisco to attend the University of San Francisco and passed through 13 states.

During the six years I was homeless, I traveled to:

San Francisco

Los Angeles

Phoenix, AZ

San Antonio, TX

Denver, CO

New York City

Georgia

Prince, Canada

Oklahoma

And ended up in Mesa, AZ for 8 years before coming home toSan Antonio, TX.

JoAnn blogs at BronzeWord Latino Authors