The Conversation for 09/09/2026

0:00Share our stories, connect us. Listen and be connected. Join us for the conversation meeting weekly at the intersection of community and culture. Posted by Mario Nunez and Jo King Carter. Hey, hey, good afternoon, everyone. This is Jo King Carter here with you and my friend and cohort and pod podcast. My radio broadcasters here. I'm just trying to get his microphone work. It's still not working, but I can hear you. Well, if you can hear me, then go ahead and do your thing. Hi, everybody. Welcome to this week's edition of the conversation. I am one of your two host, Mario Nunez. I'm going to solve this conundrum here in just a moment because it's so odd not to be able to hear myself in the conversation. I want to be able to hear myself in my headphones.

1:00I've seen it alongside my broadcast partner, Joe King Carter, Joey. Yes, I wanted to make sure that you had the opportunity to see through that. Yeah, I'm just filling with my, yeah. Okay, well, it's a little, you know, it's just a little, just a little, just a little concern. It's a little, just a little concern. Yeah. So how was your week? How about that? Oh, no, you're going to turn it around on me like that, brother. There you go. I don't like that. I don't like that at all, but I'll take what we're going to do. I figured it out. You know me. So my week was good. Yes. And fast. Yes. And here it is on Wednesday, another hump. Hump day. You know what I mean? Yeah. This is how it is. And have you seen the commercials, Joey? And we air at the, I always like to say at the hump of the hump of the hump of the hump. Which is at the tippy top of the middle of the week. I like that. Joey, so here's what I did. I disconnected my little sound device here, which is, it means that the people that are watching us right now on Facebook, are only going to get the sound, the ambient sound from inside the studio.

2:00Because here's what happens. When you don't charge your batteries, they tend to run out. And that's what happens. So see this little device here, Joey? Did we run a lesson? Yes, we did. Yes, we did. That's all the matters. To the principal's office, I go. So anyway, Joey. So let me just say right up at the top and I'm going to, the paddling. Right up at the top. I'm going to say that on this Friday, Joey, this Friday, where are we going to be? Where are you going to be with me on Friday? Go. I'm going to be at the Commodore. Oh, Joey, you're right. What is the Commodore? Some might ask. What is the Commodore? Commodore is a very cool place in E-Bore City that is a community-based, Yes. Improvisational comedy club. Yes. It's not like any comedy club you've ever been in most likely because it is not the corporate comedy club. It is people on stage doing their thing improv-based, improv-based, just in all. Easy for my buddy, Joe, to say. Improvisational. Yeah.

3:00So, but it's very cool. And if you've not been to the Commodore, folks, support it because it's real, it's a real commitment. Open invitation for everybody within the sound of my voice. It's an intimate theater, probably seating for about 40 people. Again, they do a show called Salud and Happy Days where they interview. They interview Thompenios who have been in the community for a hot minute. And whilst they're interviewing the guests of honor on that evening, the improvisational actors are just off stage in the wings. And what they're doing is they're listening. And there's a question and answer period for about seven to ten minutes. And then they're going to have a break at that point, the improvisational actors who have been listening, jump up on stage and make comedy out of whole cloth. They just right in front of you and it usually works. Some of it might fall a little bit flat, but these are very, very talented comedians. That's the best part in a way. It is because, again, if you've never seen improv-based, and whose line is it anyway, you know that TV show?

4:04It's not anything like that. Because there, there are people in the audience are shouting out pencil crayons. And they do something. This is personal narratives, which is what we do here at the conversation. So well, we do it so well, by the way. And so then, here's your open invitation. Please join us. Mario Nunez will be the host of honor, the guest of honor. And this is my third time, Joey. Three times, this is three P. Wow. Well, I'm excited about that. It must be getting old. Yeah, I thought I was going to get applause. I thought I was going to get applause. But thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. I'd like to thank everyone. But also, Joey. Yes. You're still in the running. You're still in the running, Joey. Well, no, the running ceased. The voting has ceased, but I'm still there. We don't know, you'll, right? We don't know. They haven't disclosed yet, right? No, they won't until their event. You're talking about creative loafing. Yes, I'm talking about creative loafing best of the bay. Yeah, so best radio personality. Boy, that would be fun to get that little monitor.

5:04How about that on a t-shirt? Yeah, how about that? I don't think it'll get you a freak off a goletia though. You said the pay for that. No, that, yeah, right. Well, thank you, Rigo. It's not the ego. It's just the good for the station. It's not the ego. It's the end. For WM&F, the best little radio station in Canada. Where each week on Wednesdays at noon, we meet at the intersection of culture and community. And today we have somebody that is steeped in both. And Joey, I'm going to let you introduce our guest right about now. Oh, this is fun because I've looked forward to this. We've been planning for this for just a little while. Yes, we have. We have us, we have with us today an author of a new book that is out. And we are so excited about this. And her name is Amaris Castillo. You did it so, so good, Joey. Not really. Yes. So welcome, Amaris. Thank you so much for having me. We're so excited. I'm so excited. There was. There we go. You know, we're going to work on that applause because it sounds like we got six people in the room there.

6:04We need that ovation. We need that stadium ovation. I feel the love. Thank you. That is good. So there you go. And there we go. And yet, so Amaris, let's, let's, what we always do here is we're going to get to your book. And it's very exciting, I think. But, and I think others will feel the same. Can we give the name of the book before it teases it out? Yeah. I'm Adi's. What's the name of your book? Bo de gas stories. Bo de gas stories. Yes. And these are, it's a collection of short stories. Yes. It's a creative nonfiction collection of stories about the people who go to my parents' Latin market or Lando Latin market in St. Petersburg. Okay. Let's stop right there and leave that. Oh, let's go. Did they go on further? Let's get to know you, Amaris, because it is your launch pad position and perspective that makes all that possible. So where did you grow up? Well, I was born in Brooklyn, New York. And I grew up in the early 90s in a very, what I would describe as a very Dominican building.

7:07I grew up in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn at a time where there are a lot of Dominicans and, you know, members of the Caribbean diaspora. And you know, I grew up, I think, Mario might recognize this, but the Saturday cleaning days where I grew up where like from my living room window, I was like, I was like, so I could look out and there was like a little courtyard that no one ever went in. But I could see through the windows the women of my building, all collectively cleaning on the same day. And you would hear like Salazar, Meringen, Vachata. And I went to public school and then later on moved, we moved to Queens where I lived for a few years in Woodhaven Queens. And then my freshman year, high school, I ended up actually going to... this school called LaGuardia High School for... LaGuardia High School for the Arts and Performing Arts.

8:07And that was my freshman year. And that was actually the year of 9-11. So the year later, the year afterwards, we moved to Clearwater. My dad wanted us to have a more tranquil life. And he, I think he wanted to go fishing basically. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. So, and you know, the Tampa Bay allows for that year round. You can fish here all day, every day. So, so... And my parents are... I want... Yeah. This isn't already obvious. My parents are both from the Dominican Republic. And they migrated here to the New York City in the 80s. My dad was 18 when he moved to New York City and he began work immediately as a Bolega worker at his dad, his uncle's Bolega in Brooklyn. Am I as courted the move from? Oh, he moved from Dominican Republic. Okay, so... We are in the house. Yes, we are in the house. We... I actually grew up almost every summer. That's where we went. Basically every summer. And I write about this in the book that that's the only country that my parents ever recognized

9:09on the world map for my patients. Every summer we went to DR without fail. So we'd split time between my dad's side of the family, my mom's side of the family. I still have plenty of family there. And we would like towards the end, I would miss English so much. Because I'd be watching friends dubbed in Spanish and cartoons dubbed in Spanish, which are not as funny. Muy aquí todos, yeah. Muy aquí todos. Never as funny. Yeah, I'd be scrolling through the channels. Can I get at least one English language show? Because you're so used to that. Even those Spanish was my first language. But it kind of speaks to the fact that yes, I'm a child of immigrants. So when you are born in the US and you're raised here, it's like you're a different, you become, you have your, you form your own identity, separate of your parents, separate, separate from your parents who are from another country. Sure. But you know, my parents are both, you know, like US citizens, they've been citizens forever

10:10now. And they forms their own life here. And now they have grandkids. So my dad and my mom, they were able to achieve their dream of building a retirement home in this fishing village in, and DR called Salinas. And it's like this beautiful cement block home with a huge garage for my dad. They made it. I mean, not for his book, for his boat. It's a big garage so he can fit his boat there. And he actually goes to DR now several times a year. But he, the last time he went, he said, oh, I, I, I don't think I can go back to DR without your mom, even though she drives me crazy. I missed her so much and I don't want to travel to DR by myself. But he went there probably just to, I mean, he goes there to, because he has fishing buddies in DR and he has fishing buddies at the bodega, mostly Cuban, front customers turned friends. Because he's kind of build like his whole friend circle is basically men from the store. Right. And what, how old are your parents approximately? They're in there. So my dad is 64.

11:12He's turning 65 next year and my mom's like 63. So did your mother, do she have a professional? Was she just a stay-in-home mom? She was a stay-in-home mom for some time. I didn't mean to say just, I was going to correct you, sir. And actually, I will say, Joe, I was a stay-in-home mom. Yeah, because that's the, that's the hardest job for all of you. Let me tell you. I listen, I was a stay-in-home mom for 10 months. After I left Massachusetts, I had to give up my newspaper job there. And I moved here. My little, my eldest was, he was a baby still toddler. And it was the hardest, excuse me, it was the hardest 10 months of my life. I was going crazy. And the pandemic started and I was like, I'm going to find a job. Because then my mom told me when the pandemic started, she said, don't shoot there because my lunch break, when I was a stay-in-home mom, my lunch break was driving from Tampa where I live, all the way to St. Pete to the Boathega. And I would literally drop him off. And I'd be like, I need, I need a break. And I'd go to, I'd go get coffee, I'd go to TJ Maxx. It's like, that was my lunch break with me and the day care,

12:13the Boathega became the day care. So then when the pandemic started, my mom was like, Meera, she's like, don't shoot there, bring that baby into the Boathega. Because at that COVID, this COVID is just going around. And I don't know who has it. And I don't, I want you to be safe. And I was like, so you mean to tell me I have to take care of my kid all day by myself with no break. 24 hours. Kudos to stay-in-home moms for sure. But I will say my mom, she stayed home with us for a while. She also worked in factories before I was born. She also helped take care, she was like a home health aid. Like she'd take care of people in their homes. And then, you know, here in Florida, before they got the Boathega in Saint-Paint, she worked for some time at Walmart, which wasn't fun. I mean, you know, like what you're paid is, it's not good. But yeah, so they, you know, she went from job to job. She didn't finish college. She had me. And so that, she's always drilled this message into me that like,

13:15I want you to get farther in life than I have. And I, and I, I sometimes wonder if my parents have- Is that what all parents want? Yeah, that's what I absolutely. And that's what I want, because I have two boys myself and I want, I want them to go farther than I have. But you know, your point about being a stay-in-home mom is that they are often community-oriented, because they got to get the heck out of there. They're just talking, they have no, they need to talk to an adult somewhere. Oh, yeah. I signed, when I was, before the pandemic hit, I joined for my son this thing called, I think it's called Little Jim. It was like a kid Jim. So like, basically they had classes. And then I saw it was all these other moms and sometimes a few dads. And that was our, that was our outing for the day. It was taking, taking their little butts to the gym. So they can work out. And then you're just, you know, listening to this obnoxious music. And you're just like, oh, all I thought about was like, oh, he's going to have a good nap after this. Yeah. And then that was a lot of time where I'm out. That was for my outing for the day. Then my husband would come home talking about he's tired.

14:17I'm like, you're tired. I'm tired. I've been with this child all day. So, did you have siblings? I do. Yeah, I have a younger brother older than him by four years. His name is Freddie. Shout out to Freddie. Yeah, thank you, Freddie. We call him Freddie, though because my dad's, Nick is also Freddie. Yeah, Freddie, does this know what happened to me? Yes. Exactly. But you know what I don't get is like that my name. So I'm a Maris. My mom's name is Damaris. Damades. And I remember when I was born, like she didn't really have any idea what took, what to name me. And my, one of my, one of my, the I said, why don't you take out the D and name her a Maris. And it's just like, oh, I like that. So that's why I'm a Maris. And you know what? It's like, it's funny because I am literally derived from my mom and so's my name. But then when it came to my brother, my dad was just like, I want his, you know, I don't think, just named him Freddie. So now it's like, Freddie. And it's like, who are you talking to? So that's what we call him, Fredito. Yeah. Why do we do that to our children? I don't know. I don't know. So in school, let's talk about your life in school.

15:19What kind of a little girl were you in school growing up? I would say I was objectively, of course. Yes. I know. I'm always going to have a lot of ideas. I would say I was very studious. Like I grew up and going to like being placed in like honors and, and like later on in the AP, I was really into the arts. My mom put me in art classes at the Brooklyn Museum. And I remember that was like my first exposure to the arts. And I loved it so much. I loved drawing, sketching, especially watercolor painting. And I think I was also always into books and reading. I didn't really know that I would become like a journalist or storyteller, but I knew by high school that I was definitely interested in journalism. My joint, the pointer institute for media studies where I actually work as a research writing assistant, I joined their high school journalism program. And that's when I fell in love with journalism. And then later on, I thought, you know, I want to do, like maybe I can try fiction too.

16:20I don't have an MFA, but I do have a master's degree from Columbia Journalism School. Because after I graduated from undergrad, I couldn't find a job. And it was, it was hard out here because it was 2009. We all remember that time, right? Yes. My mom was like, why don't you apply for master's programs? I'm like, okay. And at the time I was like, I hate it. I was a cashier at the Bovega. And I remember the day I got into Columbia, I got a notification in my email inbox. And then I go in and I see, you know, like accepted. And I had gotten rejected from UC Berkeley in California and NYU. And Columbia had a waitlist in me. And then I got into Columbia. And I remember crying. And one of the customers was asking my dad, because he was also working that day. He's like, why, why is your daughter crying? He's like, oh, she just got into her dream school. And then that same day I called my abuela, who's still living in Brooklyn. My father's mom, I said, I boy, like, you know, I told her I got into Columbia. And I was like, why don't we make a thing? Okay. And then with you.

17:21And she was like, go out on me. I'm more of course. And I was like, yes, I got housing because no one sees ridiculous. Yes. But I would say like as a student, I cared very much about my grades, the message of education and. Resonated in your family. Oh my God, it was drilled into me. I actually have this moment. I think I talk about it in the book where I was working on homework in the dining table, which was right next to the kitchen and clear water in the home that where my parents still live. My mom has her hands deep in the suds and the sink. And she's just like, you know, talking about how tired she is. And she's like, oh, I want, you know, this whole rant in Spanish. All I want is for my children to study and to get their degrees and to get farther in life than me. And I'm like looking at her like, that is literally what I'm doing right now. I'm here sitting at the dining table doing my homework. Do you see what I'm doing? Yeah, it's like, look around, open your eyes. It's happening. It was very much like, I feel like throughout my life, I had this, like, you know, the

18:22the dutiful daughter expectation like I first born. First born. I'm the first born. I'm the only daughter. And I would say definitely, you know, expectations, expectations vary across families, but I always felt like this duty to help my parents. And I will admit, and I do admit this in the book too. And you're about to admit it on the radio. Yes, of course. Exactly. No, there were times like in my college years when I was, you know, I just wanted to have fun. And my mom would call me and be like, can you help us at the booth? You know, in the booth, I'm like, there were a few times where I, you know, like I would lie and say, I'm on me. I have an exam on one day. Mendez, I want to go to the beach. Yeah. I just wanted to hang on my friends. So let me ask you though. So what, how did you, I mean, if we can get down a little bit into it, how did you feel about being the dutiful daughter? What did that feel like? Um, did you ever, were you ever resentful or did you always think this is what I meant to do? Um, I think there were times where I would, you know, like, I pushed back.

19:23It's kind of like cyclical. Like sometimes I'd be like, I'd be like, why don't you ask Fredito? Why don't you, you know what I mean? Or like, why am I the one that's being woken up at the crack of dawn to go to the bull day guy and like my brother's still sleeping or whatever? Right. Um, but then it comes to, uh, it always comes back to, I feel like this is very internalized and probably should be going at therapy for this. I am. Um, I think it comes down to, I always feel like I can never repay my parents for all they've done for me, all their sacrifices and also, so duty is connected to debt in a way. Yes. And there is a term for it. An obligation. Yes. And there's a term for it. I looked it up. I'm like, why, you know, why are children of immigrants feeling into whatever? There's a thing called the immigrant bargain where, um, you know, that children of immigrants often feel. So their parents, you know, they migrated to this country. They have, uh, given up and sacrifice status, uh, you know, uh, many times upward mobility

20:29or higher education because of the language barrier because of the education limitations in exchange for the chance for their, for their kids to, to get that, to attain that through hard work. And that again is called the immigrant. It's called immigrant bargain and immigrant bargain. And how about is you know what Lin-Manuel Miranda says about immigrants, don't you? They get the job done. They get the job done. They get the job done. That's right. And each one works harder than the previous generation. Each generation works harder than the previous generation, typically. And by the way, because of my involvement in eBore City all these many years, I have witnessed if you really look at the history of eBore City, that process you're talking about, it's profoundly at work 100% because you had all of these immigrants that came to eBore City. And within that first generation, you have all these amazing people that are excelling and excelling, male and female alike all across the board, uh, Spanish, German, Sicilian, uh, and, and it continues to their grandkids so you can, you can see it, you know, uh,

21:29maybe third generation, uh, embodiment of that, that whole experience. That's right. That's right. That's right. And I, and I will say that you, like, I always feel like I want to validate my parents as hard work and, and go, they got stories and sacrifice and go, they got stories. It's like, it's like me offering them like, oh, you're just going to get me a motion of that new. Darling, let's go. Let's go. That's what we do. No, but it's, it's like I'm saying, look, I see all that you've done. And I love you for a nice, that's beautiful. That's beautiful. You can't see it. You can't see it, but I'm out of these eyes got a little bit missed. Yeah. So let's talk about you as that, how you progressed as a writer because I was also on my school newspaper. And even though I'm an artist and I have an creative, I didn't, I didn't see journalism as a creative place for me, but I loved it and I loved to write. So my point is, how did you kind of navigate all that and what caused you because you're still working as a writer in the world?

22:31Let's get to that before we get to the book. Well, I will say, you know, in high school, I was a part of my student newspaper called the Clear Light at Clearwater High School. Okay. And being the editor in chief by my senior year, but I was a terrible editor in chief actually. I was really bad at delegating and also reminding people like, I understand. Yes, people did not, these students don't, I mean, back then they don't, I mean, this was like the early odds or mid, you know, I graduated in 2005 from high school. But they, I mean, some staff members were late, you know, they'd be late with their stories. It was always stressful. I had two friends, dear friends who were the assistant editors and they were the ones who would be like the enforcers for sure. I spent many a lunch room working on the newspaper because it was like a print edition. Cut it. Now, I don't know if it's digital. I'm not sure. But yeah, so I knew in high school, I wanted to be a journalist and there was no question for me when I started at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

23:33I stayed at the main campus that I wanted a major in journalism. Like, I already, I didn't think of anything else. I thought, oh, this is what I wanted to do. Okay. And I didn't think about the industry, the state of the industry. I didn't think about the pay. I just, I just knew I wanted to talk to people, listening to people and write stories. Yes, vocation turned out vocation. Yes. And then later on, I, you know, I, when I was in New York during, after grad school, I, I did like some, I dabbled into entertainment journalism and all that. And then later, I got my first newspaper job at the Bradenton Herald where I was for three years. I was the night cops reporter. So I was there. My official title was law enforcement slash island reporter. So I covered Anna Maria Island and I covered Breaking News, crime. But like my real passion was human interest stories and features. So I'd be so happy at my desk working on my next feature story. And then we'd hear something on the police scanner. Oh, there's a lot of everything. They'll cover the story.

24:33And then I was, I mean, I would say I wasn't like the best. I mean, I was, I was, you know, I, I was definitely adept at covering Breaking News, but I was always trying to find the color and the detail. But you know, it's not, it's not a glamorous job at all. Like I had many, you know, people would slam doors in my faces. And then I would also help cover court proceedings, verdicts and, you know, people curse you out after a verdict because they're unhappy because their loved one is now being locked away for, for a long time, you know. So I'm curious to be ugly. And I'm curious to ask because, you know, Joe is a brain-in-tunative. Did you ever get called to a story? And Joe was the subject of the story. Was you breaking an interview? What was he doing? I'm long been out of brain. Joe, you let's take a minute here. Yeah. And we're at the bottom of the hour, do our station ID. And then we'll come back, reintroduce our guests, maybe give you a telephone number where you can join our conversation here on the conversation Wednesdays at noon. Hi, I'm Dr. Bob Lockdien. You're listening to the conversation with Mario Nunez and Joe King Carter on WMNF Tampa,

25:3788.5 FM. The dulcet tones of Dr. Bob Locky. I love Dr. Bob. That's those are some of the most fun shows that you and I get to do. Oh, absolutely. And those of you that are listening and listening each and every week, Dr. Bob is coming back at the end of the month because there was so much heft to the subject matter. And of course, we're celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. And Amadeez is a living testament to that. And so that's what Dr. Bob is going to do. So stay tuned. He'll be back on the 30th to end the month. You're listening to the conversation. Today our guest is Amadeez Castillo, who is the daughter of a bodega owner that spawns some terrific stories, which she has turned into a little book that is becoming very successful. Do I see, is there any way you could send that book to Lin-Manuel and say, hey, is there a musical in here? I would, that would be amazing. When you put something in the heights, it's something like that. Yes, in the heights, the music. Let's say that correct it. Actually, one of the songs in that musical makes me cry.

26:37It was the one about the one of the female characters where she returns to the neighborhood and everyone looks at her like, all story. I like, you know, we're so proud of you, like the collective. I was like, oh my God. That is, that is me. Like, people look at me like, are like, oh my gosh, you're, you know, you're, make your parents so proud. And I actually asked my mom and dad after the Tumblr lunch last night and said, are you guys proud of me? It's, it's interesting how I feel like I still need to hear that. Yeah, I know. You're, you're well into your adult years. And I don't need that validation. But that's something that happens to Latinos, Joey. It's kind of a little thing that we carry inside of us that we're always trying to seek that approval from our parents and we can never work hard enough. I don't think it's because they lay a guilt complex on us when we're young, but I'm not going to say it's not because they don't put that on us. It's just something that we feel indebted to our parents for the opportunity to present it to us. Even if you grew up in this country, it's just the part. And you know, our households are very cutting you also. So, you know, where they might be strict at some points to keep you in line because they

27:39figure this is the best way to instill that discipline. They're also quick to embrace you and hug you and kiss you and tell you how special you are. Yeah. I'm guessing you had some of that too. Oh, yeah, for sure. And I want, you know, I also think, you know, like the flip side of that, I think, I think it's important when parents apologize to their kids. I know that's something that can be an issue in some communities and in our culture. So I always like, you know, most of the time I apologize to my kids when it takes me a while and I'm like, okay, you know what, I messed up. And I think it's important that they hear that. And then when they mess up, they're like, I'm sorry, mommy. And I'm like, oh, my God, this is a mate. It does work. You know, it works, you know? And then like the whole affection thing, my boys are very close to, you know, my parents and my in-laws as well. But they have like a really tight bond with their Abu, who's my dad. He sends me voice notes every morning on WhatsApp. I'm like, how am I, how am I boys doing? And I'm like, they're not even up yet, you know?

28:41Can you send that voice to me? And how about your daughter? How about your daughter? Yeah. She has my name on his phone are the names of my kids. Like, it's not even my name anymore. They've taken over. So now like the contact name is their name. And it wasn't lost on me because she used the term Abu. And I'm guessing it's the abbreviation for Abu Elah. Yes, Abu Elah. Yeah. They call it. That's cute. I like it. It's Abu Elah's my mom. They used the formal name. My mother-in-law is Yah-ya and my father-in-law is people. You have to have that when you have multi-generations that are still alive. You can't call everybody Abu Elah and Abu Elah. And you know, some grandparents don't want to be called Abu Elah. There's like no one's. There's there's there's Gigi. There's like all these new nickname. You know, there's modern grandparents now. It's like grandma. My mother was not. I don't want to be a grandma. My mother was nanny. My mother-in-law was nana. The old man is ramps instead of Abu Elah. You know, and so, yeah, variations on the theme. And if you've got great grandparents that are still alive, you really got to get

29:44creative. You really did? Yes. But I'm going back to the traditional. So now I'm Abu Elah. So where is, so you have been writing and you've written for more than the brain and herald? Yes. Let's talk about that. Yeah, I also worked at the Lowell Sun in Lowell, Massachusetts. So as a newlywed, my husband got a job, my very new husband at the time got a job in Massachusetts in Lowell. And I was like, this is awesome. This will be an adventure. And I called emailed different newspapers and the Lowell Sun, which was where the area we were moving to. I got, you know, they had an opening and they gave me a shot and I was so grateful because nothing terrified me more than moving up a new place without a job. You know what I mean? Even though I didn't have kids, yeah, it's like I need to be working. Like, I need to, it's that thing is like I need to feel productive all the time. But while I was there, you know, I was the only Latina, the only Spanish speaker. All my editors were like older white men, but I mean, they were amazing because they

30:46trusted my news judgment because I covered two small towns, Tingsboro and Drake it, which were not, I mean, they were not very diverse. Those both towns were like very, I don't even know what percent, but very white. But in my free time between assignments, I would always make my way to the city of Lolle where it's a much more diverse population. There are a lot of Puerto Ricans, a lot of Dominicans, there's Colombians, a lot of Cambodians. And I always found gravitated towards the stories of everyday folks. I wrote several stories about the Dominican community. Puerto Ricans, I remember when I was like basically almost nine months pregnant with my first son. He was handed a being born in Massachusetts. My editor with this always happens in newspapers where they feel like they need, you know, they need holiday stories that, so they asked their reporters, can you do, you know, we need holiday stories to fill the paper. And I was like, you know what, I'm going to give you a holiday story, but make it Latino. And I found this older, I started asking my network and my sources asking around crowd

31:49sourcing. And I was able to connect with this older Puerto Ricans woman who sells pasteles out of her apartment year round. Come on now. And they are so good that about a dozen of them were stolen from her apartment because I guess she had her door unlocked one day, which is so messed up. It's like, how are you going to steal this woman's hard labor? But she let me observe her. Yo, you know what pasteles are? We'll tell you. Oh, yeah, they're amazing. So this is my friend when it comes to food. Yeah. I digress. I digress. Yes. So I watched her make it. And then the whole story was about just her relationship to the bustel and how it's a tradition. It's a uniquely Puerto Rican tradition. Like they're their version of it. You know, every Latino culture has their version of the bustel. The Cuban has it that long. That's why I was willing to have Hayaka's I think. So it was, I mean, I was so hungry she at the end. She gave me some to take home to sample. And then because we were down to one photographer, I took my own photos and then they ran on

32:55the Sunday front. And then I think, Mario, you'll like this. I also did a feature story about this group of mostly Puerto Rican men who I would see, I mean, I was at the low sun for like three years. I saw them almost every day except on like the very cold days sitting by a bench in downtown low. Like every day these the same men were there. And then finally, when I knew that I was moving back to Florida, I had this list of stories that I had been wanting to do the whole time. And I just hadn't found the time or, you know, to do them. And then I just approached them one day on my lunch break and I was like, hi, I'm a reporter for the low sun, you know, talking to them in Spanish. I'm like, I just wanted to write a story about why are you guys always here? And the whole story is literally just a slice of life story about this group of of Senores, you know, Ancianos Puerto Rican elders who just choose, that's what they're choosing for this chapter of their life is just to hang out by a bench. You know, some, some people go to the senior center, some people volunteer. Some people just sit at the bench on the bench. Some people in Miami go on play tree.

33:56They go play Domino's on Caya Ocho. Yeah. You know what I mean? You gotta ask this old man, what are you doing here and why are you doing it here? Hey, let me give you guys the phone number in case you'd like to ask Amadeza question. You've got something on your mind. You'd like to share it's eight one three two three nine six six three. You can also send us a text at eight one three four three zero eight eight five. DJ at WMNF dot org once again an email send it to DJ at WMNF dot org and we will read those emails on the air. Thank you for your questions. I've got a caller holding here. I don't have much information on this caller. So we're going to go rogue and say caller you're on the air. Tell us your name and and what say you? Oh, thank you. This is Jerry and so your guess I wasn't sure if you were alive or not. So I had a nice talk with your receptionist and you know what she said really triggered me that it's heavy on my mind these days was September 11th coming up in the whole thing

35:02about the parents apologizing or admitting when you make a mistake like so my comment is the only entity that doesn't make a mistake is a non human. So I know we sent to see that makes them. That's pretty good Jerry. That's pretty good. It's non human and thank you for thank you for saying that and let's admit like our national leaders when they make a mistake can't they just say I made a mistake here here something about our acknowledge it. Mm hmm. Yeah, you know Jerry you make an interesting point. Maybe that's why in fact we don't trust our leaders because they don't say I made a mistake and therefore they're not human and we think we're being lied to. It can cause by coast is to the whole community. That's right. Yeah, damage the whole country. That's a great observation. Yeah, Jerry you be careful or else you're going to find yourself a guest on our show. We've got lots to talk about that line that line should be on a t-shirt. Most of us are immigrants. Only humans make mistakes. A hundred percent. Yeah, a hundred percent.

36:04Okay, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much for listening. We so appreciate see these these this is why we do the show amides because every so often and more often than not we get the callers that are really intuitive. They have something to contribute and just like Jerry said you know he's absolutely right. We need to be accountable to each other right and I always like to say look man I'm not a bad person but I had a bad day or I had a bad moment you know that was a decision I regret and I want to let you know because I value you you know we're friends. Let's let's see if we can put that behind us and then don't do it again. Don't don't do the more idea where you do it again because then you impure your own credibility right right and then this the boy that cried wolf and nobody's going to believe you there it is. So so you came back and you're still and you're writing for what is your current you better get to the book Joey yeah trying to get there. Yeah, so I yeah I work at the pointer Institute for Media Studies. I'm a research writing assistant for the NPR public editor's office my boss is Kelly McBride who is the NPR public editor shout out to Kelly she's a wonderful boss so she's

37:08been the NPR public editor for the past six years and so I do I conduct research I monitor our inbox so I actually see what NPR listeners are are commenting or asking or critiquing about about when it comes to NPR journalism and then I'm also a staff writer for pointer.org so and I write mostly about journalism and local journalists so it's cool because I mean I feel like I'm not at a newspaper it's it's a lot more stress and the pay is not always great like shout out and and and matter respect to newspaper reporters because it is a grind. But now I get to write about other journalists which is fun you know because I get to go into like the ethics of different stories and behind the scenes so I I really enjoyed and I've been I just made celebrated like six years being at the pointer Institute. Awesome so the let's so you're writing all the time and that's a great way to to build you know use that muscle that you have which now has caused you to write a book and it's

38:13called bogega stories and by the way for anyone's listening how can they how can they grab your book. Oh yeah thank you so much so bogega stories is out now it was released officially yesterday. What yes. Oh so much yes it is. I love this applause. I want to see all your your sounds later. We have so it's a it's available you know wherever books are sold. I'm Tom below books carries it. There's also a hyper local bookstore here in Tampa called a Tim B bookstore. The links books in Gainesville if anybody's listening from there. You know just different places and then you know you can also order it directly from my publisher University Pressle Florida but you know I love if people are interested in buying the book if they would support Indy. Indy of course yes yes so it begs the question and and this is the logical conclusion that I drew from it is there could there possibly be could you glean from your bogega stories book if you

39:14were so inclined a 30 minute set could you do an open mic night where you go in and you tell the stories that you read that you write about in the book. I mean it would seem to me like that would be the natural progression because you're obviously good you have a tremendous command of the language in both the Spanish and English. You're funny fun to look at and fun to talk to that smile you know what I mean it's very very attractive. Why couldn't you go and get an open mic and tell the stories. Thank you. I don't know I've always considered myself what they call a Prince Gurley you know because I'm out of your comfort zone girlfriend. Yeah I mean maybe I'd be open to you know like if anybody wanted to collaborate on maybe something dramatic or something on stage I could read from the book for sure. I hadn't thought about it also it'd be very hard to compress one of these stories there's a there's a lot of short vignettes in the book into 30 seconds but maybe something longer like a minute. I could I could talk about my aunt Amagarita who's the

40:16most glamorous of all my Diaz. She's a prominent character in the book. I talk about her her chapters called las olas no mata or the loneliness does not kill because she's a long time divorcee and she does not settle for anything less in life and then I I write about how I have witnessed like you know in the past and over the years men try to court my aunt in the bodega and she's she's having none of it. Oh she's having none of it and she lies and she says she has a boyfriend which is a funny lie because that that lie usually works in your 20s and in college but you could you could do that well into your 70s because she's in her early 70s. Oh there's your character there's your character you can embody that character in face. I had her I had her stand up at the launch last night she was loving the the limelight. Hey Joe I think I think Amadis would be a great candidate for the Commodore for Salud and Happy Day absolutely. I mean I could see that happening absolutely. In a minute yeah. So what what was the initial genesis of you writing this book and how long have how did that come about how long have you been doing it sort of addressed that a little

41:20bit. Yeah for sure. That process. Yes and then I will say that the bodega stories the book had its origins as a multimedia project bodega stories dot com which I started as a reporter at when I was a reporter at the Braydenton Herald. I started in 2015 when I was working nights this was pre-married pre-kids when I had time like I had time for passion for anything for any time I had time to breathe you know. So I I just would go because I was working nights my shift started at 2 p.m. I would go to the bodega some mornings it was very inconsistent but some were very sporadic some mornings and just collect what I could and then I'd upload you know I most of the interviews were in Spanish I translate them to English right these little vignettes ask people permission to take their portrait uploaded on the website promoted on Instagram back before Twitter was assessed pool and it was called Twitter Twitter Facebook all those platforms and it was just a

42:20fun thing for me to do I wasn't making money out of it was a passion project fast forward to 2023 the project has long been on hiatus because life is life thing you know right and I love that we gonna get that on the t-shirt too. Life is life or life be life life. Oh here we go let me write that down. So 2023 I get an email from an acquiring editor at the university press of Florida she ended up being my editor Stephanie Hunter and she had read an article that I had done for points about journalists writing books and for that article I had interviewed the director at the university press of Florida and I guess when the article ran you know it was circulated among staff and Stephanie looked me up found my BoD got stories project and part of her job is to scout for perspective authors across the state of Florida for potential books you know they might have a book in them or book project they've always wanted to do and she helps facilitate that and and get them a contract and all that so we had an informational meeting and I just talked to her ear off like I'm

43:20talking non stop here. We love it. We just hit it off but I needed I felt like I needed a literary agent and I was terrified to sign anything because I didn't understand like contracts so I took about 10 months to think about it and then finally I sent her the book proposal because I had thought about it more and I realized you know what this is going to be the one book I do without a literary agent I'm doing it you know you got to ask about your why and my why was I wanted to write this book now before my parents retire while I still have the access while I still have the time and before life gets even more complicated because my kids are in soccer and all that stuff before life continues life continues life things so I mean less than a week later the proposal was accepted they offered me an advanced contract I went under negotiations it took several weeks I you know I fought for more author copies I'm like can you guys give me up to 25 because I knew there was going to be a lot of interviews for this book and I wanted to be able to try to offer a copy to each

44:26person in the book and it'd be nice if it wasn't coming out of my pocket too you know of course and so it went it worked out she had asked me how long do you think you need to write the book and I said can I have a year because I you know I had a full-time job I have kids I have a dog named Brooklyn by the way it was a lot and then she said a year sounds great and during that year I said this at Tom below yesterday I started regretting that I was like I should ask for a year and a half because I was stressed out of my mind writing this because I was writing a whole book and I had to fit it in the crevices of time around my job around my family obligation it was incredibly stressful time of my life but and I had that deadline on my neck I was like March it was like you're beautiful you're beautiful yeah yeah so yeah so and then I will say and I include my my the book contains threats from my mom because she threatened me throughout the process she saw how

45:27stressed I was and she was like I'm saying Spanish and I'll translate it she was like meera she said after this little book don't get into any more books she doesn't want me to write she doesn't want me to write any more books after this she was she saw how stressed I was I mean it's writing a book while maintaining a full-time job it is it's very stressful it's a lot you know just worrying about this thing that you know is going to live beyond you and it's going to be in people's homes and you're going to have to let it go and you you only have so much control you have control of the project while it's still in the manuscript it's kind of birthing another child yes I oh yeah this is my third child it's my third book but it's my no doubt about it Joey we've got a caller let's go ahead and honor the caller who's been waiting for a couple of minutes and again I have no information on the caller but caller if you're there and I don't believe the caller is maybe she's getting qualified now I'm gonna try one more time not ready to go not not cooked completely yeah I like the fact that you have persisted again

46:31perseverance is obviously one of your strong suits and wherever you go you know no we can listen Joe and I are in paths we yeah we sense things but and and so this is going to be wildly successful we predict I predict because it resonates with a certain segment of Florida life well let me say for the community community yeah yeah I'm gonna respond let me say for the community that's listening is if you go in and look online she is already getting rave reviews on this book so it's very impressive I will say that um so for several years now I've been the lead book reviewer for the Dominican Riders Association their literary arts organization based out of NYC they do amazing work uplifting Dominican authors Dominican American authors like myself and then I'm also a volunteer contributor to Latinx and publishing they have a blog and I've probably interviewed up I probably covered up or no up to maybe a hundred titles from Latinx

47:31authors not just Dominicans Puerto Ricans Colombians um and uh just like trying to cover their books whether it's an author interview or short review because um I think Latino still make a very small percentage of like authors published in the US by the US publishing industry so it's my way of like contributing to like let's uplift each other's books so now to be in in the position where I have a book I've received all that support and love from authors that I have helped cover in the past and um I was able to you know with the help of my publisher we got six um very kinds and very generous blurbs from authors that I'm so grateful for and some of my favorite authors like Angie Cruz who is like for me one of the goats in the Dominican American um can in of literature she grew up in Washington Heights um and um it's Claire Jimenez who has she's Puerto Rican and she has roots in Brooklyn as well Amina Gautier and Abel Tomatek who wrote that super buzzy memoir for the mango tree

48:34which was a really buzzy a few years ago it's like the mango tree and it was about like the jumping off point of her memoir was about the one time her mom I think was with a BB she had like she like had shot at someone who was trying to steal her mangoes but like it's it's fine but yeah it was like it was yeah so um but you know it's about identity and um I'm rambling now but you know I will say that the blurbs that I received from authors the advanced praise I'm so grateful for because yeah because they and inspiring yes and inspiring because we're asking them to read the book in advance um and Annabelle and another author Erica Modigio they were my peer reviewers because because it's with the university press I had to go through this rigorous peer review process so that um the two authors they were anonymous at first they read the whole manuscript and then they provided critical feedback what they liked about it what they feel could what they felt could

49:35be improved and the major point they had was we want to know more about the author which was something that I was very resistant in the beginning I didn't I wanted it to be about you know the hint they the people and then I realized I can't write about I can't write a book about my parents is well they got without explaining my relationship to it that it hasn't always been fun you know there have been times where I felt like I have to defend my parents's honor because I remember one time this guy tried to this this older man tried to trick me and like he was making things really confusing with money and trying to ask for change and I was like I felt like my spidey senses were up and I was like I I raised my voice he was at the he was a first in line at the register I raised my voice in front everybody there was a goal and there was a line and everything and I said I see what you're trying to do and it's not going to work with me and my parents weren't there and I felt like I had to speak up because what he was trying to do was get more money out of the register from by come shifting me yeah shifting and another time I accepted and I felt so bad about

50:36this I accepted counterfeit yeah a $20 bill and my dad you know he was very like he didn't he wasn't angry with me I think he was more upset that someone did that and that probably that I fell for it and he he put it on the on the side of a shelf he like taped it I think as a warning to everybody else know as the warning and then also if that person came back they would see that counterfeit bill that like like you might have to you know you might have tricked my daughter but you're not going to get me you know so it's a lot of situations that you find yourself in the store of course so so once again due to full is the word I strongly because that we're taking away from today's conversation scene so and it is true that fiercely responsible to fiercely well we like in our culture is branding it's a word that I find initially used to find offensive but people who write books are like painters artists let's say you think I'll just create Martin put it out there and people either like it or they won't know

51:38they want to know all about you they want to know who you are and and you know what is happening in your life and it's a weird thing because some artists are people that want to be private they don't they don't feel comfortable with that yeah you know they would they would I would have been an actor instead of a painter if that's what you want me to do right so Joey I have I have something that is interesting to me and I want to get it in there before we we leave and that is just and that is to say you know you're obviously have you're bouncing on the springboard now being being being and you're about to do the two and a half gainer in the perfect entry into the water what's next what's what's around the next corner for you because this has got to be something obviously you just launched so we're going to ride this wave all the way you debut yesterday yesterday yes Joey how fortunate are we are we getting the story yes it's hot off the presses y'all literally literally I am so I just feel like I'm gonna it still doesn't feel real I'm in I'm in a dream like like state and I feel like I work so hard on this book I obsessed over this book

52:45even through all the the revision stages and so it just feels so good to have it out and it's it's now I have I mean I have a bunch of uh tour dates I even have a tour plans in New York City at the end of this month I'm going there for a week and I have four stops I have one in the Bronx one in Manhattan one in Brooklyn and one in Queens so do you need two bellies to carry your bags because Joey and I you know we can't how about can we fit you in a Malayita let's go you know I get real small and I and I will say that I also have a bunch of virtual events and I considered this interview one of them so that people who you know mean if they're interested in like protecting Boe de Gas and their legacy and maybe they're not part of our area but they can still tune in um you know just one of the virtual talks that I'm gonna have including an Instagram live later today with the Philly journalist who's also Domini Ghana that's at 630 we're gonna raffle off one copy of the book and you can watch the Instagram live if you follow me at a

53:47Marist writer it's all one word great so I'm excited about that but yeah it's been great and I'm so appreciative of you both for inviting well or Joey great fine Joey great fine yeah absolutely or Sean cannot right Sean Sean just sponsored Sean and also I'd like to just say that our audio file is available for folks it will be shortly and it will be there forever so people can access the audio portion of this show in the future Joey take us home come on we got about 45 so we have thank him I just want to say thank you so much to Ameris Kathiel and also Jay quickly on the board helping us out go on Jay give yourself some applause give yourself some applause Jay there is Jay also for Gabrielle on the phone who had to do some real work today she did and coming up next I believe it is Sally it's the music Wednesday filling in for Sam I am and you ladies and gentlemen have been listening to the conversation our dear guests today was Amari's Kathiel thank you Amari's

54:51we'll do it again this is WMNF Tampa