At the most recent Living Writers event in the Love Library, I was able to listen to María Dolores Águila, a San Diego native, tell her story. She has published three books so far in children’ s literature and middle grade. During this event, she gave a back story to why she wrote her keynote novel, A Sea of Lemon Trees, and how it was centered on the Lemon Grove incident in San Diego. This was when a local school board tried to send Mexican students to a separate school in the 1930s. While this incident occurred almost 100 years ago, tensions still remain today in everyday life, especially with the rise in ICE arrests and deportations. While this issue has always been something society needs to fix, it has been increasingly relevant to address. In her novel in verse, Águila shares the life of Mexican American children who face the reality of segregation first-hand.

Águila gives some of her own story about how she was raised in a Mexican household with two parents who never went to college. They wanted Águila to have an education, to graduate high school and to find a job, but Águila struggled. As a child, she was passionate about writing, so much so that after reading The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, she copied every book by Cisneros from the library by hand. Her family didn’t have enough money to buy the books, so she rewrote them for herself. However, writing her own story was enough of a challenge, especially without a mentor to guide her. Soon enough she gave up her passion for writing, only for it to be reawakened after having children and graduating college with an Associates degree.

She wanted her children to follow their passions, but she recognized that, in order for them to feel encouraged to do so, she had to follow her own. Therefore, she picked up writing again, finding a community through online platforms like Twitter. There, she received feedback from other writers, attended critiques, and also found classes for workshopping. However, publishing was another obstacle to tackle. In 5 years, she received more than 60 rejections on her first book. Águila did not give up, and eventually got an agent who helped her to publish. She explains that, even after writing and publishing your first book, starting the process over again is not any easier. Each time is a new start, which makes you constantly have to learn processes for writing a story. 

I found Águila’s story really moving since I am an aspiring author myself. Sometimes, I have days when I am filled with creativity. Other days, I have nothing to write at all. During this event, Águila provided answers to overcoming such issues as a writer. Oftentimes, writers set themselves with long term goals rather than short term goals. As a solution, Águila suggests writers should set up a system of writing that works for them, where they at least write one thing each day. Whether it be a word, sentence, or chapter, writing is the only way to truly progress.