Fact and fiction intersect. I am participating in National Novel Writing Month. Boulevard of Bad Spells and Broken Dreams is set in The Bronx–and in Puerto Rico. The genre is urban fantasy, which adds magic and supernatural elements to modern urban settings. Odd coincidence that I am now awaiting word of deployment on a medical relief mission to the devastated Isla Encantada. Ethnographic research is the fancy term for boots on the ground. And mine are about to get down and dirty.
Here’s what I came up with for a pivotal scene in the novel. It might be cut, or edited, but once again, I’m immersing myself in fact to write fiction.
Humans are very stupid, and we have some very stupid and immoral specimens in power now. You are only one of the leaders with the power to incite others to join with you–each has his or own area to control. This island will rebound, become lush and green and joyful again. Listen, hear the music already? You are una boriqueña, you know what it means to love the ground you walk on, the air you breathe, the calls of el coquí, the kiss of the blue waters and white sands on your skin. It takes more courage to leave than to stay–but you did will fight from afar for La Isla. Las caracoles have spoken, and it will come to pass.
©Carole Ann Moleti, 2017
CAROLE ANN MOLETI 