|
 Ann: It is almost like a
dream now, that long drive home from work, lush
Vermont trees rushing by my car on either side like
walls of green velvet—when the thought occurred to
me, What if Lisa, Jane and I had met when we were
teenagers? When I got home, I excitedly called them
both. “Hey amigas, do you want to write a novel
together?” The three characters were born right then,
inspired by our lives but with lives of their own.
Lisa: And I was in a local
bookstore, looking at the latest books for young
women, and saw nothing, absolutely nothing that
featured Latinas in a meaningful, realistic way, and
I wondered how long I’d have to wait to read one. On
the way home on the train, looking over the Chicago
skyline, its neighborhoods, the rooftops of
bungalows and two flats, the hive of people going to
and from work, I let myself daydream, thinking about
what a great city this would be to use as a backdrop
for a novel.
Jane: Though my world had that
year grown very small, Ann and Lisa’s call sparked a
small green circle of hope, growing and growing like
a plantain leaf greeting the day. Taina rose out of
my Puerto Rican history, a shy girl in love with
poetry, dressed in her mother’s clothes. Add to that
wonderful caserola Lisa’s and Ann’s voices circling
like moons around me and it is no wonder Sister
Chicas represents the magic and firepower of our
friendship.
Ann: The whole process was
blessed and magical. We wrote a proposal, creating
the seed of a novel and the blossoms of three
fabulous young women characters, Taina, Graciela and
Leni, and sent it off to a publisher, velas lit,
fingers crossed. We heard back within 10 days and
knew we had hit on something. A chapter for each
girl emerged, and the search for an agent ensued.
Lisa: This blessing was also rooted in the strength
of our individual stories—the life’s blood of Sister
Chicas. Our friendship, our sisterhood was woven
from our differences in growing up as well as our
commonalities. It was enriched, too, by the fact
that we all had different writing skills, based in
different disciplines—poetry, storytelling,
journalism.
 Jane: And it was poetry that
brought us together. I met Lisa first after a study
group—sharing a love for poetry, we became fast
friends. Lisa introduced me to Ann; together we
formed a gorgeous poem of memories, remembering,
telling stories about the people in our past,
tragedy mingled with humor. It was this dynamic that
spurred us forward, moved us to share chapters the
way high school girls share clothes.
Ann: And as we move forward, I
love seeing the surprise on people’s faces when I
tell them of this unique collaboration, the fact
that we were never in the same room (or the same
state!) for the duration of the project, and that
our voices and lives melded so beautifully together.
Lisa: We mention the word “dream” in this piece.
Working together on Sister Chicas has taught me how
to live the dream, to breathe life into an idea, how
to nurture it and ourselves in the process. How
speaking our own truths can be woven into the dream,
making it deeper, richer and more real. Having my
own sister chicas, I was able to give birth to this
story with them, able to co-create with them a tale
about friendship that mirrors our own, and is able
to touch anyone who’s found her own “sisters” along
the way.
Jane: My experience with Lisa
and Ann has been more than an artistic collaboration;
though separated by state lines and time zones, we
have morphed into a family, independent women who
understand one another’s voices and appreciate one
another’s stories. In an atmosphere where society is
constantly examining the relationships between men
and women, here is a novel that looks at the
importance of dynamic relationships between women
who are not connected by blood, but sisters just the
same.
|
Chicana poet and artist Lisa Alvarado has been
published internationally. Ann Hagman Cardinal, a
Puerto Rican-Swede, is a freelance writer, humorist,
and marketing director for Union Institute &
University. Puerto Rican poet Jane Alberdeston
Coralin is a member of Cave Canem, and her poetry
has been widely published. |
By Ann Hagman Cardinal, Lisa Alvarado and Jane
Alberdeston Coralin |
