@acupofjo_hanny Chapter 10: Growth and a whole lot of feelings Just hit chapter 10 and input my edits for The Ordinary Bruja and… The finish line is in sight. I’ve officially scheduled my line editor to begin in June, which means I have two weeks to wrap this face and pass the baton. She’ll take about 45 days to work her magic and then this baby is one step closer to being yours. What’s wild is how much this book has evolved not just on the page, but in me. When I wrote Mrs. Franchy’s Evil Ring, I stood firm on not italicizing or translating Spanish/Spanglish. That story was my rebellion. My love letter to how I speak, how I was raised, and who I am. But The Ordinary Bruja is different. I’m different. And I’m riding with a bigger heart now. Being part of the Latin Diaspora has taught me that my stories don’t live in the vacuum. They’re not just for people who look, feel, or talk just like me. They’re also for the ones who were robbed of their mother tongue. For the ones who’ve had to relearn. For the ones who want to connect, even if they’re Spanish isn’t perfect or even present. And for the readers outside of our community, who finally ready to listen and learn. So no, this book won’t be a glossary. But yes, it will be a bridge. A soft landing. A chance to empathize, to honor, and to celebrate what it means to carry culture in every sentence even the one someone might need help understanding. Vente. We’re almost there. And I’m proud of every freaking step! ##TheOrdinaryBruja##LatineReads##latineauthors##spanglishlit##writingprocess##wipupdate##booktok##latinaauthors##writersoftiktok##ownvoices##accessiblestories##empathythroughfiction##haveacupofjohanny##chapter10checkin##lineeditprep##diasporalit ♬ original sound – Have a Cup of Johanny

As I worked on The Ordinary Bruja, something unexpected happened—I found myself rethinking the way I use Spanish in my stories.

If you’ve read Mrs. Franchy’s Evil Ring, you might’ve noticed that I didn’t include translations. It wasn’t out of neglect, but because that story felt different. It was a middle-grade book told through a very specific lens. I was adamant to not turn Spanish as an other/foreign object in my book because to me and other’s who straddle two cultures, it is not. But The Ordinary Bruja? That one hits much closer to home, especially when it comes to language, identity, and how we choose to remember or forget where we come from.

And that brings me to a deeply personal moment I shared in this TikTok video—a moment that shaped how I write today.

Years ago, a counselor told me that teaching my son Spanish might hold him back academically. As a single mom, already worried about doing enough, I listened. I stopped. I regret that. Because now I see how that moment was part of a larger pattern—a pressure many in the Latine diaspora have faced. The pressure to assimilate, to blend in, to shed parts of ourselves in exchange for perceived success or acceptance.

But we lose something when we do that.

In writing The Ordinary Bruja, I realized I wasn’t just writing a spooky, magical story about uncovering ancestral secrets—I was reckoning with my own. So this time, I’m making a conscious effort to translate Spanish organically. Not with footnotes or glossaries. Not with clunky explanations. But with rhythm. With flow. With context. Because I want every reader—whether they speak Spanish fluently or know only a few words—to feel invited in, not shut out.

This choice is about healing. It’s about honoring all the parts of my voice—Dominican, English-speaking, brujita, mother—and making sure no one gets left behind. Not in my stories. Not in my community.

So yeah, this manuscript is different. It’s messier, bolder, more layered. It’s me, learning and unlearning on the page.

And I hope when you read it, you feel that too.