To my Fiery Muse: Ole!

Hello, Kids, and All Readers,

As I write this, I’m finishing a bowl of my neighbor’s delicious vegetarian pozole rojo, garnished with avocado and crispy corn tortilla strips, while listening to Andres Segovia play Joaquin Rodrigo‘s Concierto de Arnajuez. It’s arguably the most famous guitar concerto ever composed. For me, the piece is a gorgeous Spanish landscape, evoking Moorish images and Flamenco rhythms.

This isn’t the first Spanish classical guitar music I’ve heard lately. In fact, I’ve been vibing to all things Latin, like the paintings of  Goya and Velazquez, Francisco Tarrega’s and Angel Romero‘s virtuoso guitar music, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (can’t get enough of  “The Lonely Bull”), Ernesto Lecuona‘s peppery piano piece Malaguena, movies with pianist Jose Iturbi (Holiday in Mexico), Antonio Banderas (The Mask of Zorro), Ricardo Montalban (Latin Lovers), and TV with Henry Darrow as Manolito Montoya in The High Chaparral.

Not to omit literature, I’ve read Johnston McCulley‘s Zorro adventures. A friend has recommended Isabel Allende‘s Zorro for a tidy culmination. And where is my college copy of Miguel de Cervantes‘s Don Quixote?

Throughout this artistic Latin immersion, I’ve been appreciating how our Latino immigrants have enriched my life, not the least of which is via their hard work and fabulous Mexican food. Both prevail here in San Diego, California! Do I smell chips and salsa??? Is that a mariachi band playing in Old Town’s Casa de Reyes Restaurante? Ole!

This Muse, the wonderful artistic and culinary celebrations, took hold shortly after I started writing my Book 8, Bougainvillea Street: Stolen Tiara, set to launch in late September 2026. The historical aspect harks to the early Californio days (1769 – 1848) when Spain and later, Mexico, owned the land that I and nearly forty million other people of diverse ethnicities call home.

But my Muse also struck before I started writing! So, at this point, halfway through writing the book, I think it is fair to say that the book and the artistic celebrations are now equally inspiring each other. That’s the beauty of my Fiery Muse. Ole!

So, get a clue, readers. What inspires you to create? Does your Muse take over your life as mine has? Where has your Muse led you? For me, it’s a delightful journey. And I sense that Bad Bunny is next on my Spotify playlist. Ole!

(Image Credits: Portrait of Dona Isabel Cobos de Porcel (c. 1805) by Francisco de Goya; Mexican food plate. Both from commons.wikimedia.org; in the public domain. Classical guitar photo by Vladimir Petrovic on pexels.com)