I promised my grandmother I would always celebrate my mother’s real birthday. Like many Mexicans, my mother’s real birthdate is different from her registered/legal birthdate. She was born at home and it took a while to register her birth at the local municipal court, so she celebrates two birthdays.
In honor of my mom, Ernestina Aguirre, I made this video and finally, after almost 20 years, recorded the song I wrote for her.
Te quiero mucho, Ma.
It was amazing!!!!
It’s been over a month since it happened, March 7-10. All the volunteers made it so successful. It is a beautiful festival that stands up to any festival around the country. The featured tellers, upcoming tellers, workshops, and telling opportunities for the emergent and professional are genuinely worth the trip and money.
I was blessed to have my son, Jesus, join me in volunteering again. He even took a picture with one of his favorite tellers, Donald Davis, a storytelling legend. I got to listen to the awesome Nestor Gomez from Xicago as well! Fran Stallings eloquently told her tales mired in eco-wisdom, and Kathy Culmer’s sense of humor, wit, and consciousness revealed in her inspirational performances. All were amazing, and I am a better teller for engulfing myself in their stories.
I hope that at some point in your life you have the opportunity to attend this festival. You will love it! Like me, you might even get the opportunity to take a selfie with the festival ambassador!
@ Thomas Branigan Memorial Library in Las Cruces on Saturday, October 21 @ 11AM!
Last weekend my son, Jesús, and I volunteered to work concessions at the Tejas Storytelling Festival. Jesús volunteered even more than was expected and the TSA Board truly appreciated his help. In all honesty, it wasn’t too hard a task due to being entertained by international tellers.
This is the first festival since Covid and we had a wonderful turnout. It was a great success!
If you have never attended a storytelling festival, I highly recommend The City of Denton Tejas Storytelling Festival!
¡Feliz Día del Niño!
In honor of all those kiddos that brighten our days, here is a story to share! #día del Niño
As a self-published author, one of my goals is to become a traditionally published author. To achieve those means, I send my manuscripts to agents and editors at publishers and to contests. Once you submit a manuscript, you get a response after six to twelve weeks if they are interested. No response = REJECTION.
In December 2020, I submitted a short story for consideration into an anthology. Since I hadn’t heard back in over a year, I assumed it was another rejection. To my surprise, this past weekend, I got this email:
“Dear Sandra,
We have great news for you. The story, Dancing with the Devil, that you submitted to the anthology THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA, edited by SCBWI and to be published by Henry Holt, has been accepted. Congratulations! There were many hundreds of submissions, and yours was one of the fifty to be selected.”
Perseverance Pays off!
The 37th Texas Storytelling Festival will be virtual again. It is set for March 10-13, 2022. For more detailed information follow the link:
The National Storytelling Festival takes place this weekend beginning October 1, 2021! It’s virtual, again.
If you decide to be thoroughly entertained, here are three tips for getting the most out of this virtual venue:
Tip #1: Look at the schedule ahead of time! There are so many amazing and renowned tellers performing, you really need to organize your schedule so you don’t miss out.
Tip #2: Invite family and friends over. Introduce them to a new form of entertainment if they’ve never seen or heard of storytelling as performance art.
Tip #3: Learn from watching these professional storytellers! Everyone uses storytelling in business, education, etc., so you might just learn to make your work relatable to others.
If you want to keep up with me and my storytelling ventures, subscribe to this blog… I promise not to blogbard you!
