I’m so excited that we will be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Maritere Rodriguez Bellas, an award-winning author and bilingual parenting mentor and expert.

Me: Welcome Maritere and thank you for taking the time to chat with me about your writing journey. I think it’s great that you write stories that highlight your language and the Latinx culture. I’m a retired Bilingual/ESL teacher, and it always seemed like there weren’t enough books to celebrate the Latinx culture. I can’t wait to hear more about your stories!

So, do you have any special plans for Hispanic Heritage Month? Or are there any activities that you participate in related to this time of year?

Maritere: For me every day is Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month. I usually do book related events and speaking engagements. This year, starting September 18th and for the next seven weeks, I am hosting an IG Live Hispanic Heritage Month Series every week with Latino mom entrepreneurs from different Latin American countries including Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico, México and Venezuela. It is also the 10^th anniversary of my first book, Raising Bilingual Children, published in English and in Spanish by Simon and Schuster in 2014. I am going to do some posts about it during the month and a host a giveaway to celebrate.

Me: Hispanic Heritage Month begins at the end of the summer and takes us into fall. Do you have a favorite season?

Maritere: I grew up in Puerto Rico. I am a spring and summer girl!

Me: How long have you been writing?

Maritere: Since 1995. I started with a weekly column in La Opinión newspaper in LA. Then came Exito Chicago and magazines like Ser Padres (still around today!), Healthy Kids en Español, HipLatina, Siempre Mujer and other online magazines. Until my first parents’ book in 2014.

Me: I really connected with your book I Have a Secret/Tengo un Secreto. It brought back memories from when I taught bilingual kindergarten. What or who inspired you to write this book?

Maritere: I Have a Secret/Tengo un Secreto is a bilingual children’s book for ages 4-8. I wanted to write a story that would highlight language and culture, with my late brother as the main character. To honor him. He grew up in Puerto Rico and was a strong advocate of Spanish.

Me: I think it’s beautiful that the story honors your brother. Tell me a little bit about this book’s journey to publication, were there any bumps and bruises along the way, obstacles you had to overcome, aha-moments? You can share the good, bad, ugly lol, or not.

Maritere: From beginning to end, the book took about three years to get published. It was my second bilingual children’s book, and the idea for the book came to me after talking to parent groups and finding out that when kids are being raised with Spanish and they start school, they don’t want to speak Spanish anymore. It is very common and something that frustrates parents. Children don’t want to feel different or be criticized, judged or shamed by speaking a different language. I wanted to write a story that would foster and instill language pride in children. Yet, the road to publication was not easy. Not having a literary agent, it was hard to find a publisher that would be interested. In 2019, I found an indie publisher that said yes, and now the book is four years-old, and we are celebrating with a hard cover edition!

Me: What is one piece of advice you can give to writers who are just starting out, or who are still in the query trenches?

Maritere: I am still in the query trenches…. It is a long process. One has to smile… and keep smiling, keep the faith.

Me: What are your plans for the future? Writing or otherwise, traveling, hobbies, etc. 

Maritere: My next bilingual children’s book is being released in 2025 by a popular indie publisher.  And I am bound and determined to sign with a literary agent by the end of this year!  That was my goal in late 2023, and why I have been writing like crazy for the last nine months. 

Me: That’s a great goal, I hope you find the perfect literary agent, and they will be happy to have you! I’d love for you to share a recipe with me, I have a collection of recipes from friends and family that goes back many years. I would love to include yours, as well as share it with my readers.

In my book, Arroz con Pollo and Apple Pie: Raising Bicultural Children, I shared my recipe for arroz con pollo.

Maritere’s Arroz con Pollo

2 ½ lbs of chicken, drumsticks, breasts, thighs with skin

2-4 Tbsp of sofrito* (sorry, I eye ball it..)

3 cups of long grain rice (I prefer Uncle Ben’s)

1 Tbsp Spanish alcaparrado* (a mixture of olives, red peppers, capers)

3-4 Tbsp of tomato sauce

5 cups of chicken broth (For fluffier rice, less water)

1 cup of peas

1 4oz can of pimientos morrones, sliced. (soft red peppers)*

1-3 big cooking spoons of olive oil

2 Tbls of Sazón Goya powder Culantro y Achiote*

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken with adobo (a dried rub by Goya found in Latin markets) and wash with juice of 1-2 lemons

In a deep pot (caldero grande, like Le Creuset type) sautée olive oil, chicken and sautée for a few minutes, until brown in both sides. Take chicken out and set aside. Add sofrito and sautée for a few minutes. Add chicken back in and sautée some more. Add rice and blend in. Add tomato sauce, alcaparrado, achiote powder and chicken broth. Move around a bit. Let it boil and don’t touch again until the liquid is dried. Cover and change temp to low for about 20-25 min. If rice and or chicken is not cook then, add a bit of water and cover and cook for another 5 min. Turn off, add peas and pimientos morrones and set aside until time to serve. Serves 4 people.

*Sofrito- a mixture of onions, garlic, green peppers, cilantro leaves: In a blender, crush 1 onion, 1 green pepper, 3-4 garlic pieces, 4 Tbsp cilantro leaves. (Can omit cilantro leaves. Can use culantrillo leaf, if you can find at Latin market) Can be made ahead and frozen and defrosted before using.

* Alcaparrado bottle is found in Latin markets

* Sazón Goya packets found in Latin markets

*Pimientos morrones found in Latin markets

Me: Thanks for taking time out of your very busy schedule. It’s always fun getting to know writing friends! Have fun hosting the IG Live Hispanic Heritage Month Series, I know you’ll enjoy chatting with the Latino mom entrepreneurs. And, the recipe for Arroz con Pollo looks delicioso!

Maritere: You’re very welcome, thanks for letting me be a part of your blog.

You can contact Maritere here:

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