Ideas for this novel developed slowly during the years my own children experienced high school. Originally, I wanted to write about my positive teaching experience at an all-boys high school in San Antonio. As a young English teacher, I helped coach the speech and debate teams at Holy Cross High School and saw public speaking give the Latino boys practical skills as well as great self-confidence. Going to speech tournaments and winning their events inspired the boys to choose college majors like journalism, public relations, and political science. More recently a Holy Cross education and experiences with speech activities helped my son Nick write and present his ideas at a contest in Washington DC that earned him a college scholarship. However, it was my daughter’s remarkable experience in the first Media Broadcasting class at Providence High School that inspired me to set this novel about speaking to an audience and building self-confidence into a more contemporary context.
My brothers, my sister, and I are the products of single-gender Catholic secondary education, as are my husband and my children. This novel is one way to honor the familial spirit and deeper sense of community that comes from sitting in a classroom with students of your own gender. Honest, open class discussions, developing closer bonds with teachers, and discovering new talents in a smaller school atmosphere has helped many San Antonio students who are educated in Catholic elementary and high schools to become strong scholars and exceptional leaders.
This novel wouldn’t have been finished if my daughter Suzanne didn’t remind me constantly to “trust the process,” the same advice I gave her when she struggled with a college essay. I am blessed by my writing friends, Carla, Kathy, Judy, Katy, and Lupe, valuable readers who offered honest criticism and encouragement. Friends like Mary Lynne, Kathleen, Melissa, Janie, and Marina let me vent when the writing stalled. Younger writers like Amanda King, Melissa Vela-Williamson, Suzanne Bertrand, and Nick Bertrand gave me ideas for revision that helped shape authentic characters. I also thank the student writers in my creative writing courses at St. Mary’s University who suspected the anonymous fiction scenes in the class workshop belonged to their professor but were still brave enough to write down honest feedback.
Finally, I want to give a shout out to Therese Fleming, an exceptional middle school teacher and a wonderful friend. She kept asking me to write another novel to share with “her kids.”
And as always, I am filled with deep love and gratitude when I think of all of my family, as well as the wonderful man who has been my husband, my best friend, and my source of laughter for thirty years. Nick calls me his star; he is my hero.