When I was a small girl, I would sneak out of bed, tiptoe across the darkened house and, standing by a shuttered window that overlooked the patio, listen to the adults’ conversations. 

Sometimes, they were discussing news in the Tangier expat community, or it was the Spanish soccer league. Or it was gossip and a couple had been spotted loitering suspiciously near the Caves of Hercules, a place no one stuck around unless they were looking for mischief. 

Those nights planted a love for stories in me, especially when my grandmother and our elderly neighbor, Don José, would go mano a mano in an impromptu marathon of urban tales, legends, and versions of old ballads. I collected those stories, wondered about them, connected them to a particular setting. Those Caves of Hercules, for instance, had a long history. They were named after Hercules, the ancient Greek hero who slept in them after splitting the montain range that used to join Europe and Africa, thus creating the strait of Gibraltar. 

As I learned stories, however, I grew to love words and languages (see the Bio page).  The need to tell stories followed and that was before I went to elementary school. Reading has been a life-long habit for me (see Irresistible Books). My favorites are historical fiction and that also started early. 

By the time I turned fourteen, I knew I wanted to write. That summer, I scribbled a terrible, horrible, no good novel about a Roman tribune who went on a journey around the Mediterranean. Mind you, I researched it for two weeks. 

Since then, I’ve learned a thing or two about conducting research (click on the History and the Novel: A Manifesto. Yes, a manifesto. I may have been born in Africa but I’m a Spaniard, meaning LOTS of opinions). Finally, check The Fight with Duende for an inspiration theory that explains every type art. Teaser: Forget the boring Muse.   

I’m most active on Twitter, or whatever the name is. If you would like to get in touch, please click on Drop me a Line. 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Adelaida