Today we’d like to introduce you to Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera
Hi Tisha Marie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started writing fiction because my Chicana Studies professor suggested it. She connected me to Wings/Alas – the Latina Writers’ Workshop way back in 1995 where I took “Confessions of an Evening Novelist” with Terri De la Peña who remains an influential force in my writing life. From there I sought out other workshops, usually led by women writers of color. My first published story emerged from Flight of the Mind workshop where I first met Helena Maria Viramontes who also continues to influence my writing. Most recently through the Macondo Writers Workshop which I have attended four times, including this year, and plan to continue attending until they get sick of me. My writing has always flourished in community. From my low-res MFA at Antioch to the PhD program at USC; in between and all along supported by the most amazing group of humans in Women Who Submit, an organization that encourages women and non-binary writers to send their work out for publication, apply to fellowships and residencies. Check us out online if you’re curious. My journey is also possible because I have family and friends who encourage me constantly. They ask for the next story, the sequel to my novel, always cheering for my successes and comforting me in time of rejection.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The most prominent struggle — and I know I’m not alone in this — has been time. I taught high school for almost twenty years so my writing was confined to weekends and breaks. A lot of starts and stops, rewinding and destroying, questioning whether or not I should continue doing this at all. Thanks to the mentors and peers who believe in me, family and friends who share my work, people in my hometown who read and enjoyed my novel, however, I will never give up creating. Doesn’t matter how big the bumps on this road get.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I write so the desert landscape of my childhood can be heard as loudly as the urban chaos of my adulthood. Growing up in the rural Southwest, I cling to those roots on dirt roads and strive to represent my working class experience with the respect it deserves. My published YA novel, BREAKING PATTERN (Inlandia Books), is about a girl who loves horses more than people and competes in junior rodeo events. I’m working through revision of my historical fiction loosely based on my maternal grandmother’s life. What I am especially proud of is my flash fiction, specifically the collective voice chapbook that has been published by Bottlecap Press. It captures the variety of adventures my cousins and I had or wish we’d had growing up. I chose Los Angeles as my home when I came here for college at 17. The rhythms and conflicts of this city are featured prominently in my work too. Most recently in my play BLIND THRUST FAULT that was part of the CTG Writers’ Workshop Festival at the Kirk Douglas Theater in 2022. My college novel which reflects the socioeconomic and racial turmoil of Los Angeles in the early nineties is on submission. In all my work, my goal is to reflect the reality of girls and women whose stories might not otherwise be told.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
https://womenwhosubmitlit.org/
This organization has been an invaluable resource throughout my creative life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tishareichle.com/
- Instagram: @writertish
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tisha.reichle
- Twitter: @msreichle
Image Credits
@cameraRAWphotography
