Rising Stars: Meet Maritere Bellas of Los Angeles area

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maritere Bellas.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I write the stories that my 50% Greek, 50% Puerto Rican and 100% American children didn’t have access to when they were growing up. Books that highlight language and pay tribute to our beautiful Latino culture, especially my Puerto Rican culture.

I am a Puerto Rican award-winning author, speaker, writer, podcast host and language and culture advocate. For three decades, I have provided education, information, resources and support to families engaging in a multilingual, multicultural lifestyle. I am the creator and co-host of the Mamás 411 Podcast, listened to in 31 countries, and creator and host of the Pa’lante IG Live series.

I am the author of two parenting books, Raising Bilingual Children/Cómo Criar Niños Bilingues (Simon and Schuster,2014) and Arroz con Pollo and Apple Pie:Raising Bicultural Children (self-published, 2016), and three bilingual children’s books, including Luisito’s Island/La Isla de Luisito (ReadConmigo,2018), I Have a Secret/Tengo un Secreto (1010 Publishing, 2020), and the new one released this October, Tío Ricky Doesn’t Speak English/Tío Ricky no habla inglés (Lil’Libros, 2025).

Just named #10 Top 35 Bilingual Influencers 2025 by FeedSpot, my work has appeared in Huffington Post, HipLatina, Siempre Mujer, La Opinión and others. Over the years, I have been featured often on Univision and Telemundo. My expertise has been highlighted by NBCLA, the Beach Reporter, the Tamron Hall Show on ABC, VoyageLA, Feedspot, Telemundo Mujeres Imparables, MiTu, among others.

I have served as speaker for major books festivals, language, and women’s conferences including, The LA Times Festival of Books, The Indie-Pendant Voices hosted by the LA Public Library, the Los Angeles Kids Book Festival, Orange County Children’s Book Festival, Latinx Kid Lit Book Fest, ATDLE, CABE, REFORMA, Mom 2.0 Summit and Las Comadres para Las Americas. I speak regularly for parents’ and teachers’ groups and have been a guest speaker for bilingual and Spanish programs at school districts and universities at the national level including Loyola Marymount University, Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Napa Valley School District, Texas Women University, Baldwin Unified School District in LA and School District U-46, Chicago, among others. Virtually, I have presented for international parents’ groups at Twitter (now X) and Convoy.com.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, I am the mother of two adult children raised with two languages and three cultures. My favorite social media platform is Instagram—and when I am not writing, you’ll find me playing tennis, pickleball or at the gym and enjoying Southern California living with my Greek American husband in a suburb of Los Angeles.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Is it ever a smooth road? Definitely, no! I think I knew in 10th grade that I wanted to be a writer, but I had no idea I would become an author. After getting my masters degree in communications, minor in languages, I wrote a parenting column for La Opinión newspaper for 12 years. It also ran in Chicago for 5 years and by then, I was also writing for national magazines like SER Padres and Healthy Kids en Español. When I was encouraged to write my first parenting book, my mentor, a UCLA professor and trusted friend, suggested I included my bilingual language story in the book. That book ended up being an e-book, published in English and in Spanish, which I was so grateful for, but I soon realized I needed a physical book so I polished a manuscript I had already written about balancing a multicultural home. Right before self-publishing a friend found some mistakes that needed to be corrected. I was so grateful!! I really didn’t know much about the publishing industry but by 2018 when I was asked to write my first bilingual children’s book, I knew I wanted to write the books my children didn’t have when they were growing up and I knew I had to go back to “school” and learn the craft. I spent most of last year taking workshops, working with critique groups, getting to know the online writing community, querying agents and writing. It has been a long journey, at times lonely, but I have met amazing people along the way. And when I signed with my agent three months ago, I knew it had all been worth it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Monica Lozano, former CEO, ImpreMedia, retired, has said, “Maritere pioneered the discussion about parenting issues within the Latino immigrant family years ago when her column first began publishing in La Opinión, and the other ImpreMedia publications. For three decades she has been offering information, resources and support to Latino parents, throughout the US and beyond, engaging in a bilingual, multilingual, multicultural lifestyle.”
From newspaper columns to website blogs to social media posts, to creating a podcast to being a media guest to being a speaker at major book and language conferences and most recently at a mom entrepreneur/influencers summit two years in a row, to becoming a children’s book author and signing with an agent that will champion my stories going forward, I am on a mission to help Latino and non-Latino parents raise children ready to compete in a global society.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mariterewrites.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latinaboomermom/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maritererbellas
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maritere-rodríguez-bellas-b31b995a/
• Twitter: https://x.com/maritererbellas
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrbellas

Image Credits
Fletcher Wold Photography