Justin-Johnson Cortez, my movie-star casting for my hero Nicky Mendoza in Full Moon Over Freedom
When I sat down to write my second book in the Milagro Street series, a series about multi-generational Mexican-Americans in small-town Kansas, I did it with the intention of making my hero Mexican-American.
This was no small thing. As of yet, I hadn’t written a Mexican-American hero. Outside of the books of my hard-working Latinx romance author friends, Latino heroes are missing. In the media we engage with, only seven percent of the workers (actors, writers, editors, producers) are Latinx although we make up 19 percent of the American population.
We need brown heroes shown in our media. I’m thrilled that in Full Moon Over Freedom, I finally get to correct my omission.
Nicky Mendoza, my first Mexican-American hero
Nicky Mendoza, my hero in Full Moon Over Freedom, is the bad-boy-turned-successful-artist who’s returned home to Freedom, Kansas for the summer with a secret: He’d been in love with our heroine, divorced mom Gillian Armstead-Bancroft, since the moment he saw her across the lunchroom in the fifth grade. He never told the girl who was his best friend how he felt, not even when she asked him to free her of the burden of her virginity. Now adults, they meet up again in Freedom, both only intending to be there for a summer, and he is determined to help her without ever revealing how he feels about her.
Nicky is a good, good man. I am lucky to know so many good, good brown men to base him off of.
My inspiration
I was the first grandchild of a huge multi-generational Mexican-American family all living in a small town in southeast Kansas, so I was instantly adored, not only by my tías, but by my tíos. They all called me Angie. I moved away young, so when I came back to visit, my Granpo Frank would take me out for waffles, my tíos Daniel and Jesse and Pepe would ask me how I was doing and genuinely listen, and my closest tío, Adam, would always make me feel so seen and interesting. My dad’s cousins, Danny, Robert, and Bobby were fun, sweet guys closer to my age who I always had a crush on. Younger than me, my cousins Casey, Ryan and Ross, and Michael have all turned into amazing men with amazing families.
My dad passed away in 2015 and one thing my brother Roman said at the funeral was my dad’s smile was one you could see across the room. That was true. I loved my dad. Everyone loved my dad.
My cousin Favian Hernandez is an incredible artist living in Laramie, Wyoming. His astonishing paper mache animal sculptures, inspired by the piñatas he would make with his mom, are displayed in art galleries. I interviewed Favian about being a Mexican-American artist and, more than anyone else, he inspired the creative ethic of my artist, Nicky Mendoza.
Inspiration from Hollywood
Once I decided on the heart of my Mexican-American hero, I needed a real-world, heartbreaker face to attach to him. My family comes from the indigenous people of Guanajuato, Mexico, and that darker skin, dark hair, and shorter height can still be seen in us. I wanted that for my hero. But searching for a young brown Latino leading man made me realize the lack of them.
Fortunately, I discovered Justin Johnson-Cortez.
Justin is an actor, director, and writer who starred in the groundbreaking western TV show, “Walker: Independence.” When I included him in a social media post, it turned into one of the loveliest moments of my publishing career.
Soon after posting, I got a message from his wife. He’d sent her my post because she’d been, in that moment, reading After Hours on Milagro Street!!!! It was as surprising and satisfying as being recognized in the airport.
Since that moment, Justin, his wife, and I have all become friendly on social media and I’m so grateful to them both for their enthusiasm about using Justin as a positive representation of proud, brown heroes.