Today we’d like to introduce you to Fabiana Elisa Martínez.
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 was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From a very young age, I was fascinated by languages. I grew up in a bilingual family, Spanish at home and Galician at my grandparents’ house, but wasn’t conscious of that fact until I was around six years old, I started learning English in kindergarten. I cannot remember a day in which I didn’t try to understand the world through words and eventually literature. I was fortunate to follow my passion in college, I got a degree in Linguistics and World Literature. And then, the first miracle happened because one of my Ancient Greek professors invited me to join a language school she was founding. Who could think that translating Homer and Plato would lead me to become a language teacher for the ex-pats that were coming to a booming economy in Argentina in the 90s? That is how I met my first American friends and started working with them, first at their Spanish teacher and, later, as a friend. I developed my own teaching method, based on all those hours spent in college understanding the difficulties and the immense beauty of Latin and Greek. Unfortunately, the promising Argentinean economy of the 90s turned into a chaotic debacle at the end of 2001. We lost two-thirds of all our savings and couldn’t take the rest from the banks. The remaining of our money suffered the impact of a deep devaluation over the beginning of 2002.
At that point, my whole family, parents, brother, and grandparents, decided to move to Spain. I could have done the same, I had all my papers to move to Europe without a problem. Nevertheless, I was in love with the American way of thinking, I felt as an American in my heart. So, thanks to the immense generosity of one of my former students who had lived in Argentina and had mastered my language, I came to Dallas. My friend, Joshua Hochschuler, offered me the legal and living advice I needed to come to America and to bring my language company. But he was busy too (that is another big story, but if you ever try Talenti Gelato, you should check how he created that!) and I started my life in Dallas with three suitcases, a desktop computer, and a company on paper that had to produce income immediately. When people express doubts about the American dream, I become very adamant: I am a speck of the American dream and an example of the opportunities America has to offer to all its immigrants.
After some months of hard work and fear and solitude, I found myself surrounded by loving students and friends. And a little after that I met my favorite friend who two years later became my boyfriend and eventually my dear, generous, amazing Texan husband!
My language company, Talk-Active LLC, started growing. We presently offer language classes but also quality translation work for companies and many core institutions in Dallas and the country. We are very proud of having helped many museums and art venues to offer bilingual materials to their visitors, from the DMA to the Holocaust Museum. At this moment, the epitome of my professional life as an interpreter has been assisting President George W. Bush and Laura Bush during the first years of the Bush Center. I became the interpreter of the man who was the President when I arrived in Dallas with my three suitcases, no money, and a dream. This is why I love this country and every person who helped me get to where I am.
But my language company was not my only goal. As I mentioned, literature had always been my other love. In 2014, invited by a friend who believed in me more than I did, I accepted to join a virtual writing group, I wasn’t sure that I could write fiction in English, or at least quality fiction. Reading is easier. I can read in five languages, and always try not to read two books in the same language consecutively, But I tried, and every month I wrote a short story based on a random word the organizer of the group sent.
Magically, some of those stories became a book, my first book, called 12 Random Words. It was published in 2016 and it has been one of the best experiences in my life. Because from the fiction of those stories came an immense number of really beautiful events that enriched my life even more. The book won nine awards, and two of its stories were read at the Dallas Museum of Art by actress Constance Parry at an Arts and Letters Live Event recognizing Texan writers. Not only my words, forged at home in silence with my cat on my chair, were now in the voice of a talented actress, but I was also considered a Texan writer! Something like this doesn’t happen easily in any other country in the world.
I kept writing since then. 12 Random Words has three bilingual versions, English/Spanish, English/French, and English/Portuguese. Other new short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies and were featured in literary podcasts. I can say that I have been published in five continents so far.
When I am not writing or teaching or translating, I am either reading, doing crosswords in many languages, or adoring my two cats Hypatia and Papageno. I love to travel also. My literature, that fiction created in silence, has taken me to many beautiful places in the world and made me meet more amazing people (and cats!).
I will tell you a little secret: I still keep an old pair of shoes that I brought to Dallas in 2002. They remind me of how thankful I have to be. It has been a long path and there is still much more to walk. But I could not have done it without the help, the generosity, and the deep love of every single student, client, and friend that I met in this beautiful country, and especially in this amazing city that I deeply love.
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?
I remember my first months in Dallas, not a lot of money (very little by the way), and only one busy friend who did his best. I was eating macaroni and cheese from a box and drinking tap water. I had to buy my very first car in Dallas and drive for the first time in my life because sane people never want to drive in a city like Buenos Aires. I remember having to take every single step of my new life in a second language. Every success was huge, from opening a bank account to renting my first apartment. But I also remember how generous people in Dallas were, how they accepted me with open arms even if I didn’t have the best clothes or the best car. People here care about what you can offer, how hard you can work, and how committed you are. Once they trust you, once you prove to them that you mean what you say and you say what you mean, Texans are the most generous people on this planet. I was concerned in the beginning about having an accent, about not speaking English absolutely perfectly. Then I realized, it is not about how well you speak the language, it is about how much you want to take responsibility and help society to become better. This is the beauty of America; you do your best and you are in.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Well, I think I replied to that in my long first answer.
My book 12 Random Words and the many publications I had since then. You can check all that in my website, www.12randomwords.com
I am proud of that little book, of having been able to gather such an amazing group of people who helped me in my path to being published (Erin Cluley, Quin Mathews, Rob Wilson).
I am proud of the podcast I created in 2011 with two of my favorite students, it has reached thousands of people all over the world: www.spanish360withfabiana.com
Professionally, I am immensely proud of having worked with President George W. Bush.
What do you think about luck?
I am not sure if I believe in good luck. At least I know I don’t believe in good luck by itself. Opportunity is the face of good luck, but you need to seduce her so she stays. Work and force of will are in my box of chocolates for the very fleeting soul of Lady Opportunity.
I know people much more intelligent and luckier than I am who lack some drive, some magical motivation, people who could be the best in what they do, but they just aren’t.
I think determination and hardheadedness are key. That miraculous goal is preceded by a path of stones that we all need to walk over, each stone an obstacle or an opportunity, depending on the angle you look at it. I am a recalcitrant optimist; do you remember Joy in the movie Inside Out? I am like her. Even the most unlucky situations in my life turned into seeds for creation and learning. My deepest sorrows and losses are secretly scattered in the pages of my book. Pearls come from a speck of mud, beautiful experiences in life might too.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@12randomwords.com
- Website: www.12randomwords.com and www.spanish360withfabiana.com
- Instagram: @Fabielisam and @12randomwords
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/12randomwords
- Twitter: @FabielisaAuthor
- Other: https://smile.amazon.com/Fabiana-Elisa-Martinez/e/B01CFIDPDS/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
Image Credits
Kris Hundt
Tim Holm
12 Random Words
