Back to the beginning by Heloisa Prieto

Back to the beginning
Heloisa Prieto

Snow is silent.
I was so used to the strong sounds of large tropical raindrops that I was caught by surprise when I first noticed the silent, snowflakes spreading around the family car. The year was 1971, I was 16 years old and had just arrived in Constantine, Michigan, for my freshman semester in High School.

During my stay at my beloved Morgan family, a new horizon seemed to unfold. Indoors life. The coziness of a lovely home during winter time, attending classes, making friends, all about the new routine called for an entirely new mind set. When I first started dreaming in English, I realized my inner landscapes now included other levels of perception.

I was already an avid reader of classical novels, but I had not yet been introduced to contemporary poetry. Nature as captured by the sensibilities of poets such as Robert Frost’s and Emily Dickinson’s, resonated with my love for trees, birds, mountains, rivers, and, most of all, the woods.

In Brazil, I had spent most of my childhood outdoors. My mother had suffered the loss of my grandmother early in life and she was sent to a strict, religious boarding school. When she married my father, who was a great admirer of indigenous traditions, she became a believer of freedom in childhood. We had a house in São Paulo, Latin America’s largest city, but spent long periods of time at my grandfather’s farm. Both my parents gave my sister and I space to experiment. Our early years were quite unusual, in the sense that we did not have a regular “nanny”, but Zelão, a cowboy, who taught us how to ride, go trekking and climb trees. Not to mention the story telling. Magical realism surrounded us and my mother was at her best telling us the most frightening tales one could dream of.

“Jim from the jungle”, “Tarzan”, “Indiana Jones” were some of the nicknames attributed to my father. He was a civil servant and none of his colleagues understood his ecological way of thinking. My mother, on the other hand, just laughed at them. She was the one who thought I could have a great time studying in the US.

In Michigan, I loved the landscape, clear skies, and the huge strawberry, or corn fields. I felt as if I belonged to two different countries and my secret plan was to keep on traveling from one to the other.

My awareness of different voices increased, mostly due to the literary challenges I had to meet during our creative writing workshops. How could I bridge my Brazilian experiences to my US storytelling new found skills? Finally, I decided to write a poetic short story about a Brazilian magical bird and its migration. Not only would it be my first attempt at authorship, as well as my first story in English. I was so amazed that the tale was praised both by my teacher and classmates.

Several years have gone by and now, I have already published 92 books in Brazil. Having taken a less traveled road, the path of a writer, as in Frost’s classical verse, I have deeply enjoyed my journey as a fiction and fantasy writer for young children, teens and young adult readers.
In 2018, another life changing moment: I joined The Inkies, an international writing group, based in Ireland. English as a form of literary expression slowly came back to my pen as a way to convey my love for the Guarani indigenous nation’s traditional wisdom.

The narrative places a young, rich and famous, eighteen year old musician struggling with the loss of both his parents. His only companions are inexplicable musical creatures that he can see but others can’t.

His music is his bridge to the world, and his favorite form of connection. Besides playing for crowded houses in sophisticated venues, Thomas enjoys busking from time to time.

A chance meeting with a group of strangers when he is playing on a public square leads to eventual revelation of his magical musical secret – and there are those who wish to steal it from him.

Soon the wealthy Dr. Alonso and his attractive daughter, Dora, trick Thomas into joining a cult from which he may never escape.
When Marlui, a young Guarani shaman, senses the danger surrounding Thomas, she vows to protect him from Dr. Alonso at all costs. Can she rescue him, or will Thomas succumb to the advances of Dora and lose not only his heart but the powers that bring him joy?

I feel deeply grateful to the US award-winning author, Greg Fields, who referred my first magical realism novel to Koeheler books. Back to the beginning.

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Dr. Heloisa Prieto is one of Brazil’s most celebrated children and YA authors. She has sold over two million books in her native country. Her Mano series of YA novels inspired the Time Warner movie The Best Things in the World. She recently published 1,002 Ghosts, and her book Viajantes do Vento was selected for the PNLD Public Book-Purchasing Programme, the biggest of its kind in the world. She has spent a lifetime researching myths and legends-both ancient and modern-and organizing and curating collections of cross-cultural interest. She has created and organized numerous creative writing workshops for children, teenagers, and adults. Heloisa also has a PhD in French literature (University of São Paulo) and a master’s degree in semiotics (Catholic University of São Paulo).

Follow Heloisa on social media:

Facebook: Heloisa Prieto | Twitter: @heloisa_prieto | Instagram: @heloisa.prieto

THE MUSICIAN

Thomas has felt alone most of his life, his only companions the musical creatures that he can see but others can’t. Wealth, talent, charisma, good looks, and fame conceal the eighteen-year-old’s lingering pain following the loss of his parents. His music is his bridge to the world, and his favorite form of connection.

A chance meeting with a group of strangers leads to the eventual revelation of his magical musical secret-and there are those who wish to steal it from him. Soon the wealthy Dr. Alonso and his beguiling daughter, Dora, trick Thomas into joining a cult from which he may never escape.

When Marlui, a young Guarani shaman, senses the danger surrounding Thomas, she vows to protect him from Dr. Alonso at all costs. Can she rescue him, or will Thomas succumb to the advances of Dora and lose not only his heart but the powers that bring him joy?

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