So many of us have been there.

We hear our family stories and think that should be a book.

Most of us stopped there, but Joanna Rojas van kept going.

She took her mother's story of immigrating from Colombia

to the United States, moved the truth into fiction, found an agent, and sold her first novel,

an American immigrant. Before, she was a published author, Joanna and I worked together at Fusion,

the ABC Univision cable channel based in Miami. So I wanted to talk with her both because I am

so proud to watch her soar, and because

in a time when platform often trumps actual talent, Joanna's success is a reminder that there

is a path for those with grit and faith who are willing to do the work. Joanna. Hi. Hi. Oh my. The second I hear your voice, I am transported back in time.

Joanna, I want to start with you growing up in suburban Maryland. There

were not a whole lot of other Latinos around you. And so I wonder how that changed your points

of inquiry around your story, your acceptance of what it meant to be American, how living in a

predominantly white suburb shaped your sense of

identity? I think it shaped so much of me. And there were some Hispanic people where I lived,

because where I lived in suburban Maryland was where the poor people lived. We lived in an apartment

complex. But we were just on the precipice of the high school that was for the wealthy people,

right? So my high school was predominantly white and a lot of my friends were white. And so that did

shape a lot of who I am because my home life looked so different from the home life of my

friends. And I knew that and I saw it very clearly and it was an insecurity that I lived

with. How? Tell me. Paint me a picture. Yeah. I mean, I just remember visiting the homes of my friends

and being like, what is it like to have this much space? Like you can go to a corner of your home and be alone and not have to hear people

...