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Collected Item: “Angelina M. Lopez Oral History, 2022/10/13”

Title

Angelina M. Lopez

Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.

Kit Heintzman

Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.

Angelina M. Lopez

Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.

kheintzman@gmail.com

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#anxiety, #author, #Catholic, #COVID+, #dog, #family, #food, #genX, #Houston, #introvert, #Latinx, #MexicanAmerican, #motherhood, #moving, #privilege, #race, #racism, #reading, #romance, #Texas, #vaccination

What is the format of your recording?

Video

In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.

Houston, Texas

What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*

She/her

What is the age of the interviewee?

45 to 54

How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*

Houston, Texas

Describe the oral history.

Some of the things we discussed include:
Working as a romance author and centering strong Latinx women in fiction.
The impact of the pandemic on the careers of new authors; reviews not reflecting sales.
The difference between connecting with readers in person and online.
Gen X generational norms; learning that no one in authority is coming to save us.
The 2016 election and being a target of Trump’s racism; having family members who support Trump; having kind Trump-supporters in one’s community.
Watching others try to figure out how to be an ally without centering themselves after the murder of George Floyd.
Moving from Northern Virginia to Houston, Texas in July 2020; selling the family home; getting to know one’s neighbors mid-COVID.
Easier access to COVID vaccination with good healthcare in Texas; living in a state with low-vaccine demand.
Living with husband and adult son during the pandemic; a house full of introverts; another extroverted, younger son in college moving home shortly.
Son with social anxiety disorder; masks helping to manage anxiety; university mental health support.
Seeing friends struggle with depression and couples going through divorce.
Telehealth enabling continuity of mental healthcare despite moves.
The politicization of the virus.
Catching COVID; son catching COVID.
16-year-old dog (name?) loving having the family home all the time.
Coping with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Safety, control, and predictability.
The 2022 Texas election.

Other cultural references: Houston Methodist Clinic, CVS, Rice University, Gatorade, Twitter, Keeping Up With The Joneses, Beto O’Rourke, the Kansas vote on abortion (August 2022), Weight Watchers, the TV show Supernatural

See also:
http://www.angelinamlopez.com/
https://frolic.media/pandemic-babies-8-romance-authors-discuss-their-hard-fought-for-heas-written-during-a-pandemic-by-angelina-m-lopez/

On what date did you record this oral history?

2022-10-13T14:36
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