I’m super excited to welcome Amparo Ortiz, author of Blazewrath Games, to The Bookwyrm’s Den today!

I can’t even tell you how many people I had messaging me about this book shortly after it was announced, because I maaaay have a bit of a … reputation, shall we say? I’m trash for books about dragons, okay? I’m just going to own it. Obviously, I was very much looking forward to this book, and now that I’ve read it, I can confirm that it was everything I hoped it would be and then some!

For those of you who don’t know about Blazewrath Games yet, let me introduce you to it a little bit. Pitched as Quidditch meets dragons, it’s basically the perfect book for this blog. Check it out:

How to Train Your Dragon meets Quidditch through the Ages in this debut fantasy, set in an alternate contemporary world, in which dragons and their riders compete in an international sports tournament

Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner—the only player without a dragon steed—is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.

But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire—a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form—the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.

It also happens to be an #OwnVoices book that celebrates not only Puerto Rico and its culture, but also all sorts of diversity, including proud LGBTQ characters. Blazewrath Games releases on October 6, so you’ll be able to grab your own copy soon.

In case that hasn’t convinced you, Amparo Ortiz joins me on the blog today to tell you more about the book in her own words. So many thanks to her for agreeing to this interview!

#1

Sammie: Blazewrath Games is a celebration of Boricuan culture, filled with Spanish phrases and Latinx characters. What’s one thing you hope non-Boricuan readers will learn about your culture or Puerto Rico in particular?

Amparo: My goal wasn’t to teach others about Puerto Rican culture per se, but to help other Puerto Ricans find a story with fantastical elements and a team of athletes from their country. However, if there’s one thing anyone should learn about my culture is that we’re not a monolith. Despite the variety I aimed to portray within the team, I’m nowhere near capturing the entirety of what our country has to offer and who we are! 

#2

Sammie: Speaking of Spanish phrases, as someone who studied Spanish for five years and grew up around it, I loved that you included plenty of the language, plus a character who only speaks Spanish. For a non-Spanish-speaking reader, what one Spanish phrase would you gift them that they should absolutely know if they were going to experience the Blazewrath Games in person?

Amparo: Ooh, I’m quite partial to the team manager’s frequent use of mi gente, actually! It directly translates to my people in English, but we use it in a similar way to the “guys” at the end of a sentence for some English speakers, and it conveys more of a camaraderie/closeness than just saying “guys” or “folks.”

#3

Sammie: As a biracial American, one thing I’ve been passionate about is finding more books with biracial characters in them. So I was excited to meet Lana, who is half-Hispanic, half-white, and worries about whether she’s “enough” of either one. She really struggles with her identity, even though she has fierce Puerto Rican pride. Is there anything in particular that influenced her character creation and, in particular, her struggle as a biracial American who identifies as Boricuan?

Amparo: With Lana, I was mostly curious about exploring a foreigner in her own country. I knew she was Puerto Rican, but I also knew she left to the States and spent most of her life away from her hometown, and I wanted to see if I could write about otherness from the perspective of someone who very much feels like both an Other and part of the community she left behind. What makes her Puerto Rican? Is it her blood? Or is she expected to be more than someone who was born in a country she no longer lives in? How do we police identity from a cultural standpoint and why? Those were some of the questions I wanted to answer!

#4

Sammie: One big theme in the book seems to be hero worship and all the complicated ways that can manifest (including the potential letdown when your heroes aren’t who you think they are). Are there any lessons you hope readers take away from that theme? Have you had any experiences, good or bad, meeting your heroes in real life?

Amparo: I LOVE THIS QUESTION AHHHHHHH. This topic—heroes/personal icons—is such a huge part of fandoms and I wanted to see what it would be like to write it from the perspective of a disillusioned sports fan! I feel like losing someone you admire hurts more when it’s because of what you consider a betrayal. If your hero dies, your love for them remains, but if they become someone you no longer recognize nor support, what does that do to the fan’s perception of them? How can they cope with what is essentially a loss? Through Lana’s admiration for Takeshi Endo, her favorite Blazewrath player, she finds a sense of purpose and belonging. But when he no longer represents what she stands for, things are turned upside down for the worst. *insert broken heart emoji*

I have experienced a similar feeling of disillusionment before, but never at the level that Lana’s dealing with! 

#5

Sammie: You’re a K-pop fan, and book playlists are totally a thing. So if you could choose three K-pop songs to embody the spirit of Blazewrath Games, which three songs would you choose?

Amparo:

Monsta X “Fighter”

BTS “Intro: Persona” 

ATEEZ “Say My Name”

#6

Sammie: On your YouTube, you talk about how you got your literary agent, and you’re very transparent and honest about the ups and downs and how long the process takes. What advice would you give to authors still in the querying trenches who have maybe racked up rejections?

Amparo: Trust yourself enough to know when something isn’t working and when you deserve better! Just because you’re getting rejections doesn’t mean you always will, but it does mean that you could improve in some capacity, whether it’s in pitch writing, crafting stronger beginnings, middles, or endings, reworking your pacing beats, etc. If this is really your dream, you’ll make it come true, but also don’t feel like it has to happen right this second, or that if it happens later, then you’re a failure. 

#7

Sammie: I was super excited to hear that Blazewrath Games is going to be a duology, because I’m definitely looking forward to more of this world. In five words, can you give us a clue about what we might expect for the next book?

Amparo: Okay, so my five words are: Brace yourselves for more chaos! 

#8

Sammie: You’ve got another book, a middle grade graphic novel called Saving Chupie, coming out in 2022, and it has a Chupacabra, which is almost as cool as dragons! I know it’s a little ways down the road still, but can you give us a hint about what we can look forward to from that book, using only emojis?

Amparo:

Lightning Round

• If you could become a dragon, which species would you choose? A Puerto Rican Sol de Noche, of course!
  
• If you were playing in the Blazewrath games, which position would you play? Blocker! I’d love to excel at any martial art, really. Plus, I get to foil the rival Runner’s progress, lol.
  
• Assume you’re a witch. Huzzah! What does your wand look like/how do you decorate it? I would be a Silver Wand, and mine would have a few onyxes at the bottom! I think that silver and black combo would look very fancy, lol!

About Amparo Ortiz

Amparo Ortiz was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and currently lives on the island’s northeastern coast. Her short story comic, “What Remains in The Dark,” appears in the Eisner Award-winning anthology PUERTO RICO STRONG (Lion Forge, 2018), and SAVING CHUPIE, her middle grade graphic novel, comes out with HarperCollins in Winter 2022. She holds an M.A. in English and a B.A. in Psychology from the UPR’s Río Piedras campus. When she’s not teaching ESL to her college students, she’s teaching herself Korean, devouring as much young adult fiction as she can, and writing about Latinx characters in worlds both contemporary and fantastical. Her debut novel, BLAZEWRATH GAMES, hits shelves on October 6, 2020 from Page Street Kids.

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