Episode 83– You can also listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Google podcasts, and Amazon Music
About the Episode:
There’s nothing we love more and than a New Mexico origin story. Carlos and Paul Meyer grew up near Albuquerque, the oldest and youngest of nine siblings. Together they wrote an award winning New Mexican graphic novel called Under the Cottonwood Tree. They are now expanding that world with an animation project called Greñuda. Find out more about the Meyer brothers on this episode.
Links:
Under the Cottonwood Tree
Grenuda
Grenuda Kickstarter
Grenuda Power Instagram
I Love New Mexico blog page
Bunny’s website
I Love New Mexico Instagram
I Love New Mexico Facebook
Featuring:
Carlos and Paul Meyer
“Growing up in the north valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico along the Rio Grande and amongst the cottonwood trees of the bosque (forest) gave the Meyer brothers a setting to have exciting adventures as children and they hope to capture this ambience in their story telling. Tracing their roots to the original Spanish settlements of the late sixteenth century in New Mexico as well as their Native American bloodline the brothers feel it is an honor to be able to tell a story that is rich in history and tradition, combined with a large dose of magic and wonder. While Paul spent many years in Hollywood after High School, Carlos remained home earning a degree in journalism while working at his grandfather’s ranch in northern New Mexico. With Under the Cottonwood Tree the authors hope to shine a light on the culture of the Hispano/mestizo/native people of New Mexico.” Latino Book Awards
Additional Information found at ABQ Journal
Episode Transcript
Bunny : (00:00)
Hi there. I’m Bunny Terry, and you’re listening to the I Love New Mexico podcast. Whether you’re a native new Mexican, who’s lived here for your entire life, or you’re just considering a visit, this episode is for you. Join us as we share a lot of New Mexico stories, talk about all things New Mexico, and include topics like what’s magical here, where you ought to visit, what’s happening, and the things you absolutely cannot miss in the land of Enchantment. We’re excited that you’re here, and we can’t wait to show you what an amazing place New Mexico is, because let’s face it, I love New Mexico. So today on the I Love New Mexico podcast, we’re, we’ve got something, um, I don’t know that we’ve ever had before. I’m kind of racking my brain. I’ve got a pair of brothers who, um, grew up in Albuquerque. We, I’m sorry that we weren’t recording before we began because we’ve all been telling our stories, but, um, I’m just going to turn the mics over. I want you guys to tell people who you are and what you’re doing and why we were so anxious to talk to you.
Paul : (01:20)
All right? Okay. Thank you so much.
Carlos: (01:22)
I go first.
Paul : (01:23)
Sure, go for it.
Carlos: (01:25)
Okay. . Okay. Since I’m the older brother, I’ll go first. How’s that ? I’m, uh, my name’s Carlos Meyer. My, uh, I’m a ano uh, generational. My mom comes from Monte Chico, New Mexico. My dad comes from the big city of, of Las Vegas, New Mexico. They got married and it came down to the North Valley of Albuquerque, Alameda New Mexico, and that’s where I was raised and born in. And I’m a, there’s nine of us. So I’m three of nine. So,
Paul : (02:01)
And then, uh, go from here. So I’m nine of nine, uh, again from Alameda, New Mexico. And, um, I have been living in Los Angeles for a number of years, um, enjoying, uh, crazy weather sometimes, and earthquakes and fires and, uh, but missing, always missing New Mexico. So what Carlos and I actually do is write children’s adventure stories, all based in New Mexico lore and New Mexico history, because we’re trying to capture a time and place of the 1940s New Mexico, which is our parents’ generation. Um, uh, my, our mother, uh, Consuelo Lucero was a, a 10 of 11 or nine of 11,
Carlos: (02:52)
I think. 9, 9 11. Yes.
Paul : (02:55)
Okay. So she’s nine. I’m nine of nine. And, uh, so we’re, we’re, we’re trying to talk about culture and, and, and places of New Mexico that are unique to us, um, and, uh, much the way Rodolfo and I did. Um, but what we’re, what we’re doing is having a children’s, um, viewpoint and, and, uh, children’s adventure story, uh, to throw in some fantasy and adventure into it. Are, are, the book that we’ve been, we’ve, uh, talked a lot about is under the Cottonwood Tree de Lara, uh, a children’s adventure story.
Bunny: (03:35)
When, when I was looking, when I was looking at your bios, I immediately thought of, bless me, Ultima, and, um, Rudolfo and I, and I thought, what was cool when you just said that your mom was from Anton Chico, um, I mean, that, that was his neck of the woods. So
Carlos: (03:52)
Yes, yes, yes.
Bunny: (03:54)
And, and bless me, Ultima was based, was a story that was based in that timeframe as well. So I think it’s really, really timely and interesting that you’re doing the same sort of similar timeframe and stories, but for kids. So are these graphic novels? Are they picture books? What
Paul : (04:15)
Are, so when I was a kid, this, we call them comic books, but now they’re graphic novels. , right? Carlos?
Carlos: (04:24)
Yes. Graphic novels. Yes. They’re, uh, we, this took a long time to come to Fruitation with this book. It’s, it’s won a lot, surprisingly. It’s won a lot of awards. It’s a graphic now. A lot of the schools have picked it up and, and, and are teaching it in schools, uh, Pecos Elementary School in, in, uh, in Pecos. I take a drive there every year. ’cause it’s part of their subject. And I’m like a little celebrity there. They, they, I I look at the book and I open it and we, we read it together. And so, yes, it, it’s, it’s, uh, people have gravitated towards this, especially because it focuses on the, uh, put story of northern Mexico. And of course, Rudolph and I as one of our, our mentors. Yeah.
Paul : (05:13)
And in fact, in back in, so under the Cottonwood trees, actually based on the dream that I had when I was 10 years old, and it was, uh, there we were in Alameda, uh, Carlos was raising cattle. And, um, I had a dream about this little calf talking to me, to the, so the very next day I told that to Carlos and he said, oh, that sounds like a children’s book. How about if we write it and make a children’s book out of it? So Carlos wrote it, and it was pretty, pretty much verbatim of the dream that I had. And then, uh, eldest brother Julio illustrated it, and a few years later, it was actually published right along with Rodolfo Anaya in the Quinto Soul Press. Um, there, they did an anthology that year, like in 1982. And so it’s actually a part of a collection. Uh, so it was great that we were honored to, to be amongst Rodolfo in that book. And then years later, Carlos and I turn it into a screenplay, and then we shop it around Hollywood. But of course, in Hollywood, they like to see proof of concept. So we turned that into the graphic novel with the help of, uh, Margaret Hardy, who’s a uber talented illustrator. And, and she, she brought it to fruition for us. So that’s, that, that’s a little, a quick, uh, quick rundown of under the Cottonwood tree.
Bunny: (06:37)
And so are we going to see this on the screen?
Paul : (06:42)
Ooh, well, , fingers crossed . So what has been happening lately is is, um, we, we were able to at least talk to some of the studios. We talked to Disney, we talked to, uh, Nickelodeon. And it was, it was great for us because we finally, as they call it in Hollywood, get to be in the room. But of course, we didn’t actually get to go to the studios because it was COVID during the time, so we got to have Zoom sessions. So we were in the room, but, but it was more of a virtual room, but it was, we were still happy to at least talk. Right. So Nickelodeon seemed really interested. They asked us for six pages of, uh, we’re gonna do a short, which is kind of like a proof of concept that will go into their system. If they like it, then it could go to series. But that was actually an extrapolation of under the cottonwood tree of a different story called Grana into the Para. And how about if we have Carls talk about how Grana came into, uh, bean.
Carlos: (07:47)
Okay, okay. Okay. Well, here in northern New Mexico, there’s, there’s, or it’s full of stories, stories everywhere. There’s, there’s stories galore. But here’s just a little, my mom, she was, uh, she had seven brothers growing up in, on to Chico. And, uh, she, uh, her older brothers would, would, would make fun of her, says, ah, you are ula, you’re Ula from, uh, uh, ’cause Una means basically like a person with mess, messy hair. Wake up in the morning. You know how you’re, in fact, a lot people would have their una story, their messy hair in the morning. Ah, you’re, so they would call my mama Ula. And so that’s, that was kind of like her nickname. But later on in, uh, in, I got to know, uh, this, uh, this lady probably from my mom’s generation, and she would tell a story ’cause she’s from, uh, she’s from, uh, northern Mexico too, real purple area. And she moved to Albuquerque, and she would tell her her story. But she said that, uh, on Sunday morning, uh, her mom would especially make sure her hair was all combed and get ready for church. ’cause she, her mom would tell her, I don’t want you to look all like the girls from Aunt Chico. And that, I thought, well, that’s my mom, . So what? So it generated into a, a, an origin of, of a, a little girl superhero. So that’s Glenda . So
Paul : (09:20)
You, so when, when, when Carlos was telling me that, that story, and I thought, oh my gosh. Well, that’s our mom from the ranch in non to Chico. And so we we’re, we’re trying to say is oftentimes you hear that word and it, it implies it, it says, it’s literally, it’s, it’s messy hair, but it also implies poor and, and, and unsophisticated. So Carlos and I thought, what if we based a little, um, Chicana superhero that is, is really embracing her difference. Yes, she’s from the ranch. Yes, she only has friends that are animals that she talks to. But what if she’s actually, you know, that’s, let’s embrace the, the specialist, the difference, the, the from what other people make fun of her. Let’s embrace that and use that. And that is her superpower. So we’ve developed a storyline, um, that is a full animated, uh, movie. But what we’re, what we’re doing now is, uh, we are doing a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to do a six minute animated short. That is gonna be a proof of concept. We’re gonna introduce all of our characters. Um, and this is the short that we were working on for Nickelodeon, but eventually they end up passing on it. And they said that
Carlos: (10:45)
This close, this close,
Paul : (10:47)
Well, as far as we know, it came pretty close. Um, so, but they said they had something too similar, which to us, we believe that means they had a box that said Latino, and it was checked off already. And a lot of times in Hollywood, they can’t have like two competing, oh, you have a little Latina superhero. Oh, well, we, we can’t have two of them at the same time. Right? So, um, now we’re determined just to do it on our own. So raised the money, we found an awesome illustrator named Maya Ludi, Ludi Shepherd out of, uh, Colorado. So not too far from Mexico. And, um, she is our go-to now for, uh, for animation. And, and she’s knocked out a, knocked out the ballpark with these awesome illustrations that, and, uh, and we’ll be able to, people will be able to look onto, uh, the gran dot com’s website and, and see the c the awesome art that Maya’s come up with.
Bunny: (11:42)
Well, and, and what a great concept for kids that you use your differences to. Uh, that you turn the, you see, you view them as superpowers instead of as, um, deficiencies,
Paul : (11:57)
Right? Yeah.
Bunny: (11:58)
What a, what a great gift to give a bunch of kids.
Carlos: (12:01)
I Oh, yes. That’s
Paul : (12:02)
Where we’re hoping.
Carlos: (12:03)
Yeah.
Bunny: (12:04)
Thank you. I really like that.
Carlos: (12:06)
I just wanted to add that we, oh, just that we were, we were invited to Los Lucero’s every year. They have a festival in of September, and we’re invited to, to promote our book, but we actually introduced ula and people were, were like, everybody has a granula story. And people were all the nortenos were kind. Oh, I, I can relate to ula. So it’s getting a, a really good, uh, reception and vibe. And I, I’m hoping Paul’s gonna show some of those fantastic illustrations that, uh, Maya’s gonna,
Paul : (12:41)
Well, all they have to do is
Carlos: (12:43)
Gr
Paul : (12:43)
Com. So they, what they do,
Carlos: (12:45)
Listen, yes.
Paul : (12:47)
Click on gran.com and they’ll be able to spell
Bunny: (12:51)
That, spell that for people so they
Paul : (12:53)
Know, uh, G Okay. . G-R-E-N-U-D a.com. So, okay.
Bunny: (13:03)
And we’ll, we’re gonna have, of course, um, there are links to everything that you’ve produced or that you’re in the, that you’ve created with the show notes and, um, awesome. So that people can find them. But still, you know, we’ve, and I always tell this, I always say to the guests, you know, we’ve gotta assume that there are people listening. Um, we have, we have listeners from all over the world who, who don’t even, who hardly know where Albuquerque is. Mm-Hmm. . But, um, and when we’re talking about, um, places like Anton Chico, or, um, you know, we talked before about Carlos, how your wife was from her folks were from Roy and Miss, we’re, we are talking about communities of like 300 people at the most, right? Yes. Tiny little communities where everybody knows each other. And, um, , I, I just think that’s interesting that you heard the story of somebody whose mom was like, uh, like the girls from Chico.
Paul : (14:05)
Yeah.
Carlos: (14:07)
Her mom. Like the girls from Chico.
Paul : (14:09)
Yeah, absolutely. Yes.
Carlos: (14:11)
Well, I just wanted to, to talk about the talent that Paul was able to gather to be the voices of the characters for Za. And maybe Paul can elaborate on that.
Paul : (14:26)
Yeah, absolutely. So I think a few of the listeners will be familiar, familiar with these names, including, uh, Carlos Medina. So Carlos Medina, Kyle, a true, a true, yeah, your Tocayo a true Noteno. Um, we love listening to his music. We love listening to his, uh, comedy. So he’s so talented that we’re gonna have two voice, two characters voiced by him. Uh, one of the characters is the dde, so he’s like a little magic gnome. And the other character is a Cheto. So the Cheto is a, is an Native American, um, sort of a boogeyman creature creation that we came up with. But since he’s a child, he doesn’t know that he’s actually, um, breaths fire and, and, uh, is, is gonna grow up to be a giant. Uh, he doesn’t know that yet. So Carlos is playing that role. And then we have the uber talented, um, actress.
Paul : (15:25)
Musician. And people may know of her as, uh, uh, what was her character from Nettes? Albuquerque? Yeah, Lynette in, in Albuquerque. The stuff. . , yeah. Yeah, that, that one. I’m, uh, the, the, the YouTube, uh, channel for, I’ve spaced my name, or I spaced the name out. But, uh, Lauren Pool. So she’s gonna be playing, uh, her gran’s best friend, Irma, and Irma’s a little talking goat. Uh, so Lauren is gonna be playing that role. And then there is a big nemesis in our storyline that we we’re not really gonna see, uh, but we’re, it is just hinted at. So, but when we see the nemesis coming along, we’re gonna hear the voice of the mother. So for the mother, we have the, the actress Laura Martinez Cunningham. So she’s gonna be playing the Voice of the Mother. And then finally for the lo the role of nais, which is actually like a Native American warrior.
Paul : (16:27)
So what I, what what we’re trying to do is honor our maternal great-grandmother, who was named, uh, lo, um, Andrea, Alina Ceto, uh, uh, then, uh, she was born Mont, so she was Apache Comanche. So I was actually, I’m actually gonna play that role. But the interesting thing is, um, we have not cast Grana. So if people go on to grana.com, and then when they go to the Kickstarter campaign, because we’re gonna raise, uh, roughly $16,000 to, to get the actors paid and, and the Adam and Maya paid. And, um, so we’re actually having an open call for the little, for the character of Gran. So our lead a, uh, actress has not been found. And ideally we would love a eight to 13-year-old, ideally from Northern New Mexico to play that part. So there is a link with an email address, uh, and what we’re doing is just send us material. If your daughter is 11 years old and, and she just happens to love animals and maybe has grown up on a sheep, send her her, send her our way, and we’ll take a look, and then perhaps she can play the part of Gran. How does that sound? So are
Bunny: (17:49)
You, are you also, um, somewhere on social media so that people can pick up information or just on the website?
Paul : (17:56)
Oh, absolutely. So if you go to grana.com and you’ll be able to go to Facebook, and we have our, our, our, uh, site there, our, our, where the kids call it them, our handle Handle, right. Um, and then on, um, on Instagram, it’s Grana Power, so that’s the Instagram handle. And then also on Facebook, and then, uh, on our books, on our, under the cottonwood tree.com, there’ll be links to Grana, and then they can find the socials on there as well.
Bunny: (18:29)
So you, so in my, um, in, in my Dreams always, I was a writer since I was six years old. And then I had this, um, I don’t know if you guys know very much about me, but I had this stage four colon cancer journey. And so I did write a book, and, but everything you’re talking about is the stuff of dreams to me. It’s so interesting that you, I’m curious to know what your backgrounds are. I mean, I know you didn’t just create this, these, these kids books, but what are the other things that you do that got you to this point?
Paul : (19:02)
Yeah, a little bit of a background on both Carlos and myself. So, um, Carlos, um, has always been a writer his whole life. And eventually, at one time he went to, um, eventually one time with Nixon. Uh, he ended up in Highlands University in Las Vegas, and he got a degree in journalism. And one of the classes that he had in that, in at over at Highlands, was from a visiting professor speaking about screenplays. So one of his assignments was to write a screenplay. So what he did is he grabbed that little short story that we did years ago, based on the dream that I had, and he turned, fleshed that out into a full feature length screenplay. And he turned that into, uh, uh, his, as his assignment into the, uh, professor at Highland. So from there, I, uh, ended up in, um, well, from high school I left to Los to Los Angeles pursuing, uh, dreams of entertainment, right?
Paul : (19:59)
So, um, I was working as little like low budget horror movies. And, um, one day I was out in the desert playing a cop that was getting killed, and I kept getting buried, uh, in the scene. And like, ’cause they had to set up my chest with Squibbs and I get shot, and then it would, it would actually bruise the chest, and then, and then you, you die and then you get buried into the little pit that they put you in. But you had to do that three or four times. And I realized after that, I stand up and I’m like, oh my gosh, I have like sand, uh, mites all over me, and my chest is all scored and bruised. And I thought to myself, why am I working for this guy telling his story? I wanna tell my own stories. So probably the next day I called up Carlos and I said, Hey, did you ever finish that script, uh, that we based, or that was based on the little short story?
Paul : (20:57)
And he said, yeah, I sure did. So I thought, well, what, what if we tell our own stories and what our own stories, well, stories of folklore and mythology of Northern New Mexico. So ever since then, um, we turned, we’ve, we continue to work on it. We pitched it around Los Angeles, and then eventually we turned it into the graphic novel, uh, which again, like Carlos said, is being taught in school systems, including EJ Martinez, uh, elementary school in, uh, Santa Fe. Um, and it, we are, we’re, we’re quite proud of it. We’re quite proud of the fact that, um, um, there’s a professor in Modesto that is using it as children’s literature, as an example of, and she teaches it. And the academia world has really gravitated towards it. Um, and in fact, there is one professor, his name is, uh, Al, um, no, uh, uh, um, Frederick, Frederick Lewis Aldama.
Paul : (21:54)
So he actually invited us to be a part of an anthology of, of short stories called, uh, out of Latino Graphics. And we were trying to think of what do we do for a short story talking about food and culture in New Mexico? So Carlos and I wrote a story called The Pinon Pickers, and that is gonna be coming out in September out of Latino Graphics Oh, oh. Uh, edited by Frederick Lewis Alama and out of Ohio State Press. And it’s just a little short story, but we are quite, quite proud to talk about something unique, which I guarantee you, someone in Chicago has no idea what pinons and what the cult, what the history of pinon picking is. So look for, we look forward to that. So that’s, that’s a little bit of a, a history, but also a future of of us.
Bunny: (22:48)
Well, this, this is so cool. First of all, you guys are such fun to talk to. Um, so we have to do this again, um, about the time that that anthology comes out. But, um, and I wanna, I want folks to find you. I want, um, people to read under the Cottonwood Tree and everything else. And, you know, um, I live next door to, um, a director of a really hot New Mexico TV series, so Awesome. Um, maybe I’ll get the book and show it to him. Um, the Director of Dark Winds Lives Next Door, so
Paul : (23:22)
We will buy you the, because I know you’re drinking tea right now, so we’ll definitely buy you some tea, but we, oh, I’m
Bunny: (23:27)
Really a coffee drinker, but I’ve already had like nine cups. Okay. So, so I thought I should have some tea, but this is so much fun. I, and I hate that, Carlos, we seem to have lost your sound, but, um, it’s so cool that we got to all talk to each other. Yes.
Paul : (23:43)
I’m, I’m, I’m, oh, oh, I
Bunny: (23:45)
Hear you go. Can you hear me now?
Paul : (23:49)
Just like a commercial.
Bunny: (23:51)
Yes, just like a commercial. Anyway, um, everybody check out the links in the show notes. Go to gran.com and find under the Cottonwood Tree. Are you both credited as the authors?
Paul : (24:05)
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Okay.
Bunny: (24:07)
And where, where can people buy your books?
Paul : (24:09)
Um, so we’re in quite a lot. Main, the main bookstores in Albuquerque, um, uh, including Treasure House and San in Old Town, um, organic books, um, book works, um, uh, books on the Bosky. And then Santa Fe, I believe were in the Garcia’s Bookstore. Uh, I think that’s near the Plaza, I’m not sure. Um, and then of course, online, uh, all they have to do is go to ut ct book.com or under the cottonwood tree.com and you’ll see, um, how to purchase it online. And there’s PDFs as well.
Bunny: (24:44)
And, and what, what age range are we talking?
Paul : (24:48)
Uh, we are, um, up to middle school. So they, they call it, okay. Yeah. Third grade to, uh, middle school. Um, uh, the age group is eight to 11, I believe, or 13. Oh. But Carlos actually has a quote on that. He, he, he says, uh, ’cause he’s, he’s, uh, he’s, his internet’s a little bit down right now, and he says, what if anybody from a kid to an to an 80-year-old kid can enjoy the book? So .
Bunny: (25:18)
I love that. I love that. Well, Carlos and Paul Meyer, this is so much fun, , and I, I admire what you’re doing. It’s so interesting and so cool. So let’s, let’s have you back on the podcast in a few months, okay?
Paul : (25:32)
Absolutely, bunny, thank you so much for having us. So appreciate it. Take Care.
Bunny: (25:36)
Thanks to all of you for taking the time to listen to the I Love New Mexico podcast. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please feel free to share it with your friends on social media or by texting or messaging or emailing them a copy of the podcast. If you have a New Mexico story that you’d like to share with us, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our email address is I love New Mexico blog@gmail.com, and we are always, always looking for interesting stories about New Mexico. Subscribe, share, and write a review so that we can continue to bring you these stories about the Land of Enchantment.