Meet Johanny Ortega

We recently connected with Johanny Ortega and have shared our conversation below.

Johanny, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I always thought resiliency was stoicism. I once told my therapist through tears, “I wish I hadn’t had to learn how to be strong.” That moment hit me hard because it made me realize that what people call resilience in me was originally built for survival. Growing up, I was the kid who held everything together. The translator. The appointment-keeper. The little adult in a house full of big feelings and bigger responsibilities. I learned how to stay calm in chaos because chaos was the norm.

That upbringing shaped me into someone who can spot problems before they form and immediately shift into solution mode. But that skill came with a cost. When you’re trained to manage everyone else’s life, you learn to ignore your own. You forget to listen inward. You forget softness. You forget yourself.

My real resilience didn’t come from being stoic or self-sufficient. It came later, when I finally slowed down enough to hear myself, when I learned that strength isn’t the absence of emotion, but the willingness to feel it. That I could honor where I came from without carrying every old habit into my adulthood. Letting go of the idea that I always had to hold everything together, that’s when I learned what resiliency is.

So my resilience isn’t just about surviving what shaped me. It’s about growing beyond it. It’s about learning softness after a lifetime of hardness. It’s about choosing myself now in ways I couldn’t when I was little, and I think little me would be proud of that.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a multi-genre indie author writing under my given name, Johanny Ortega, and my pen name, J.E. Ortega. My work spans magical realism, horror, thriller, and middle-grade realistic fiction. Still, every story I write carries a common thread: the unsaid — the things families bury that echo through generations and shape us in ways we don’t always recognize.

I’m fascinated by the unseen, so my books naturally lean into the supernatural. What excites me most is that my stories make room for characters who rarely see themselves on bookshelves: Dominican girls, queer women, complicated mothers, brujas who don’t believe they’re special, and families who love each other fiercely yet imperfectly. Yes, my books deal with ghosts and magic, but they’re deeply human at the core. The haunting comes not just from spirits, but from the conversations we avoid, the secrets we protect, and the identities we’re still learning how to claim.

Right now, I’m focused on my trilogy, Las Cerradoras, which begins with The Ordinary Bruja, released on November 4, 2025. The story follows Marisol Espinal, a young woman who returns home after her mother’s death and finds herself pulled into a generational battle against an ancestor who bound her family’s magic. It’s magical realism with a psychological horror edge, rooted in Dominican folklore and the messy complexities of self-doubt, assimilation, and belonging.

I’m currently finalizing the draft for book two, The Forgotten Bruja, and I can’t wait for readers to dig deeper into the Espinal women’s history. As an indie author, I’m involved in every stage of the process — writing, editing, production, art direction, and marketing. It’s a lot, and it’s not always easy, but seeing a story come to life exactly as I envisioned it is gratifying. I’m publishing the books younger me needed while also making space for other marginalized voices to feel seen.

At the end of the day, my brand is built on storytelling as reclamation — remembering what was lost, honoring what survived, and imagining what’s possible. Whether I’m writing middle-grade fiction, magical realism, or psychological horror, my goal is always the same: to remind readers they’re not alone, their stories matter, and they deserve to see themselves reflected in powerful, complicated, magical ways.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

First: inquisitiveness.
Being an indie author means you’re constantly researching: publishing platforms, marketing strategies, editing workflows, reader psychology, design principles, to name a few. You have to be open to learning and willing to work outside your comfort zone. Curiosity has saved me over and over again. Whenever I didn’t know something, I asked questions, looked it up, experimented, or found someone who did. My advice for anyone starting out is to stay curious and stay teachable. You don’t need to know everything on day one. You just need to be willing to learn as you go.

Second: grit.
Working outside your comfort zone can be exhausting. There were so many moments when I wanted to quit, moments when the tech broke, timelines shifted, edits overwhelmed me, or the self-doubt got loud. Grit is what carried me through those moments. I’ve learned that sometimes the best thing you can do is step away, breathe, sleep on it, and come back with a clearer mind. Nothing good comes from forcing yourself into burnout. My advice here is simple: allow pauses without labeling them as failure. Grit isn’t pushing nonstop; it’s choosing to return.

Third: being an avid reader.
Before I was a writer, I was a reader, the kind who inhaled books and lived inside stories. That love of reading shaped everything about my writing. It’s why I care so much about character depth, emotional honesty, and respecting the craft. Reading across genres also taught me rhythm, pacing, atmosphere, and how to build tension. My advice for new writers is to read widely and intentionally. Read authors you admire, read stories outside your comfort zone, read books that challenge you. Pay attention to what moves you and what doesn’t. Your voice grows from the soil of everything you consume.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

The person who shaped me first and most deeply was my mamá. She taught me how to read and write in Spanish while raising me in the Dominican Republic, and that changed everything for me. Once I learned to read, I couldn’t stop. It felt like a whole new world cracked open, one I never wanted to leave. I read everything out loud, even when my pronunciation wasn’t great. To this day, my uncles still tease me about the way I used to say certain words, but that curiosity and determination were the foundation of everything I do now as a writer.

My son gave me the motivation to succeed. Becoming a mother made life feel sharper and more purposeful because I suddenly had this little human who depended on me. He pushed me to think bigger, dream bigger, and become the version of myself I wanted him to see.

And my husband… he has supported every version of me, every bad idea, the messy drafts, the chaotic cries when things don’t turn out right. His belief in me has made me realize how blessed I am to be surrounded by people who want me to win.

Between mamá’s early guidance, my son’s quiet push, and my husband’s unwavering support, I’ve had a foundation of love and encouragement that made this journey possible. I don’t take that for granted for a second.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://haveacupofjohanny.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haveacupofjohanny
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haveacupofjohanny
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@haveacupofjohanny