How One Writer Found the Heart of Her Story Through Intuition and Lineage

Today on More to the Story Podcast: Following the Thread — Intuition, Ancestry & Storytelling with Joella Aragón

How a multigenerational story finds its form through lineage, spirituality, and lived experience

Today I’m joined by my client Joella Aragón, a writer whose multigenerational, genre-bending book has been evolving for years — from memoir to fiction to speculative nonfiction and back again. Joella and I first met at a Shut Up & Write group I used to host at Old Soul Coffee in Sacramento, and from the beginning she was someone who carried a deep, intuitive relationship with story.

In this conversation she talks about growing up partly in Belize, where spiritual and “witchcrafty” elements were woven into everyday life; the moment she read a pivotal piece (“Obia Child”) at my Tahoe retreat; and how her family’s history—including her great-grandmother’s kidnapping in 1904—has shaped the book’s spine.

We also revisit the frightening experience Joella survived at age 15: nearly being kidnapped by an infamous serial predator in Vacaville, California, and the intuitive force that helped her get away. It’s a thread that echoes across generations and illuminates the story she’s writing now.

This conversation is honest, layered, intuitive, and full of the courage it takes to trust a story that doesn’t fit neatly into one genre — and to claim your own voice as a writer.

About Joella

Joella Aragón is a memoir and fiction writer whose global experiences have greatly influenced her storytelling. Growing up in the Air Force, Joella lived in multiple countries, and these diverse environments have become a source of inspiration for her work.

Joella holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Sacramento State University and also earned her Elementary Teaching Credential from the same institution. She began her professional career as an elementary school teacher before transitioning to work for the California Teachers Association as a labor union representative. The skills and insights gained from her time as both a teacher and union representative continue to shape the narratives in her stories.

Joella is a published short story author, with her work appearing in distinguished publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle and Under The Gum Tree Literary Magazine. Additionally, her stories have been brought to life by actors at the Stories on Stage events in Sacramento and Davis, California.

Currently, Joella is finishing a family saga that poignantly illustrates the enduring strength and resilience of a family navigating historical upheaval, personal trauma, cultural displacement, and mental illness. Through detailed storytelling across generations, her work highlights the complexities of love, survival, identity, and healing, deeply rooted in the intertwined histories of Belize and the United States.

In today’s episode:

* how Joella’s lifelong relationship with writing has resurfaced in different seasons of her life

* our origin story: meeting at Shut Up & Write at Old Soul Coffee in Sacramento

* how her manuscript has shifted from memoir to fiction to something in-between

* the internal tension of not knowing what genre her book “belongs” in—and why that’s part of the process

* growing up partly in Belize and how Caribbean spiritual traditions shaped her worldview

* reading her “Obia Child” chapter at my Tahoe retreat—and why that moment clarified the heart of the book

* the generational story beginning with her great-grandmother’s 1904 kidnapping

* Joella’s own near-kidnapping at age 15 and how ancestral intuition helped her escape

* trusting herself as a writer even when the material feels unusual, spiritual, or hard to categorize

* where she is now: finishing final chapters, moving into line edits, and exploring hybrid publishing options

* how she’s sharing pieces of her work and life today—mostly on Facebook, with a future website in the works

Links mentioned in this episode:

* Under the Gum Tree → underthegumtree.com

* Book a free 15-minute Book Diagnosis Call → moretothestory.co/bookdiagnosis

* Download my Book Outline Formula Worksheet → moretothestory.co/bookoutline

* Café Santoro — get 10% off your first order → cafesantoro.com/janna

Follow & Connect

* Follow the show & find all show notes at moretothestorypodcast.substack.com

* Follow me on Instagram: @jannamarlies

* Follow Under the Gum Tree on Instagram: @undergumtree

Question for you

Do you write about lineage, intuition, or the spiritual elements of your life?How do you navigate telling stories that don’t fit neatly into one box?

Share in the comments—I’d love to hear.

(AI Disclaimer: These show notes were generated by AI using the transcript of this episode.)

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