Book project. Historical novel + oral biography

Margarita, Mujer Mexicana

Oral biography and historical novel of Pepe's paternal grandmother. Rural Chihuahua schoolteacher. SNTE Chihuahua secretary general. Federal deputy, LI Legislature (PRI). De facto single mother during the union years. Only living primary source for her own story.

P0 Active Concept approved 2026-08-23 Target close Q3 2026 Cadence: 3x weekly

Surfaces

Graph
Knowledge graph
160 nodes. People, places, events, dates. 1st, 2nd, 3rd degree connections. Search.
Timeline
Time vs place
Swimlanes by place (Chihuahua rural, city, Juárez, CDMX, EdoMex, Xalapa, travel). 30 events 1910-2014.
Concept note
Problem, solution, RACI, milestones
Stage 3 approved. Definition of done. Budget. Risks. Source in brain/projects/mmm/.
Project plan
Phases + tasks + owners
Lars owns. Phase 1: Foundation (Aug 23 - Sep 6). Phase 2: Gather. Phase 3: Draft.

Session plans

Grandma
Priority queue
Woven into 3x weekly cadence. 8 priorities: Mime=Mine, the 1994 split, Xalapa arc, return to Chihuahua, the teacher incident, Mine's move to CDMX, Antemio in CDMX, career mapping.
Mom (Mine)
3 solo sessions
Session 1: Chihuahua without grandma + the teacher incident. Session 2: CDMX with grandma and dad. Session 3: shared house, Xalapa, today.
Dad (Antemio)
3 solo sessions
Session 1: how you ended up under grandma's roof. Session 2: mom arrives, family forms. Session 3: multigenerational house, Xalapa, grandma today.
Standing rule
The Witness Rule
Every question to mom or dad must serve grandma's story. If it doesn't, cut. Witnesses, not characters.

Milestones

#
Milestone
Date
M1
Entity registry live + knowledge graph deployedNina schema complete. Graph live at pepecarrillo.co/mmm-graph. All sessions integrated.
2026-09-06
M2
First two draft chaptersElena delivers Ch1 + Ch2. Pepe reads and responds.
2026-09-27
M3
Full first draft completeAll chapters. Rulfo verification complete. Jonathan Hale structural review.
2027-01-31

Current state and next steps

Done
Nina DESIGN.md complete (961 lines). Knowledge architecture defined.brain/documents/mmm-book/DESIGN.md. Covers naming, dedup, metadata schema, viz spec.
Done
Graph deployed with glow, pulse rings, degree 1/2/3 connections.pepecarrillo.co/mmm-graph. 160 nodes, 182 edges. Pepe's family integrated (Mine, Mague, Antemio Carrillo, Temo, Alejandro González, 3 cousins, Valentina).
Done
Timeline swimlane deployed.pepecarrillo.co/mmm-timeline. 6 place lanes. Source filter (Margarita / Research / Family).
Done
Interview guide updated. Session plans always-ready for grandma + Mine + Mague + dad.brain/documents/mmm-book/interview-guide.md. Standing rule: refreshed after every call.
Pending
Schedule interviews with Mine, Mague and Antemio Carrillo.3 solo sessions each. Optional 4th joint session for cross-check with Mine and Mague.
Pending
Full corpus dedup pass applying DESIGN.md section 3 rules.aliases.yaml registry. Blanca / Blanca Rosa / Blanca Rosa Moreno = one. Mague / Margarita Pérez / Margarita Pérez Moreno = one. Etc.
Pending
5-year date buckets in parse_timeline (loops/mmm-node-graph/run.py).Per DESIGN.md section 4.5. Kills fragmentation of nodes ~1910-1920, 1920, 1928-1930.
In progress
3x weekly sessions with Margarita while her health allows.Cadence non-negotiable. Every call is an asset. Whisper transcribes automatically.
Pending
Extract scene list from all 8 existing sessions.Owner: Elena (Grohl assists). Original deadline: Aug 27.

The arc (reconstructed)

  1. Ch1. The Teacher. Schoolteacher in Chihuahua. Widowed young. Two daughters (Mague and Mine). No money. No politics. Quiet.
  2. Ch2. The Summons. Elected SNTE Chihuahua secretary general without understanding how. Call from Mexico City: 'be here tomorrow'. Adapts through sheer stubbornness.
  3. Ch3. Mexico City. Long weeks at SNTE. Elba Esther as rival. Jonguitud Barrios as boss. Daughters stay with grandma in Chihuahua.
  4. Ch4. Candidate. Andrade aligns her with PRI. Rancher governor. General of the 5th Military Zone. Gobernación interrogates her mother. Wins deputy seat, LI Legislature (1979-1982).

Full detail in brain/projects/mmm/overview.md.