I write about the questions with no easy answers
I'm Leticia. I've been through shit. And I write about facing it.
I’m a born and raised Tejana who loves bluebonnets, longhorns and Texas shaped Waffles. I write and speak on faith, grief, and suicide loss. After the loss of my oldest son Anthony to suicide I saw a lack of space for honest grieving and acknowledgement of trauma, so I set out to create one.
Storytelling is my way of helping to change the world’s idea of what it means to grieve, live in community, be a mother, and change dysfunctional patterns that have been set for generations.
I believe this is how we change the world — by facing our shit and healing from it.
I speak and write for people who are going through life and don’t know how to show up in their own life.
Our Lady of
Hot Messes
Getting Real with God in Dive Bars and Confessionals
“In her stories of suffering and survival, Leticia Ochoa Adams introduces us to a God who sticks around, even when we feel forgotten.”
- From the forward by Nora McInerny
“In a culture obsessed with social media–perfect posts, Leticia Ochoa Adams’s voice is a needed breath of fresh air. Her raw and honest story is a reminder that all people, regardless of their past or trauma, are loved by God even in the messiness.”
-Alessandra Harris
Writer and author of Last Place Seen
"God bless this mess! Funny, engaging, haunting, and real—this is the book a growing Church needs. Ready or not, you’re gon’ learn today!”
- Marcia Lane-McGee
Coauthor of Fat Luther, Slim Pickin's
“There is nothing more powerful and yet nothing that makes one more vulnerable than sharing a personal testimony. I was moved to tears and driven to see the Lord on my knees as I heard Leticia Ochoa Adams’s heart and its cry for answers. Through trial, loss, and pain she held on to the Hope Giver, who gave her hope and consolation. Wow! I cannot recommend Our Lady of Hot Messes enough. You will laugh, cry, and be drawn to God through every page. Thank you, Leticia Ochoa Adams, for your brutal honesty and for bringing hope to those who are struggling to find it.”
- Fr. Rob Galea
Author of Breakthrough
I speak about life & death and living through both.
If you are looking for a speaker for your event, parish, or organization, please reach out. I speak about grief and loss, community and conflict, surviving suicide, overcoming generational trauma, and faith.
Leticia Ochoa Adams, award-nominated author of Our Lady of Hot Messes: Getting Real with God in Dive Bars and Confessionals, is a woman who knows what it feels like to be burned out, destroyed, completely emptied; full of nothing but loss. After her son’s death by suicide, she found her way back to hope while still honoring her grief, attending to the business of living on and finding joy even in the midst of immense loss and ceaseless tragedy, both personal and global. Through pain, we can feel our way to a sacred space, an honesty, where God can meet us, and from there to a place of healing and compassion, both for ourselves and for the larger world.
"11/10, I highly recommend Leticia!"
"Leticia is funny, authentic, engaging - and her story was healing for so many in our church who have been through loss or trauma. Leticia draws from her particular experience but connects universally: our mostly Protestant, white, New England audience was deeply moved by her sharing what real, messy faith looks like when life isn't perfect. One person said: 'I think when someone like Leticia is so brave, it helps others to be brave, and wow - I really felt grateful to be a part of that.'"
-The Rev. Leah Lyman Waldron, United Church of Christ