Telenovelas are made fun of for being corny and stupid, but in Puerto Rico and the rest of Latin America, they’re a respected form of storytelling and venerated similarly to U.S. dramatic series. As I’ve started writing and creating stories of my own, I’ve found that my ideas are similar to telenovelas. They’re romantic but …
An essay version of this post appears on The Caribbean Writer, Volume 34: Dignity, Power, and Place in the Caribbean Space. This week saw a historic moment for my island of Puerto Rico: the resignation of a sitting governor. This was brought on by multiple protests over the span of twelve days not only by …
Below is a short story based on themes explored in my book, THE SINGULARITY OF COOKIES. It is included as a chapter in the novel, but here, it’s from the perspective of Marisa, one of the best friends of my protagonist, Karina. Premise: After her boyfriend totals her car while drunk, a woman afraid to …
Below is a short story I entered to the 2018 Literary Taxidermy Short Story Competition. The challenge was to use the first and last lines from another story and make them your own. I chose “A Telephone Call” by Dorothy Parker. It is the first short story I’ve ever written and I’m super proud of …
Living in Germany for the past four years has taught me a lot about what it’s like to be Puerto Rican. Even though I haven’t lived on the island since 2007, the plantain stain, or mancha de plátano, is in me, no matter how much I try to hide it. Many people don’t know much …
Easter in Germany is full of traditions. Did you know that the legend of the Easter Bunny originated here? Read on to learn more about Easter in Germany. This is part of my series about surviving in Germany based on my own experiences. The Easter Bunny (Osterhase) The first written mention of the Easter Bunny …
Germany, like many countries, has holidays, but it has its own laws and traditions that make them unique. For starters, the German government doesn’t decide what days are official holidays, but leaves it up to its 16 states. And, as you will see, many of the holidays are tied to the Catholic or Protestant faiths …
I’ve read so many of these posts and now I finally get to write one! Here’s the story of how I got my agent, plus helpful tips for writers in the query trenches. My Writing Journey The story of how I got my agent starts with how I started writing. I’d never considered being a …
Querying is hard! And us writers need to not only write a novel but also learn how to write a query. Here, I want to share some tips on how I wrote my successful query letter (I have an agent!). I started working on my query letter right after I finished the first draft for …
In 2016, I completed my first novel ever, PULLING ME BACK IN (I wrote a post about how I did it) not really knowing what I was doing, learning as I went. For my second novel, THE SINGULARITY OF COOKIES, I wanted to optimize my process and be more efficient. The journey to write this …
In my previous post, I discussed how I went from daydreamer to writer. In the beginning, writing was a hobby, but since I’m a perfectionist, I did some research. I stumbled upon a free ebook about writing fiction and show vs. tell. I remember feeling discouraged. Creative writing was harder than I had envisioned. Without …