AH the cat's out of the bag, y'all!! 🎉 so thrilled and honored to be working with
@JKPBooks
@Alex_JKPGender
on a children's picture book spotlighting 25 queer heroes from LATAM and the U.S. can't wait for this to be in your hands!
So very excited that JKP has signed what is hopefully the first of many such books for kids on queerness and racial & ethnic backgrounds - Queer Latine Heroes by the amazing
@sofiaxaguilar
!
cannot emphasize enough how horrid chatgpt is, y'all. it's depleting our global power & water supply, stopping us from thinking or writing critically, plagiarizing human artists. today's students are worried they won't have jobs because of AI tools. this isn't a world we deserve
"omg you're a writer, that must be so romantic" it's literally just me in sweatpants hunching over my laptop and rewriting the same sentence five different ways
i’m sorry but is there anyone who can actually write and get work done in a café or can we all agree it’s just for show? unless it’s about having a level of concentration/dedication that i don’t have, in which case i surrender
i’m usually not very open about personal stuff on here but i just scheduled myself for a therapy session for the first time in my whole life. it’s been a long time coming and i’m so proud of myself for taking this huge step to take better care of my mental health
HI HELLO if you’re a woman or nonbinary writer of color looking to join a virtual generative writing group, pls dm me!! 🗣️ a few of my writing friends & i are putting together this space which will feature prompts, writing time, community time, talks & more xx
after being rejected from literally every mfa program i applied to this year & feeling immense imposter syndrome & sense of failure, i’m excited to say that i’m starting to love writing again. i’m feeling like myself again. i’m literally so so happy :))
it's such a little thing but over the weekend my partner & i were at lunch when all of a sudden he went "i feel like i haven't caught up with you about your writing lately, what have you been working on" & i haven't stopped thinking about it since like????
this piece has helped me learn that there are certain pitches you just don’t give up on. i pitched this 3x before it was finally accepted & found a home, & i couldn’t be happier about where it ended up. thank you
@latimes
for sharing my story!! 🧶✨
it's infuriating but not surprising to see the latinx community's silence in regards to palestine. if you're vocal about ICE, border patrol, family separation, U.S.-backed military operations in LATAM, you need to be vocal NOW. none of us are free until all of us are free.
the writing world really is so wild bc today i was rejected from a writing retreat in northern california and then a couple of hours later, i found out that i was invited to attend a writing retreat in italy so what does that mean
i only just learned about jesús and their incredible accomplishments & activism, & i’m heartbroken and enraged to hear about their murder. queer latines deserve to thrive. queer latines deserve to feel safe. queer latines deserve to live long, beautiful lives.
#Mexico
Jesús Ociel Baena Saucedo, the first non-binary electoral judge in Latin America & LGBTQ+ activist was found dead inside their home in Aguascalientes alongside their partner this morning. Jesús was issued Mexico’s first non-binary passport earlier this year. 😢😡
i’m now the second person in my family to pursue a master’s and the first to pursue a degree in library science, and i could not be more excited to begin this new adventure - go orange!!! 🍊✨
i submitted the final draft of my children's book manuscript to my editor yesterday and i could not be more excited I'M GONNA BE A DEBUT CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR Y'ALL
if you’re scared to write it, that means it’s worth writing. if you’re scared to share it, that means it’s worth sharing. embrace the power of your voice and turn it up full volume
pro-tip for writers: join a book club in your area or online & take note of what does/doesn't work for readers to help you think about your own projects. no book is for everyone but you will get the most unfiltered opinions about trends, tropes, & everything in between fr
so who's gonna commission me to write the pilot for an abbott elementary/superstore/the office-style workplace sitcom about a group of librarians working together in a public library who are passionate about public service and free resources and libby
pro-tip: when a piece isn’t ending the way you want it to, end it on the second to last line instead. or steal the very first line and bring it to the end. allow it to morph and re-shape itself!!
one day i'm gonna open a bookshop & it will have EVERYTHING: a performance/event space, reading nook, displays for local authors, stationery, coffee/ice cream bar, art gallery, patio w/ umbrellas, big lending library out front. here's to manifesting our dreams ✨
i saw ada limón use an exclamation point in one of her poems today and can i just say that we should normalize that more in poetry? more emphasis! more exclamation! more joy! more rage!
THRILLED to officially announce the news that i am a SVWC Writing Fellow for the 2023 Sun Valley Writers’ Conference in Idaho! ✨ for 4 days in july, i will be attending talks, panels, signings, networking events, activities, & more. incredibly excited & grateful!
poets!! for my newsletter tomorrow, i'm writing about how i edit my poetry drafts into more polished pieces. what are the strategies y'all use to edit your work?
my latest essay for
@latinamediaco
!! in which i talk about censorship, blacklisting, shadowbanning, the fight for palestine, and the end of political freedom, the 'scream' franchise, & hollywood as we know it 🍉🍉
what's that ONE word that's determined to be your enemy, the one you can never spell right and have to triple-check each time you use it? mine is rhythm and i'm not even convinced i spelled it right this time
i submitted the first 13,000 words of my novel to my writing mentor last night and most of it is a mess but i’m still so proud of myself for making it this far, the furthest i’ve gone with a novel in years. we’re making progress!! 🥳
no bc how am i supposed to write all my poetry chapbooks and my full-length and my novels and my children’s book and read 100 books and spend time with family and have a social life and my hobbies and exercise and rest and and and -
writers, i need your help!! 🚨 i'm a journalist working on a round-up of poetry collections by latinas coming out this year but am having trouble finding anything in my research. if you're a latina poet with a book releasing in 2023 or know of one, please drop/link it below!!
got published in the L.A. Times 2x, wrote a children's picture book (coming out in 2024!), interviewed some of my favorite authors like elizabeth acevedo & angie cruz, led my first in-person writing workshop, got accepted by syracuse to pursue a master's in library science
idk about y'all but i love when poem titles directly lead into the poem itself to form a complete phrase or sentence that just continues unraveling and asks you to follow, that's so chef kiss
it’s that time again, y’all! because i wrote + published 144 pieces this year (wipes forehead), here are just 16 of my favorite poems, articles, personal essays, and reviews for my 2022 writing round-up / a thread 🧵✨
you are a writer whether or not you write everyday you are a writer whether or not you write everyday you are a writer whether or not you write everyday you are a writer whether or not you write everyday you are a writer whether or not you write everyday you are-
i'm finally home from my week-long writing retreat so here is what i learned about writing, querying, publishing, and more from the editors, agents, authors, and instructors during my time there / a thread 🧵✨
there’s this scene in bridgerton s2 where edwina, a reader, talks to anthony, a non-reader, very earnestly about all the books she’s read while he sit and listens, and i think about that a lot
one of freeing things about poetry is how we're allowed to just make up new words, turn nouns into verbs + vice versa, bend language whichever way we want. like i just added "ed" to "staccato" and i don't even care that my doc is flagging it as a misspelling, not to me it isn't
interestingly, i think non-writers can be so helpful to the writing process. my partner has often talked me out of a slump, encouraged me to rest, served as a sounding board, brainstormed ideas w/ me, cheered me on in my worst moments of self-doubt. that support is invaluable.
i hosted a journaling workshop over the weekend, a podcast episode i was invited on earlier this month just released, and later today, i'm giving two guest lectures at a college about how to write op-eds. i'm a writer, y'all! i'm living a life of writing!! :')
do y’all ever submit work, read it over, realize you wanna change a word or phrase, become convinced your work’s acceptance is dependent on this single change, then spend the rest of the night thinking about it + regretting all your decisions? bc haha yeah me either 🙃
beyond thrilled to share my latest personal essay for
@Refinery29
!! ✨ thank you to the team for giving so much love to this story about me, my mom, and reimagining her "hoarding" tendencies as memory and archival work xx
okay writers, i'll bite - what are your honest, unfiltered thoughts about "instapoetry" & its effect on the writing community, the literary/publishing landscape, the genre of poetry as art form, etc.? i'm super curious & want all your takes!
every time i take a break from writing and come back, i'm reminded again of why this is my favorite thing in the whole world, why i could never do anything else, why this is what i was always meant to do <3
i’m starting grad school next week. i’m publishing my debut children’s picture book later this year. i’m turning 25 in august. 2024 is gonna be THAT girl ✨
because i wrote + published over 90 pieces this year (wipes forehead), here are just 15 of my fav articles, personal essays, short stories, and poems for my 2021 writing round-up / a thread 🧵✨
hey y’all! in case you didn’t know, i just opened my very own crochet shop today!! 🧶✨ as i’ve posted before, i love this craft so much & decided to make & sell some fun accessories. come celebrate summer with me ☀️
🛍️shop here:
i am beyond grateful to
@latimes
and editor
@NafeesaSyeed
for the recent publication of “Nineteen & Two”, my poem about last week’s tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, and my grief for our community, families, and children. read here:
fuck cnn. fuck bbc. fuck every major news outlet who isn't covering the international court of justice hearing today bc they don't want to face the fact that they are complicit in israel's genocide of the Palestinian people. history will remember who spoke up and who didn't.
i’m determined to make 2024 my year, y’all. submitting writing, ideas for workshops, applications, i’m putting myself out there and am enjoying every moment ✨
writer pro-tip: compile a comprehensive list of your writing influences/inspirations/heroes & favorite books to have handy at events/readings/meetings because i promise you WILL eventually be asked and you WILL forget how to answer every time
jane austen was so successful bc she understood that the only thing sexier than a man wooing you, was a man who could take no for an answer and leave you alone if it meant you’d be happy, and that’s on mr. darcy
still can’t believe today happened?! thanks again to
@latimesfob
and
@WriteGirlLA
for inviting me to read my poetry at this year’s festival of books, i’m honored beyond words. here’s a thread of my favorite photos from today 📚✨
this is particularly infuriating to me as a library student bc what do you mean we can be charged with a FELONY for something we might have in our collection? our job is literally antithetical to censorship, information suppression, & book bans, this is so disgusting
beyond thrilled to share my much-anticipated interview with the incredible
@acevedowrites
for
@latinamediaco
! ✨ we talked all about her debut adult novel Family Lore, Afro-Latina and Dominican rep, and more. mucho amor!! 🫶