How to Handle Rejection from a Literary Agent
I waited two weeks to react to my first rejection letter from a literary agent. Well, that’s not entirely true. I went through a whole …
NASHP.org
In 2011, I landed a part-time gig as a web content manager for the National Academy for State Health Policy, aka NASHP, a think tank …
COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Tracker
This vaccine mandate tracker I built with NASHP state health policy researchers in June 2021 has been repeatedly cited by the New York Times, Washington …
Orlando’s Puerto Rican Day Parade: An Unintentional Display of Revolution
Big jeeps with big wheels and flags conjure a revolutionary feeling, right? Is it on purpose? Or are they just having fun and I’m reading …
THE NINE LIVES OF MARIA LA GATA
A NOVEL I am revising about my great-grandmother who was a rum runner in 1920s Puerto Rico.© November 18, 2021 THE NINE LIVES OF MARIA …
How the Heck is Vieques?
Twenty years ago, shortly after 9/11, I wrote this article for New America Media and it “went viral” in newspapers all over California, including the …
When I met Esmeralda Santiago
In 2009, I participated in a memoir writing workshop led by Esmeralda Santiago, author of the famous “When I Was Puerto Rican.” I absolutely worshipped …
When I met Stan Lee
I thought this was my “big break” into Hollywood. A Latino investor I had interviewed for “The Angel Journal” introduced me to his other client …
Love Cubed
“Love Cubed” was the working title of a novel I wrote in Miami under my pen name Kemila Velan. It’s about three people who had …