Thread by @Guerrerawr, A massive massive thank you to everyone who watched one year ago [...]

A massive massive thank you to everyone who watched one year ago and today to celebrate. It means the world to me all these 365 days later. 1/ https://twitter.com/guerrerawr/status/1385247020290560008">https://twitter.com/guerreraw...

https://twitter.com/guerrerawr/status/1385247020290560008

Thanks to @SocDistBookFest for having faith in me and putting up an amazing event that changed my life. 2/

(This and the next couple of tweets are going to get a bit more personal and emotional so proceed at your own risk)

On December of 2018, I graduated college from something chosen for me that I never fell in love with and I thought that was it for me. I thought I’d end up doing something I didn’t want to do just bc my family expected it. 3/

So when in 2019 I wasn’t landing any jobs in my study/career field I started feeling worthless. That’s how it went for the entirety of the year. It took me landing 3 short gig jobs for me to realize that I was doing something wrong. 4/

Small tangent.

The Kid with Bruce Willis & Spencer Breslin is one of my favorite movies ever. I particularly love the scene where Rusty first appears and criticizes Russell’s life choices. He was so disappointed in his 40 something y/o self. 5/

In 2019, I knew 8 y/o Paola was disappointed in my 24 y/o self.

I didn’t know how to fix that. I didn’t know how to make 8 y/o Paola proud of me. 6/

It took some time but in February of 2020 I read Tiny Pretty Things by @brownbookworm and @sona_c, a book about three high school ballerinas who would give anything and everything for the star role. It changed my life. 7/

TPT forced me to go back and think about the last time I ever felt passionate about something. The kind of passion that didn’t let anything stand between me and my dream. For Gigi, Bette & June, it was ballet. For me, it was books. So I decided to go for it. 8/

The only problem was I had no idea where to start. But then Natalia from @SocDistBookFest hopped on a group chat and invited anyone interested to host a panel available and she chose the Latinx fantasy one for me, for which I couldn’t be more grateful. 9/

I remember April 25, 2020 so well. I had class from 8 to 2, went to the supermarket, participated in a reader meet up with @ConSaborRC and then I hosted “Navigating Latinx Identity in Fantasy.” 10/

@LaAnnaMarie was the 1st one in. As @amparo_ortiz, @chantelacevedo, @zlikeinzorro & @djolder it dawned on me how real all of it was. I was moderating a panel with brilliant writers and 100+ people were watching. 11/

The panel was a blast! I was nervous as hell but everyone (authors and audience) was so, so cool I had no reason to be. I knew then that this is my purpose in life. 12/

I love books. Fiction has pulled me out of depression episodes, it’s brought me laughs, tears, anger, but most of all, it breathed life into me. 13/

I know now that I’m meant to be boosting and championing books. Doing so on my own channel, in my author interviews and work with @CaffeineTours aka @shutupshealea has brought me immense joy. I couldn’t possibly capture in words how much it’s all meant to be. 14/

Thank you to the authors who’ve done interviews with me. Thank you to the people who watch them, like them and leave me comments. It makes my day so much brighter. 15/

Thank you for trusting me to organize an entire event around my identity @LHMBookFest. Thank you to my friends, especially @alifebydreaming, @CryptidRea, @herafshin, Aimal and @iamrainbou. I thank god for your existence every single day. 16/

And a special thank you to @boricuareads, @joceraptor, & @perpetualpages for joining me, @amparo_ortiz & @chantelacevedo celebrating the one year anniversary of the day that changed my life. I love you and appreciate you so, so much.

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/fin

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