COMING OF AGE
Growing up across three continents was both disorienting and exhilarating. In Venezuela, my extended family grounded me, and literature became my refuge. I came of age inside the pages of Pablo Neruda, Gabriel García Márquez, Rubén Darío, and Andrés Eloy Blanco.
sombra azul que cruza el mar
la borra el azul marino
In 2012, my late mother published a collection of poems in Spanish, deepening my connection to poetry as inheritance and safe harbor.
CALIFORNIA DREAMING
Each place that welcomed me through childhood and adolescence secretly nurtured a dreamer. To say that my academically focused parents were not thrilled about my hope to become an actress would be an understatement. I mentioned it once, quickly realizing I’d be better off setting that dream to rest as one might part with a loved one: surrendering, yet always remembering.
By eighteen, I was financially and emotionally independent, working toward degrees in architectural design and business administration. Fate redirected me into a seventeen-year career in media. I began producing and writing an entertainment news program, then spent the following sixteen years working primarily in Spanish-language film publicity, on and off camera, as a sole proprietor with major studios including Disney, Touchstone, and 20th Century Fox. My work reached audiences across fourteen South American countries. I also worked in English.
Clockwise from top left: With Michael Keaton for Batman Returns; with Ben Kingsley for Bugsy; with Michelle Pfeiffer, with Patrick Swayze for City of Joy; behind the scenes at Weller Grossman Productions; with Desde Hollywood’s cast, crew, and Grammy winner Luis Enrique to promote his album Una Historia Diferente.
PIVOTING MY PURPOSE
Motherhood paused that career, but not my creative drive. In 2014, I founded Designs by Alina, an online boutique accompanied by a long-running blog where writing lived alongside my designs, travel, and family life.
In 2021, my poem Dear Young Poet was published by Streetwriters, who later invited me to serve as a senior curator and contest judge. Supporting emerging writers remains one of the most meaningful chapters of my creative life.
NOTE FOR YOUNG WRITERS
Writing has taught me that passion and persistence can open doors. After completing my A levels in England, I returned to the U.S. unaware that standardized tests were required for college admission. I challenged my placement in remedial English with an essay. It landed me in Honors English.
If you love writing, practice often and persist always. The rest will follow.