Hey beautiful ones! I wanted to send a quick note of gratitude. Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter and for being a supporter of my work over the years. Several weeks ago I made the revolutionary decision to leave social media for a year calling it my #socialmediapurge #creativeclarity. At first it was challenging to disconnect and go off the grid, but I have found that leaving those spaces has allowed me to be more focused on my art. So while I miss seeing cute images of your children, family, vacations, outings, yoga poses, community events, selfies, daily inspiration, pets and food pics, I want you to know that I am feeling really good right now. I feel like I have taken back control over my time.
ABOUT ME
Some of you might know me, others might just be learning about me for the first time.
I am a Writer, Producer, Playwright, Speaker, Activist, Teaching Artist, Afrolatina Lesbian Storyteller and Priestess. I was born in Brooklyn and am a proud Dominican Writer. I founded the New York City Latina Writers Group, which is turning 13 this year and am the 2018 recipient of the BRIO Award (Bronx Recognizes its Own) for fiction. I am a proud Cave Canem and VONA Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation alum, but mostly I am proud of myself for writing my first memoir in one month (you read that correctly) and for my work on the documentary series Afrolatinos The Untaught Story.
The reason why I have come off social media is to complete my historical fiction novel where I merge prose, poetry and witchcraft, while simultaneously working on “I.D.G.A.F – I Don’t Give a Fck”, a memoir that dissects three generations of rage. I am actively seeking an agent for my children’s series, “Oggun the Young Warrior” as well as continuing to work on smaller projects that I will be sharing with you in the coming months. I am very excited about this time in my life. Coming off social media has also freed up my time to launch my business WWW.LASANTERA.NYC, where I will be offering spiritual and writing services as a Santera and Writing Midwife. Not only did I come off social media, but I have taken a year sabbatical to solely focus on my art! I will be sending updates about my journey.
What you will find in my newsletter each month is a SHOUT OUT section where I shout out the amazing people I am connecting with, and the incredible things I am doing. I will share my UPCOMING EVENTS and WORKSHOPS and I will always leave you with something to MEDITATE on!
SHOUT OUT!
I want to thank all of those who attended the Calladita te Ves Mas Bonita workshop during the Dominican Writer’s Conference last month. My workshop and the conference was met with a packed house. I left inspired by all of the writers who showed up and trusted me with their stories.
I also want to shout out the attendees of the Sankofa Sisterhood Writer’s Retreat which took place two weekends ago. Sisters, I am thinking about you all deeply and have a reflection I intend on emailing. There are so many thank you’s to go out!
Sankofa Sisterhood keynote address by the amazing Anastacia Renee
UPCOMING EVENTS
Get your tickets for BAAD! Bronx Academy of Dance OUT LIKE THAT World Pride events. Join me Thursday, June 20th @ 7PM
ANNOUNCEMENTS!
ANNOUNCING MY Patreon page! To become a patron of my art please check out my page. Welcome to my page. Welcome to my world. Welcome to my writing. My writers journey began after September 11, 2001. When 9/11 happened I felt this urgency to discover what my life purpose was. I was desperate. I began to meditate on the questions: “If I were to have died in one of those towers what would I have left behind for my daughter? What significant contributions have I left? How will she remember me?” And in that moment, literally, exactly two weeks later on October 3, 2001, a writer was born.
Visit my La Santera Patreon page to continue reading.’
ALICIA’S MEDITATION
Saying goodbye to Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter was harder than I thought. The first week I came off social media I was in withdrawal. Social media in many ways has felt like an addiction, something we must have, must connect to, must be part of. It was challenging because so much of our existence is measured and quantified in likes. Once I surrendered and released that attachment I have come to realize that it is all a lie. Nothing can measure against the real connections I have made and will continue to make. Yes there are wonderful benefits for self-promotion, selling projects, and sharing information quickly, but honestly I have had to rethink what I believe is valuable in my life. Losing my brother has taught me so much about letting go of what doesn’t add value, what doesn’t matter and valuing what DOES! Life is short! I know it is a cliche’ but it is. I never saw this loss coming and now what I am left with is this desperate desire to COMPLETE everything–to finish as much as I can.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. Please share my work with anyone you think could use some love!
Aché, With love,
Anabel
Copyright © 2019 Alicia Anabel Santos, All rights reserved.
The Writer and The Story 