Friday, April 29, 2005

Chicana Role Model, Michele Serros

The past two days I've met some great creative people. Yesterday I met Vanessa Williams (Melrose Place/Soul Food the Showtime series)... more on her in a bit.

Today, I met Michele Serros, a great California born-and-bred writer who's now living in NYC. She came back home, so to speak, today to do a few book signings and appearances in the L.A. area. So I got to hear her speak and meet afterwards. She read from her two books, Chicana Falsa, and How to Be a Chicana Role Model. Then talked with us about writing, publishing, and getting stories told.

Michele is hilarious and a great storyteller. She shared her experiences working in Hollywood, as she helped with the original writing team that launched The George Lopez Show, and before that worked as a page for the show In Living Color that launched the careers of Jim Carrey, the Wayans family, and of course, Jennifer Lopez. You gotta read Serros' essay, "Seek Support from Sistas" in How to Be a Chicana Role Model for dish on how a certain dancer, now famous singer, on the show interacted with our young, innocent page on the set. Hmmm...

The overall message: everyone has a story, no matter what the NYC publishing industry tells you, no matter what the L.A. television/film industry tells you, and you don't have to please Missouri or Iowa to be true to yourself, your cultura, or for your work to be deemed acceptable.
fs

1 comment:

TheBlacks said...

I'll be waiting to hear about the Vanessa Williams event -- I actually drove out to Cal State LA but couldn't find my way into The Golden Eagle. I made it to the bookstore who's doors were locked.