Discovering Latinx Authors and Stories with Carla Is Reading

As readers, it's important to diversify our bookshelves and seek out stories that reflect the rich tapestry of cultures and experiences. In this episode, Alesia sits down with Carla Is Reading to discuss the significance of Latinx representation in romance novels. Carla shares her personal journey of discovering diverse authors and the importance of empathy and authenticity in literature.

Carla is a plus-size Boricua who discovered her love of reading through romance novels and later delved into the world of diverse romance, particularly Latinx and Black Romance. She finds joy in platforming, reviewing, and uplifting marginalized authors and their books. Through this work, she has learned about community and experiences outside of her own.

In this episode, we're discussing:

• Carla's evolution from casual reader to active book reviewer.
• The impact of discovering Latinx-centered stories.
• The value of reading across cultures to foster empathy and broaden perspectives.
• Understanding the nuances between Latinx and Hispanic heritage.
• Best practices for addressing stereotypes and misrepresentation in books.
• Carla's recommendations for must-read Latinx romance authors.
• Strategies for intentionally diversifying your reading habits throughout the year.

Diversifying our reading choices is a powerful way to celebrate the richness of Latinx culture and amplify underrepresented voices. By supporting Latinx authors, engaging in thoughtful discussions, and continuously expanding our literary horizons, we can create a more inclusive and empathetic reading community. Remember, there's a world of smutty, heartwarming, and empowering Latinx stories waiting to be discovered.

CONNECT WITH CARLA:

Instagram

TikTok

BOOKS/AUTHORS MENTIONED:

Alexis Daria (Amazon)

Adriana Herrera (Amazon)

Ofelia Martinez (Amazon)

Alexandria House (Amazon)

Mia Sosa  (Amazon)

Natalie Caña (Amazon)

Jade Hernández (Amazon)

Aleera Anaya Ceres (Amazon) 

A.H. Cunningham (Amazon)

All podcast books/authors mentioned (Doc)

Diverse Baseline Challenge

Thank you for listening to the We Read Smut Podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag @WeReadSmut. Don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast.

Connect with Alesia:
Storygraph

This podcast was produced by Galati Media.
Proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective.

Chapters

• 0:00 Carla's Reading Journey and Bookstagram Evolution
• 2:11 Incorporating Latinx Representation in Reading
• 4:14 The Importance of Variety and Empathy in Reading
• 9:44 Understanding Latinx Heritage and Representation
• 14:48 Challenges and Importance of Latinx Representation in Romance
• 19:35 Addressing Stereotypes and Misrepresentation in Literature
• 22:35 Examples of Harmful and Positive Representation
• 28:00 Recommended Latinx Authors and Their Works
• 35:17 Promoting Diversity in Reading Habits
• 38:59 Final Thoughts and Where to Find Carla

Transcript

Alesia Galati: 0:00

As readers, we know how important it is to diversify our shelves. Today we have Carla is reading to talk about why it's important to read Latinx stories and really be able to diversify our bookshelves in a way that's intentional and tons of smutty fun. Listener discretion is advised. This podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. Carla, I am so excited to have you here. I want to know before we get into all things Latinx representation in romance. How did you get started on this reading journey?

Carla Is Reading: 0:37

Hi. Oh, my God, thank you for having me here. I'm so excited to talk to you. So how did I get on this journey? I think I've always been a reader. What happened, though, that really got me full, full into reviewer mode, is that I started to interact more on Instagram as a bookish person versus regular content, the stuff that you threw out there for family to keep in touch with the kiddos and stuff. I started to post book reviews, and I saw the hashtag Bookstagram, and then from there on, that just kept evolving. Then it was like, I don't care what's happening in my life, let's talk about this book, because then that's how you start making the friends. And it's really the community that came along with Bookstagram that kept me on there, and what has now evolved into what it is today that I have a book talk and a Bookstagram and stuff like that with the Instagram Live series. So that's really just like the love of reading, and definitely romance, more specifically, is what really brought about this journey of mine.

Alesia Galati: 1:37

Yeah, and we're all about romance over here. And read the open door stuff. We read smut, obviously, like it is all about that you are a Latina. How does that incorporate into your reading journey? I know, for me as an afro Latina, when I first started on Bookstagram and started, first started, like getting into this community, it was very whitewashed. And like a lot of the authors that I was being pushed were white, a lot of the authors that I was personally reading were white. And I had to at the end of the year looking at my stuff, saying, This is a core value of mine to lift up voices that are underserved. How can I make sure that I'm doing that, not just in my business and how I show up there, but also in what I'm reading and the content that I'm consuming and the content that I'm promoting. So I know that was kind of my journey. What was yours?

Carla Is Reading: 2:30

The same as you I wasn't conscious of what I was consuming. I was just whatever. What was there the best sellers, right? That would be my next pick. It wasn't until I encountered during COVID. Alexis Darius, you had me at Hola. I knew that there was Latinx representation, but what I didn't know was, like, the beautiful Puerto Rican representation. And it wasn't anything that was like corny, like how I've seen in media that some things can make you cringe, and you're like, Oh no, that's not how we are. This was a very much a contemporary Puerto Rican woman that she's here. She's a fan girl of things. She's an actress. She's trying to make it. She's trying to be a better person every day. Meanwhile, she still has the parents like bugging her in her ear asking for updates. And I was like, I've never had this kind of representation. Like I had like, a crazy, mind blowing moment that I was like, What is this? It started this hunger. I was like, well, now I need more of this. If this book exists, there must be more, right? And so then I started searching. And I have literally, like a breadcrumb trail. It was from Alexis Daria to Priscilla, liveres to Adriana. Very distinct. I know exactly how I got to where I am. Now, not only that, it was also black romance, because, like, I grew up here in Florida with so many cultures. I'm in a racial marriage as well. So like, all this language, this verbiage, all this culture, this is me. I was inside these groups. And so it was like, through Alexis Daria, like Alexandria house, all these people that was like, Okay, no, no, no, this is the romance that I've been looking for. These are the people that are talking like me, that are talking like my friends. I understand this wound. This wound actually makes me swoon more than that swoon. You know, that's kind of how it happened. Then, not only that, I noticed that no one else was talking about these books, right? And I was like, Hey, did you know that I got the same heart flutters? Did you know that are like this also made me drop the book because, like, I couldn't believe the smut I was reading just the same as these white counterparts that we love. And then I didn't see the same drive, I didn't see the same push for the book. So that almost makes me want to push the books even more, you know, like, that's just how my brain works. Like, I'm like, Oh, well, you want this kind of panty dropping line. Oh, okay. Let me introduce you to alecus Dario. Let me introduce you to Adriana and Freda. Like, read this and then, and then you'll go, yeah.

Alesia Galati: 5:00

Yeah, I think it's such an important part too. Like we were talking before we hit record, we're all for reading what you love, reading to escape reading for whatever reason it is that you are reading, and no buts here, and it is so important that if you're thinking, Okay, I would love to read a second chance romance. Cool. Have some variety in there. There are Second Chance romances across all of these, whether that is Latinx, whether that is black romance, whether that is, you know, literally, monster smut, you can read that second chance.

Carla Is Reading: 5:40

But all there in so many forms, yeah, yes.

Alesia Galati: 5:44

And so like finding that variety, I think, really helps people to say, Oh, I like this trope. Wait a minute. I didn't know that these books had those tropes too. And there's also this idea that I has been going around of people saying, Oh, well, I can't relate. Hmm. I have lots of feelings on this.

Carla Is Reading: 6:05

Feelings on this in

Alesia Galati: 6:07

the middle of, like, two really distinct cultures of like, I was too white to be black. I was too sure Hispanic to be white. You know, I was very in the middle, and then also having a very white passing Hispanic and Italian mom, and then, like being with my cousins on the black side, and just not really feeling like I could fit in anywhere, like there are books for people who look like me, that are mixed, that have these More interracial upbringings, and to see that reflected, you can also see that reflected in anything else. But I think that people get this idea of like, Oh well, I can't relate to that person's lived experience, then what a great opportunity to learn.

Carla Is Reading: 6:55

Is what I like to say, it's already proven that reading enhances your empathy. Usually, we hear this conversation coming from, like, those people that read like literary fiction, like, Oh, I was in this person's shoes, and I felt the grief and I felt them lost in the forest. Like, you know, we hear in that conversation, and those studies and those statistics always brought up with that. But like, of course, reading romance is reading a book as well, and if you read someone from a different experience, good for you. Now, your horizons are broad, and like you're opening yourself up for more. And number two, you'll always see people reading alien romance, like goblin romance. And how can you relate to being called by a goblin or alien with an extra little spur. Can you really relate to that a blue person came to your door and, you know, showed you the stars. Let's really talk about life experiences and relating to something that's so outside of, like, really, really, really, really, are you really claiming that? To me, I feel like that's not a believable stance, because, like, you read outlandish things that you have never, probably will never go through, even though I believe in aliens, like, you'll probably never go through this, you know when you're out here, like, oh, so in love. So apply the same principles, babe. Like, open up a Latinx romance book. Come on. You can do it. I mean,

Alesia Galati: 8:19

I'm right there. Speed me up. Space, Daddy, I get it. I get it. But it's important, you know, we're here, we're on Earth. Let's get grounded and like, read about these pieces. And you're so right. The Empathy part, I think, is such a beautiful part that I know I personally have experience in reading what people are struggling with, to be able to empathize with that. I think that it reading, and especially in romance, because it is lighter, it is fluffier, but it still tackles really deep issues. And I just think it's such a beautiful, beautiful thing that we're able to use as a tool.

Carla Is Reading: 9:00

I love romance for that same exact reason. Kennedy Wright has that famous poet that she says, like, to me, romance is the perfect space to explore all sorts of life experiences. She's a really good author to bring up about that too, because she's she writes all sorts of women, the complicated the ones with a lot of backstory, with health issues. I think romance, that's one of the reasons why it is my favorite, I could read just only romance and be happy more. So these past couple of years, I've been like, let me, you know, include this. Let me include that. This year has been like my non fiction year. I've been trying to squeeze in some non fictions here and there, but I could absolutely just read romance and I will be like the happiest person, because you can explore so much just with that genre. Yes,

Alesia Galati: 9:44

absolutely. When we say Latinx community, what exactly? And I actually found this really interesting when we had Latinx Heritage Month. Of like, what is Latinx heritage versus Hispanic heritage? And I know there's a lot. Lot of interchanging of that language, which isn't really accurate. So can you break down Latinx heritage and like what that looks like?

Carla Is Reading: 10:08

So when we speak about first of all, Latinx, Latina Latin we're talking about the influence of both Portugal, Spain and other Latin rooted countries that came into what is now Latin America, right? And when I like to talk about the Hispanic versus Latinx, Hispanic has to do with Spain and a Spanish speaker. So when we look at Latin America, we're talking about Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, you know, all those countries. But then when we talk about Brazil, when we talk about Haiti, those are Latin American countries. They don't speak Spanish, so we wouldn't label them Hispanic, because in Haiti's, they speak the French, French, and in Brazil, they speak Portuguese. So they can't be called Hispanic, right? But there is a label to that covers all of us here, that we're all part of the people that were pillaged by them Europeans. And that influence has is all over the Caribbean, right? So when we celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, we are celebrating us, the people that have been influenced Spain isn't really part of that. Spain is doing just fine, right? It's more so about these countries that now, after all these years, they have developed their own culture and their own ways of speaking. So we're celebrating that heritage, and that's what the month from September 15 to October 15. That's what we celebrate that heritage, that diaspora, and that's the main difference. So you might need somebody who just prefers to be called Hispanic. They might prefer to be called Latina, Latino, Latinx and Latina, and even the evils or the gender neutral, because Latina and Latino, that's very for her and for him. And then there's people that just identify in between. So they rather use Latinx, Latina. That's where all that comes from in the Heritage Month. And it really depends on the person. What they prefer to be labeled. How you can find out is just by sitting and observing to see how a person labels themselves. Sometimes they prefer to just be called Panamanian, Puerto Rican. It's very confusing because it's a self identifying thing. And then we also evolve. And sometimes we're like, I don't like this label, so we might change it. So it's just one of those things that I know sometimes the non Latina people don't know how to approach and label, which is completely fine to be confused. So were we, I highly just recommend just doing research on a person, sitting back and seeing how they label themselves. And you can always have you find a confident way to approach someone and ask what they prefer to be labeled. You could do that as well. Hopefully there's enough like trust in there that you can have some sort of exchange like that, where you can find out what they prefer to be

Alesia Galati: 12:57

labeled. Yeah, and just to like name a few that tend to be labeled during Latinx Heritage Month, but actually do not fall under that category. Alena armas, she's she's Spanish like Spain. And then Abby Jimenez, that's her husband's last name, and she is not Hispanic. And she has come out and said, No, please don't put me on those lists, because I'm not and that takes place from other people. So those are two that I know off the top of my head, that a lot of people tend to categorize in Latinx roundups and things like that, sure, and I think that it's really important that we do, like you literally could ask I was creating a Latinx heritage kind of collage. And I said, Hey, I think that person might be Latinx, but let me just send them a DM. And so I did. I sent them a DM. I said, Hey, I'm doing a roundup, and you don't have to specify. You can say, I don't want to answer. That's totally cool, too. But do you identify as Latinx? Can I put you in this roundup? And they said, Yes, I do. I am this. Go ahead and add me. Thank you so much for thinking about that. And so like, you literally just ask it really is that? So, yeah,

Carla Is Reading: 14:07

literally, yeah. I love that you said that experience, because usually that's how it is. If somebody knows you're coming in with like, with respect and like, I want to correctly label you. I'm about to do a roundup, a recommendation. Do you mind sharing this perfect approach, honestly, and

Alesia Galati: 14:23

also being like, it's okay to say no, right? Like, if you don't want to be included,

Carla Is Reading: 14:27

a little discrepancy, hey, by the way, ignore this. Say that you don't feel comfortable. And, you know, yeah, got it, not a problem. Yeah,

Alesia Galati: 14:35

I think that it's so important. Why do you think that it's important that there is Latinx representation in romance, specifically, since obviously this is we read smut. Why do you think that's really important?

Carla Is Reading: 14:48

I think that we are more than our trauma stories. There are beautiful, wonderful, in depth stories of people, of immigrants, of people that have. That have overcome something and as those stories should exist as they should, but we are more than that too. We fall in love. We have epic love stories to make you believe in love as well. We have epic love stories to be told and to be learned from and to be gushed after. Right? We look at media. We look at the shows on TV, the movies, put out the Latina population. We hardly get any representation. It's very difficult. Our shows are like the most canceled on HBO, on Netflix, like when you have a full Latinx cast, it's so difficult to find a long running show. So when you think about it in romance and romance books, it's like even more vital. It's even more vital to buy the books, to read them, to rate them, to review them, to also recommend them, because that representation is so currently silenced in other forms of media right now, and just like I had mentioned earlier, we're just more than the trauma. We're more than the heartbreak. We're out here also looking for heart flutters, and we're out here looking for the next book Bobby to fall for.

Alesia Galati: 16:08

We do deserve to see ourselves in these books, just like anybody else deserves to see themselves. There's this new show. I want to say it's Nick Jr or Disney Junior. One of those. It's called Primos, and it's all about these cousins that are home together for the summer. And there's like, seven of them, and they all are there. It's so good. And what I literally only saw one episode, and I was like, This is my new favorite show, because the representation of all the cousins looked like my family get togethers of like, such a variety of color, right? You have the, you know, the white cousin with red hair. You've got the really dark cousin with, like, very, you know, kinky hair. And it's like, that is what Hispanic families look like. That is what all the pretty almost look like. And I underperson. I loved seeing that because especially my kids, they're even less Puerto Rican than I am, and so like being able to show them like this is what our family get togethers would look like. Like this is what that is. This is why, if you see someone who looks one way, you don't know for sure if they don't have Hispanic heritage or Latinx heritage, so sure, don't judge someone just by how they look. And so being able to present that to my kids, I thought it was so fun, but I think is such a step in the right direction for seeing ourselves, whatever color you know we are on TV, and not just as the George Lopez or the Jennifer Lopez or any of those, right like the very prominent stereotypical which I hate that so watch, because we are so diverse in how we look, how we approach life, how we feel about our culture. And then you add in the fact of like, those of us born in the US versus those of us immigrated or otherwise, there's so much to these stories that I think is worth saying.

Carla Is Reading: 18:11

There's so many experiences. And you bring up a really good point about like, the stereotypical type of Latina or Latino that we grew up seeing with the very little representation that we saw here in the US, there is a very there's a phenotypical common use, and that's why, the reason why, exactly, like you pinpointed in perfect like, we're like, the J Lo type of look, right? And there's so much more. There's Afro Latinos, especially, that have been so underrepresented. And as someone who has like raising biracial children, it's really important that I show them that there's that existence and it's beautiful and has always been around, you know. So I love Thank you for saying that absolutely we there's such a wide range of how we look, you know, such a wide range.

Alesia Galati: 18:57

Yeah. So let's get to the not so fun part of

Carla Is Reading: 19:03

these questions.

Alesia Galati: 19:06

There are quite a few authors that you know with intentions, whether good or bad, have done work to portray good work or bad work, work to portray Latinx characters. How do you think that authors could maybe do better, or even we as readers, could do better to pinpoint maybe those stereotypical things or those things that are really not authentic, and like keeping it respectful, sure,

Carla Is Reading: 19:38

sure. I wholeheartedly believe in calling in, not call out, but calling in, where you come with like empathy from one human to another, that you recognize Somebody's here. They don't know everything you're learning, just like how I am. I have spotted this, you know, misrepresentation here is this information. Question. You know, I am from this experience. This is like, done incorrectly, right? There should be some sort of two way communication where that can happen. I think currently, as a books, the grand population, book talk, a book influencer, book reviewer, we don't have that equipped yet, right? I think, and it makes sense, because this is very new the seeing rep in books, right? It's a very new thing. Whether you are from the experience or you're writing about experience, it's a very new thing. So pinpointing the errors and the harmful stereotypes, how to bring that up to someone, is a very new thing, right? But this has happened, right? We have authors that have done very harmful stereotypes. And I would say honestly, the best advice I could give is to just listen. Right? Just listen. We do know that others evil flags to everything right. We have the people that just ride the coattails of a controversy and they just want to create noise, we know. And then we have the people that take the time to teach why this was harmful, right? Obviously, I can imagine, as an author, that caused harm, what's going to cross my algorithm first is probably the people that are just out here trying to make noise, right? And don't care about how much you learn, they just want to make noise. I can imagine it could be such a scary thing to be called out, to be called in. But the best advice I can give as an author that just found out that it caused harm is to just listen like simply listen, avoid reactions, just those innate reactions that some you know when you're being called out for anything, whether your wife and your husband said, Hey, you did this wrong, you might go on to the defense, right? That's a very humid reaction. It's very understandable, right? So it might be a very innate and natural thing to go on the defense, but because this isn't an experience outside of your own, the best thing that you could do is sit back and learn. I believe that in the future of us, and I don't know how distant, how near the future is, that we will have like pillars, people that you can come to for information, right, people appointed like you wrote hurtful Amex identity in this book, let's trace you to this team. Let's put you over to this team for a consultation so that you can know right, what you can do now as an author, definitely sensitivity reads and you want a wide array of experiences, right? It's really important not to get like, a team of the yes people that are like, yes, everything your own is perfect. You're good, you're good. You know, you want someone that's that's non biased, and that says you shouldn't use this word, and you shouldn't use this description. This is actually has a really harmful history to it. You know, you know you want someone that's going to give you that honest feedback, understanding that this is not your experience, so it's okay to get feedback, right, so that you could put out the best work that you can put out as a community. Though, I honestly it's so hard for me to say anything, because we're there's so many of us here. There are really good books out there that I follow. A couple of people that are really good at recommending non fiction, about calling in in a community, then I really I need to find out the books they've showed them, like in their stories. I need to go back and see it. But I believe in like, at least us as a community, reading these type of books right, and learning how to actively communicate with the author, the person that did harm. Are you bringing this feedback to better something? Are you bringing this feedback just to call Shane, I think, as a question, that's an important question we should all ask ourselves. This topic is so complex in that manner, because there's so many moving parts, right? My wish and hope is for world peace. But like, it's really like both the the person giving the feedback, the person receiving to like, develop a healthy exchange, right in a perfect world, that's what it would look like. But as for now, I authors need to, I feel like they need to really examine, why are you writing this experience outside of your own? What's the purpose? Is it that important to include this? And are you equipped to outsource and make sure that this representation is correct? You know? Yeah. So, yeah, I know. Complex issue.

Alesia Galati: 24:19

It can get really sticky, really fast. I mean, really fast. There's two examples I can think of. One, an author posted on threads. They have since deactivated their account. They were like, shout out to the three black women who said my book was great, and then screw everybody else in the bipoc community. And it was like, Whoa. That is, that is not now you respond. Sometimes you just need to sleep on things before you click clack on your phone. You know? Yeah. And then another example that was actually really great was one I had where someone had wrote something in their book, and it wasn't any even. Anything like heritage or that it was they had mentioned an audio Narrator That was definitely not someone you would want to mention in your book. I did not realize that she just made up the name, and it was a coincidence that this other person was a narrator and was a trash human. So I reached out to her, and I was like, I am 100% sure that you did not mean to do this, but heads up, this person has harmed people. And, you know, like, and she was like, wow, I had no idea. Scary

Carla Is Reading: 25:36

message to say no, and I was terrified.

Unknown: 25:39

So I applaud you. I honestly that's a scary message to send.

Alesia Galati: 25:43

Yes. I was like, I know you, and I know that you would never do this, and so I just want it to, like, be brought to your attention. And I feel so terrible because I was part of her arc team, and I didn't get to read the book before it came out, so it was already out in the world, and then she ended up going back and doing edits, changing the name, and like, made a post about it, and she was like, I'm so sorry for anyone I've hurt. And I was like, No, I 100% knew, like, there's no way that she would actually do this intentionally. And like, I know your heart was in the right place. And I was really happy that when I sent the message, but did it from a place of like, not well, you know, you did this thing wrong, and how dare you? I think sometimes too, as the offended, we can also come across that way, and sometimes we do need to 100 sit and think on it and say, Okay, I'm a human. They're human. Humans make mistakes. Yes, this was harmful, or this really bothered me. What is the next step for me personally? Do I need to talk to a friend? Do I need to talk to a therapist? Do I need to just wash my hands of it and look away like there are lots of options I think, for us that we can take, but this is why it's so important to read own voices, and I think that it really helps us to be able to see a more accurate representation beyond what we see in Hollywood or what we've seen in, you know, the top the Big Five publishing companies, seeing those Own Voices, I think, really helps us to be able to experience these stories and these heritages in a different way.

Carla Is Reading: 27:15

Correct? I totally agree. It's definitely a two way street. This is a constant exchange. When you're calling in a constant exchange, like me, the person calling someone in to inform and educate and hopefully help correct, and then also the the colleague right, the person that's hearing this feedback and maybe learning that there's a Content Exchange where people need to evaluate the feelings, the emotions. It's really hard on the internet, though, because a lot of people want justice now, yeah, you know they want it now they're like, you did it wrong. Now you burn into flames.

Alesia Galati: 27:53

It's so true. So now we got the not so fun part of the way. Let's go through some of your favorite Latinx authors. I want to know all of them. Like, if someone's like, I want to make sure that I'm including Latinas, Latinos into my reading. Where do you recommend that they begin with some of these stories?

Carla Is Reading: 28:15

Oh, yeah. Oh my god. I hope you guys are ready. Warm up your wreck.

Alesia Galati: 28:21

We'll make sure we have all of these linked in the show notes as well. So if you're like, Wait, what was that? I didn't write fast enough we got you. Good,

Carla Is Reading: 28:28

good. Okay, definitely my OG girly pops, Alexa starria, some really great romance. I love that. First of all, she cares equally about her female and male leads in her books, as in their mental health also matters. The male's mental health and where they are, they're also actively working on themselves, which is sometimes, as readers, we're like, oh my God, why doesn't he have his together? Like he's only supposed to make me swoon. But she equally takes care of both her characters individually. That's something I really love about Alexa starvia is writing andreana etrera. She is the queen of, just like Afro Latinx representation, like if you want to see yourself, do you want to you want to hear about the beautiful curls? You want to hear about just how feeling a little bit different? And she also has, like her historical romance series, she does such avid research. For me, since I'm such a fan girl of her, whenever she goes like, this is all the research I did, I just lap that up because, like, it's amazing. She'll really go in. She'll be friend librarians and historians, as she finds out, like, about historic facts while she's building her books. The best thing about her is all her female leads are so headstrong, and they tend to be first or second gen immigrants, so they're also like the mothers of the friend group that they need to learn how to say no and how to grab less responsibilities and how to let the male lead that she's introducing take care of her because he. Takes care of her. That's something about her men, too. They take care from head to toe, and sometimes spend time in other areas for a really long time.

Alesia Galati: 30:09

I love it. And then we

Carla Is Reading: 30:11

have Mina, Sosa, that she's the rum come queen. She's the one that I will just like tilt my head back and cackle out loud because she's so dang funny. And I love that all her books, you can find different kind of Latinx representation. And sometimes it's like, the double couple, sometimes it's a girl, sometimes he's the guy. She gives us, like, this wide range of all these experiences, all while making laugh. And she does some great sting too. Yeah, it's so funny when you talk to her, because she's like, she speaks like she has this cute little girl. And you wouldn't think that she writes like this, my you know, I love you. So I would also recommend Natalie Kanya. She's a Puerto Rican writer, Puerto Rican Dominican writer, and she is also rom com queen, like she Oh, my God, her her conversations and the chat on her book. I can't tell you how many people that take my Rex from her will send me voice notes like this. Lady is so funny, so funny. Her third book is about to come out. Well, we're gonna air this later, but it's about to come out at the end of this month, and it's like her seniors one, yet they're like a really messy couple that would secretly hook up, and they meet again and they can't stop secretly hooking up. I love that kind of stuff. Oh, that's like my catnip. Yeah. I also recommend Jade Hernandez. She's a Mexican writer, Mexican American writer. She writes like, learn to love you when I read that. What was that last year that was such a standout read. She really is reminds me a lot of Alexis Daria and the fact that she really takes care of both her characters. They both have a storyline to overcome, and she writes the dirtiest smut scenes, including, like Spanish dirty talk, like the man will say the dirtiest, filthiest things in Spanish to the female lead, and that like

Alesia Galati: 32:02

and she has some like diverse genres, right? So not just she

Carla Is Reading: 32:07

has a pen name for fantasy and paranormal called alira Anaya series. And in that one, because people are creatures, you get all sorts of representation in those books. You get like worldly and out of worldly representation in those books, I love her. She'll tickle all your fancies, whether you're just like rom com. She does dark romance too, because she has a Motorcycle Club series. Then she also has, like the paranormal and fantasy. With her pen name, I cannot not talk about, ah, Cunningham. Oh, I, I cannot not talk about, ah, Cunningham, okay. Like that. Woman is a master at smut, at kink. She takes care of the kink that she writes. She's the one that does research. So when she includes something that's like a clamp here, a slap there, she has done her research. And then, not only that, she's the perfect example of an afro Latina that she writes both from just the black experience. She'll write just black love, black romance, and she'll write Latinx romance too, and she writes all in between. And she does it so wonderful. Like, sometimes I'll read a book, I'm like, Are these people even Hispanic? Are they Latino? I don't even know. I don't even care. Like, I love their slang. Like everybody in here is brown. I don't know where they're from, but like, she does that so expertly. And even though I may be confused, I know that she did it correct, because there's something about her, when she puts out a piece of work, she makes sure things are done correct when it comes to representation through the scope of things, I think if you're starting with Latinx, if you start with these like this will open you up for even more like it's so easy to keep branching out. Not only that, I feel like these Latina authors, they they're always like cheering each other on. If you follow them on social media, they're always praising each other's pup day and stuff like that. And they equally look indie authors too. So they like exalt in the authors. They also exalt the TRad pub. So if you start with those, I feel like I'm already treating you. So some really yummy stuff, yes.

Alesia Galati: 34:06

And I think you can find a trope in there that's like, one that you like, yes, read what you love, and yes, branch out and find new things, find new experiences. It's gonna be great. I promise. Yes. I think Mia Sosa was the first one that I read in like, this current reading journey that I was like, yeah, oh, my God. What is this? I want to eat it. I love Yes. It's

Carla Is Reading: 34:32

kind of funny because you kind of enter and you're like, laughing, laughing, laughing, hahaha. This is funny that you're like, oh, oh, oh, NIA Sosa, you made me laugh, and you've tickled me.

Alesia Galati: 34:47

Yeah, I had a friend. I was telling her, I was like, You need to read her. You need to check her out. And then she got to a certain scene, bent over a car in the side of the floor field. You know I'm saying. And I was like, yep. She was like, dang, yum. So good. Now, obviously we are huge proponents of don't just read Latinx during Latinx Heritage Month. Don't just read Black romance during Black Heritage Month, like just guys, come on all year round, all year, do it. So what are some things that you recommend, or ways that you recommend that people are able to like hold themselves accountable to really diversifying? I know some things that I have off the top my head, following people like you, people who are from this community that are sharing these representations. Also, the diverse baseline Challenge is a really great one as well. They've got lots of prompts that will really broaden your horizons. We're going to be doing the alphabet bipoc challenge again in 2025 so that's awesome. Finding something in there. There's so many different ones. But what are some ways that you recommend?

Carla Is Reading: 36:05

I definitely think that people assess readers, if we adapt like a very much like the diverse baseline, a 5050, rule for every white book you buy, buy something. Bipoc, tell yourself, well, okay, I'm gonna go buy this Ali Hazelwood, but I recently heard about Alexis Daria. I recently heard about Ophelia Martinez. I'm also gonna go find Ophelia Martinez book. I want to buy this Colleen Hoover or whatever. Let me buy this other dark romance by a black author, right? Like tell yourself when you go purchase at a bookstore. Don't leave that bookstore without something bipoc. And I mean bipoc, I mean non white, you know, as well as, like you said, following people who read like this all year, doing the challenges, they're fun, but they also just like attending a book club. That makes you know that maybe a book club will pick a book for you, and you just have to write along and you say, Oh, well, I ended up liking this book. I would have never liked it. That's what the challenges are for very it's very much like that they give you this prom. You try and fill it in. How do you fill it in? You already following the creators to give you the Rex, right? So you read that book, and then you find out that this is a great writer. Because a great writer is a great writer. No matter what you know, sometimes we don't know that we're like ingrained. We've been taught all our lives to look away from things and not find things appealing that are outside of us. So that's how you follow the people that recommend diverse all year as well. Because then you go and you pick up that book and you find out that it's excellently written with great swimmers and great SMUD and great this and you had a great experience. So definitely like the diverse baseline, if you can create that as your motto, every time you go to purchase a book, when you go and purchase on Kindle, or any of your ebook providers, also pick up a counterpart. Just tell yourself, I just got this white author. Now I remember that I'm gonna be holding myself accountable. Let me pick this one up. Also following the authors. Authors are always like, sharing when their book is free for the week. Yeah? Like, that's how I get like, half of the books that I have like, when they're like, oh, it's free today only, I'm like, searches the book and grabs it that day. Yes, yeah. I

Alesia Galati: 38:20

mean, honestly, I feel like this is a whole side tangent and could be a whole episode on itself, but like there is no reason to be pirating books. There are so many, especially in the romance collection, there are so many times that authors have them for free. I mean, people like you and actually constantly sharing when things are free. I mean, once we're recording. There are over 560 books that are free literally today

Carla Is Reading: 38:47

and stuff your kid all day literally. And they even gave you the categories for bipoc, like, just go in there and grab them. They are free.

Alesia Galati: 38:55

Yes, free. Come on, guys. Carla, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for being on where can people find you? Get to know you, hang out with you. Thank

Carla Is Reading: 39:04

you so much. I really appreciate you having me on here. I love our conversation. This is so special, but you can find me on Instagram and Tiktok with the same name, Carla is reading, and I'll be posting reviews. I'm kind of chaotic, I'm kind of crazy, but I'm here for a blast.

Alesia Galati: 39:22

Yes, and I love your lives. You always do a bunch of lives with authors, and like getting new authors in front of people. And I just, I love that aspect as well. If I'm if I notice that you're live, I usually try to pop in for a few seconds if I can what's going

Unknown: 39:37

on over here.

Alesia Galati: 39:41

Exactly. I

Carla Is Reading: 39:44

love it. So thank you so much, Alesia. I appreciate your time. You.