Hobbies & Interests I was born with a book in my hands, the pen came later. It's impossible to remember a time when reading wasn't a passion, and writing an obsession. If you enjoy your work, you'll never work again. Then again there's also renting movies, staying up late, not getting up early, job hunting. Coffee and cigarettes. Looking for my dreamjob, which is also looking for me. You know what I can't get enough of these days? Sometimes missing a whole night of sleep? Internet. It's got me in its claws. There is always something else that needs searching. And I want to learn more of graphic designing. I also like to sleep a lot, just so you know. I can work until the cows do their thing, but it's very very hard to wake up before, wow, 9:00 I'd say. I hope this doesn't work against me. We all have different clocks, and do our best work at different hours. Most of my intense writing could not possibly be done, even if my life depended on it, at 1 in the afternoon.

I honestly believe I'm one of the best English and Spanish translator /copywriter /proofreader /interpreters (she said modestly) out there. I have 18 years of experience, which is no small feat, and this is what I enjoy doing the most. I'm a ''natural born'' writer (meaning, it's my calling) as well as copywriting; advertising has been my field of choice for quite a while, and a lot of fun it has been, but I'm not against trying something different if the opportunity presents itself. Public Relations is one of the things I'd like to do, or rather, continue doing, since I've been working part time in a PR firm since the summer (of 2009)

I earned my Bachelor's Degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, in May of 1994 - Writing, Literature, Film History, some Philosophy, a bit of Psychology, and certainly a lot of Art. I lived in Brooklyn for a while after graduating in 1994, and even though I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, New York fit me like a glove. Nonetheless, the time came to leave NY behind when the chance came up to work in Guantanamo Bay as a civilian worker with a humanitarian organization (World Relief), back when thousands of ''Balseros'' left Cuba in a massive exodus, the likes of which nobody had seen since the 80s. We were there basically trying to prepare them (thousands upon thousands of Cubans, living as refugees in military-built makeshift camps) for their new life in the US, teaching them some English, explaining what life would be like in the States, helping them through the INS (inmigration) process etc. I've been working since college, in libraries, book stores, advertising, newspapers, magazines, legal offices and, as I mentioned already, for World Relief Organization, as assistant manager at the Migrant´s Mail Center during the 90´s crisis. My years as a translator for The San Juan Star Newspaper in Puerto Rico (September 1997 to March 2002) served to help develop my writing abilities even more. At the suggestion of an editor, I started to write opinion columns which were regularly accepted and published. As a member of the translators' team, my official duties were to deliver an output of 2,500 to 3,000 words per shift, as well as proofread and edit all the articles before they went to press. My typing skills improved tremendously, and to this day I type 50wpm. After 2002, I've stayed in advertising, freelancing at times, other times under contract. As a member of the creative department in any agency, and as a freelancer, I've learned how to promote myself, how to market not only my product -my writing abilities- but also the products of my clients. I am quite experienced in handling deadlines under pressure while working on various projects at the same time (translations, copywriting, campaign development, new business strategies), and this helped me develop a sharp eye for inconsistencies and grammatical errors, while teaching me how to think outside mainstream boundaries, and ignore the easy way out of a creative gridlock; I enjoy research and data, especially Internet research, keeping my work accurate and on-point, with an eye on quality and planning ahead for contingencies. My goal is to continue growing professionally, to remain teachable and flexible, especially during these critical times, when one is tempted to sit back and think there´s nothing to do but wait it out. I think there´s a lot to do! It´s a great time to investigate those subjects that take a back seat when there is plenty of work to go around. For instance, I´ve been teaching myself some graphic design, and writing more of my own stuff. This summer (2009), I juggled two part-time jobs - one as a legal secretary/office administrator, for the law offices of Attorney González Torres, and also as copywriter for the public relations agency ROMA BCInc. The first job came to a natural end at the beginning of October, when the regular administrator returned and took over her duties. I remain in ROMA, glad to have the time to concentrate my efforts into other freelance projects.