I’m the author of The Adventures of Patti and Barci: The City of Cats. My heart is full of stories. I began my journey on the stages of Havana. For nearly a decade, I delighted children in Cuba as an actress and puppeteer. Performing was a passion that naturally blossomed into writing and led me to the pages of children’s books. My love for entertaining and educating shines through in every word, especially in the debut of my middle-grade chapter book, inspired by the street animals of my hometown, Havana, The Adventures of Patti and Barci: The City of Cats is a story that will make you laugh and think.

I live now in Beaufort, North Carolina, with my husband and a busy Corgi-heeler mix. When I’m not crafting tales, you might find me sewing dolls, strumming my ukulele, painting watercolors, or collecting wildflowers. And if you wonder if my life is as adventurous as my books, let me tell you that I once lived on a sailboat in the Caribbean. I speak Spanish, English, and French, which made a quite wordy storyteller.

My Journey

I was born into a multiracial family in Cuba, and my parents’ military careers meant we traveled all over the island. Every year after summer break, I’d return to school bursting with incredible tales from mountains to sea that my classmates just wouldn’t believe. What I didn’t know, not every kid in Cuba had access to such adventures, or perhaps I was just that good at spinning a yarn!I was a happy girl with a wild imagination, always making up songs, dancing, and, of course, reading. So, it wasn’t a huge surprise to my family when I decided to trade an accounting degree for a life with a traveling circus as a clown! At 23, I even created my own puppet and clown show for birthday parties, and I performed with “El Teatro Guiñol,” taking roles in classics like Pinocchio and Little Red Riding Hood. Storytelling has always been my dream; I simply love a good audience and a good story. In Cuba, I may not have had the chance to publish my own tales, but I always had a stage to express them—until life decided to shift plans.

A New Horizon

Even as an actress, fully realizing my dreams in Cuba proved challenging. So, when my family immigrated to the United States, I naturally followed them. I landed in Tampa in 2010, right in the middle of the economic recession, feeling bored and despairing after leaving behind an active life of performing every weekend. But the internet became my new stage, and I began writing my first blog, AnechyNotes. What I didn’t expect was that a year later, I’d be setting sail in the Caribbean with the love of my life! My world suddenly filled with breathtaking experiences that nourished my blog pages, as I entertained friends and family with my adventures at sea. For nine incredible years, I traveled as far as Trinidad and Tobago from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Living and traveling on a sailboat was especially meaningful for me, as it’s an experience largely forbidden to Cubans on the island—most would never return. I truly embraced life as a passionate cruiser.

From Sailor to Storyteller

Life, as they say, is all about changes. I’ve learned to deeply appreciate what I’ve had and eagerly embrace the new opportunities life brings. When my husband and I sold the sailboat in 2019, just before the pandemic, I took the leap to refine my writing with several online courses. Joining three writing clubs helped me shake off the fear of sharing my work. And the dream of becoming an author was firmly back on my radar.That’s when I revisited a story I’d first written in Havana, inspired by the street dogs and cats in my old neighborhood. And just like that, The Adventures of Patti and Barci: The City of Cats became real— first for me, and now, for the world.