Adriana Herrera

<p>Adriana Herrera, a <em>USA Today</em> bestselling author, joins me this episode to talk about a converging series of experiences and events that led her to write and publish romance: her experiences as an immigrant from the Dominican Republic; the dissonance she felt between her studies on Black Feminist Thought and the colonial images she read in romance; the demoralizing rhetoric about immigrants in the 2016 elections and her need to affirm the existence of immigrants; and her need to create romance novels that center diverse characters who are Black and LGBTQ. In this conversation, she and I also talk about her Dreamer series as well as her additional publications: <em>Finding Joy</em>, <em>Mangoes and Mistletoe</em>, <em>Here to Stay</em>, “The Duke Makes Me Feel,” and her newest release <em>One Week to Claim it All</em>.</p> <p>Her Dreamers series has received starred reviews from <em>Publisher’s Weekly</em> and Booklist and has been featured on The TODAY Show on NBC, <em>Entertainment Weekly</em>, NPR, <em>Library Journal</em> and The <em>Washington Post</em>. Her debut, <em>American Dreamer</em>, was selected as one of Booklist’s <em>Best Romance Debuts of 2019</em>, and one of the <em>Top 10 Romances of 2019</em> by <em>Entertainment Weekly</em>. Adriana is an outspoken advocate for diversity in romance and has written for <a href= "https://remezcla.com/features/culture/romance-genre-afro-latinx-authors-challenges/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Remezcla</a> and <a href= "https://www.bustle.com/p/immigrant-stories-in-romance-novels-are-revolutionary-we-need-more-of-them-19300979" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bustle</a>. She is one of the co-creators of the <a href= "https://sites.google.com/view/pocqueerromanceauthorscommunit/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queer Romance PoC Collective</a>: <a href= "https://sites.google.com/view/pocqueerromanceauthorscommunit/home?authuser=0"> https://sites.google.com/view/pocqueerromanceauthorscommunit/home?authuser=0</a></p> <p>Thanks to @cbddepaul and @roma