We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carolina Fernandez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Carolina, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Great first question! Get ready for a total geek-out.
First, for people who can pursue their creative passions (a privilege I wish everyone had), each project, big or small, has some meaning. My book that comes out this September, We Are Immigrants (available for pre-order wherever you buy books), is enormously meaningful to me. But if I had to choose just one, I’d say the novel I’m currently working on is my most meaningful project to date.
This is in no small part because I’ve been at it for a while—the longer you work on a passion project, the more of yourself you pour into it and the more invested in it you become. I don’t have a human baby, just one that’s covered in fur, but have been treating this book like my baby since its genesis in 2022. I must feed it and tend to it with care constantly not only so it can survive, but so it grows into the very best it can be.
The novel, titled “Sunset Sisters,” is fiction with coming-of-age themes and magical realism weaved throughout (an homage to my Colombian roots). It’s about three sisters who, as young girls in the U.S., suddenly learn their grandfather’s remains have been discovered in their parents’ homeland, Colombia, many years after his mysterious disappearance. This news sets off a series of formative events, and the book follows them into their adulthood as they yearn to know the truth about who he was and what happened to him, a subject their family has always kept silent. We witness the sisters transform and their relationship take new shape as they embark on a journey that could either heal or hurt the people they love most.
The novel touches on many themes I’m passionate about—especially family, and particularly immigrant families. Also, I have two sisters myself who I think are hilarious and amazing in totally unique ways. It’s been fun to draw from them as inspiration for these lovable and imperfect characters.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
By day, I’m a copywriter for an awesome Miami-based ad agency, where I help dream up marketing campaigns for a variety of accounts and write the creative content. Before this, for almost five years, I was communications director for a badass nonprofit called Catalyst Miami. And for about six years before that, I worked as the first bilingual creative writer for Hallmark, a hugely formative experience for me.
Language is where my head is, always swirling in words and their meaning. People—community, social justice, the human experience—are where my heart is. Creative storytelling is where it all collides, sending sparks flying everywhere.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
The truth is that only a fortunate few get to live off their earnings as artists. These days, it’s tough for most people, not just creatives, to make ends meet. I think we’re experiencing an epidemic of burnout, but people can’t create or even meaningfully connect when depleted of their energy and resources.
It’s no surprise to me that so many Millennials are quitting their jobs to work on a farm or sell crochet creations on Etsy. Most who aren’t among the highest 1% of earners are disillusioned with the way our lives have turned out, starkly different from our parents’ lives and not where we imagined we’d be by now in our teens and twenties.
The best support society can offer artists and creatives is the same support everyone needs: the ability to live full, balanced lives without excessive hardship. By alleviating life’s burdens—like financial stress, underinvestment in people, and the exorbitant cost of living—we all benefit.
With a little more breathing room, imagine the possibilities. We could dream, learn, innovate, build community, take vacations, and maybe even solve some of society’s biggest challenges.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Everyone has stories only they can tell. What I love most about being a writer, what drives me to the page after a long day, is the chance to tell those stories I believe are important and are uniquely mine to tell. The possibility of stirring readers’ emotions that make us quintessentially human, fostering empathy and connection, and perhaps even awakening our “better angels” feels sacred to me. I can’t imagine ever wanting to stop.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://carofernandez.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carofernwriter/
Image Credits
Gaby Ojeda