A Gentle Language with Gabby Rivera

First Draft Episode #211: Gabby Rivera

Gabby Rivera, author of Juliet Takes a Breath, which is out in
hardcover on September 17, and writer of the America Chavez
series for Marvel Comics.
Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode



I couldn’t find Gabby’s first article for Bustle, but she
recently wrote about love for the online outlet again, with,
“The Truth About ‘Big Love’ is You’ve Got to Manifest It For
Yourself.”




The Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City is where Gabby
discovered her creative self and explored her sexuality




Artist Mahogany L. Browne, author of Black Girl Magic and
Woke Baby, was the host at the Nuyorican when Gabby was
finding herself there




Through The New York City Latina Writers Group Gabby got the
chance to work with Alicia Anabel Santos and her mentor,
Vanessa Mártir, co-author of Do Something! A Handbook for
Young Activists




The Made in NY PA Training Program




Cunt: A Declaration of Independence by Inga Muscio




Ariel Gore, writer of We Were Witches and Hexing the
Patriarchy: 26 Spells, Potions, and Magical Elixirs to
Embolden the Resistance) reached out to Gabby when she was
putting together Portland Queer, which won the LAMBDA
Literary Award for best anthology




The Dreamyard Project




Gabby’s experience of moving back in with her parents to
finish Juliet Takes a Breath is similar to the story
Stephanie Garber shared about Caraval on this very podcast!
Listen to Stephanie’s episode here




Lori Perkins, founder of the L. Perkins Agency and Riverdale
Avenue Books




When Patricia Arquette accepted the Oscar for Boyhood, she
stirred controversy with her speech




High Art with Allie Sheedy and Gia with Angelina Jolie were
some of Gabby’s first LGBT movies (and her mom’s exposure to
lesbianism was The Singing Nun’s “Dominique”)




Autostraddle is one of the largest lesbian source of news




Roxane Gay tweeted about Juliet Takes a Breath




Gabby worked at GLSEN, the LGBT education nonprofit




Wil Moss and Sarah Brunstad were Gabby’s editors at Marvel




Jo Volpe at New Leaf Literary




Blankets by Craig Thompson was one of the first graphic
novels Gabby read




The quote I reference from Amy Poehler is from an episode of
her “Ask Amy” series for Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls: “Great
people do things before they're ready. They do things before
they know they can do it. … Doing what you're afraid of,
getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that-
that's what life is.”




Some artists of color who inspire Gabby are Trinidad Escobar,
author and illustrator of graphic memoir Crushed, and
Lawrence Lindell, writer and illustrator of From Black Boy,
With Love 




Gabby was reading My Beloved World, the autobiography of
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, while writing Juliet
Takes a Breath




Don’t miss Gabby’s TED Talk!




Gabby is writing a new comic series with Boom Studios, who
made Lumberjanes




The Sadie Nash Leadership Project


I want to hear from you!

Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her
guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You
can also email the podcast at
firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. 
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Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, #1 New
York Times bestselling author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, New
York Times bestselling author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy
Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator
of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too;  Michael
Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender;
John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and
frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their
careers and creative works.



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