Meet Camila Quiñones

We recently connected with Camila Quiñones and have shared our conversation below.

Camila, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

I love what I love, and I’m unapologetic about it. It sounds so simple, but it’s the truth.

I remember a few years back, after finishing a feature script, I began writing a pilot. The feature script had been a coming of age adventure story rooted in Taino mythology, and I figured my next script should be the complete opposite of that. Something grounded in reality and less fantastical. I thought this would be the most strategic next step in my writing. While I do believe it is important to be strategic with your work to succeed in different areas of business, there’s a balance to the two I had not discovered at that time. I was entirely focused on external reasons to write rather than my personal reasons. You can imagine where this goes… something wasn’t working, and I struggled to land on the story I wanted to tell.

A few nights later, on a whim, I decided to write a short story, just a little something for myself from an idea that had been percolating in the back of my mind for a few weeks. As I was writing, I was struck with a rush of joy. I LOVED what I was writing because it was exactly what I love about writing: a genre story, a world building story, a fantastical story. That night was a core memory of mine when I think about my writing journey. A signpost of sorts.

But this extends beyond writing. I’m very vocal about the things I love and am very passionate about them as well. As a certified nerd, I’ve got a deep love for all things fandom – from Star Wars to superheroes and everything in between, it all captures my heart. And combining this with an insatiable hunger for knowledge, I’ve spent countless hours diving into these different universes, learning all I can from films, tv shows, comics, books, podcasts, even the people in these fandoms themselves. But if I had spent more time focused on what is “strategic” for me to love and less time embracing what I actually love, much like I shared earlier with my writing, something would’ve been missing in my life. Thank God I chose otherwise.

Day after day, I choose to be unapologetic about what I love. Day after day, I am grateful for the gift this quality is in my life. It’s the spark that keeps the creative fire burning in my chest, the love I have for stories that inspire me that in turn help me write stories that inspire others.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

For a time, I described myself as a “Builder of Worlds” because I believed it defined so clearly the kind of writing I love and the part of it that brings me the most joy: world building. From a small age I was world building. The play-set in the backyard became a space station I piloted to faraway planets. My bicycle was a horse, and together we galloped across cement fields on new adventures to distant lands (the other end of the neighborhood). Even my bedroom transformed into countless worlds, all built by my own imagination. It was no surprise when I realized in college that I didn’t want to be a doctor or a lawyer and instead wanted to pursue a full time career as a writer.

Primarily I write genre stories about unapologetic women and girls. Thus, I also love to read/watch genre stories about unapologetic women and girls. My love for these characters goes hand in hand with my desire to see them well-written and well-represented onscreen and in written media. But I wanted to do more than sit in a vacuum with my thoughts puzzling over how to better the way women and girls are portrayed in media. I wanted to do something to help, which led me to the idea of creating a space where I could discuss the issues facing how they’re represented and problem solve how things can improve.

Enter the Salon de Amidala (yes, that Amidala!). Every month, I host a salon for likeminded friends where we meet in my home and examine the tropes and ways women have been represented in media over the years. So far, we’ve looked at the Women in Refrigerators (or Fridging) trope, the Heroine’s Journey, Female Friendship, and so much more. We’ve just hit our one year anniversary, and I can already tell, we’re laying the foundation for something truly special.

I have many hopes and dreams for my salons, ways to see them grow and expand even beyond me. But in addition to that, I’m thankful for the community fostered by my salons. They’re at the heart of the salons, the people who love what I love and also desire to learn and grow as we discover ways we can positively impact the representation of women in media.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I’m incredibly grateful for my curiosity, passion, and joy. While I do believe those are three qualities I’ve had since childhood, they’ve fostered and flourished as I’ve come into my own. I see the way those three qualities help me stand out among the crowd but also how they push me to continue growing. And I think that’s important to understand in defining which qualities are most impactful in your journey. The qualities I bring with me as I tackle writing, my salons, and other creative endeavors are the one that can better my work.

At the same time, I also think external validation is important. I’ve surrounded myself with friends and colleagues who can speak to these qualities and help me define not only how they make me unique but how they can be best used in my craft. Even the Hero’s Journey, while focused on a single hero, requires a gathering of allies, and with those allies, a hero can go further than she ever could on her own.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

I’m so thankful for parents who pushed me to be well rounded and involved in many different things throughout my life. For instance, as a kid, I tried several different sports, eventually landing on volleyball, which I played competitively for 13 years, and continue to do so recreationally today. But at the same time, they enrolled me in piano lessons from a young age, pushing me to continue playing even when I wanted to quit. In addition to that, they encouraged me to get involved in community theatre, where I spent a chunk of my childhood acting in different plays.

The list of interests/hobbies they introduced to me doesn’t end with the above, though. I could go on and on about the various summer camps I attended, the eclectic museums I visited, the unique plays and musicals I watched, and the cultures I was immersed in on our travels. What they don’t realize is by introducing me to so many different things as a kid, they’ve gifted me with an ability to understand the world better and to engage with it in a deeper way as an adult. I’m the well-rounded, multi-faceted person I am today thanks to them. And it absolutely positively impacted my writing, but most importantly, my life as a whole. Thanks, mom and dad!

Image Credits

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