Latinos in NYC: Karla Nicole
Q: Give us a background of who you are? And what do you do?
A: My name is Karla Nicole, I am 18 years old, I am Dominican and I am a writer. I write novels and poems.
Q: What kind of novels do you write? What genre?
A: I write non-fiction books, for me is all about love. Everything I write is about love because it is the most important thing in the world. Not only love like between a man and a woman but love in general is the most important thing. If every human being were to love the world then this world would be a very different place.
Q: How many novels have you written?
A: As of now I have only written two novels, I am writing the third one now, but I am not entirely sure that I will be utilizing any of the first two because I just only started with those two, I mean the first one is about Justin Bieber, I used him because since he was the guy every girl loved so I just decided to write a book about him, then when I was done I realized that I loved writing, so thank Justin Bieber, then maybe the second one I can use in the future.
Q: When did all of this start? The writing I mean…
A: My very first story was in 5th grade. I was 11 years old when I was still living in the Dominican Republic, this one was about a little butterfly. It was a homework assignment in which I received an A, well A in this country, 100 over there. Then when I was 13 I wrote the one about Justin Bieber and various poems but it was not a serious thing, I found out that I liked doing it. Then at 16 was when I finally decided to pursue a career in writing.
Q: Are all of your novels in Spanish?
A: Yes, because I have yet to fully learn that English language. My English is self-taught, I did attend English school in DR but it didn’t help much. I watched mostly shows in English, songs and movies and then later on in the summer for some unknown reason, I do not know but when I woke up I was just stuck in English.
Q: Out of all the characters that you have created which one is the one that you are most attached to?
A: hmmm, that is a hard question for me… well the character that I feel most attached to is Charlotte, in one of my novels the protagonists are twin girls and Charlotte is the rebel twin, because she does a lot of things that oh my god, I wish I could do, like she rides dirt bikes and she does Bmx, and she is very direct and blunt with people she says what she wants to people without ever sugarcoating. However; I am more like that other twin, Chastity, I am not that fancy or that girly but I more like her because I am very sensible and very sweet to people and kind. So in that sense I am more like her, Charlotte is very cold, although I sometimes wish I was.
Q: If we wish to read your book online where should we go?
A: I have Wattpad, it is a social network where you can publish or read books. I believe 50 shades of Grey came from Wattpad. My username is karlanicole_ so if you would like to read my two books just head to wattpad and just search for my username.
My name is David Alfredo Paulino. I graduated from SUNY Cortland with a international studies major with a concentration in Global Political Systems and my minors are Anthropology, Latin American Studies, and Asia and the Middle East.
I was born in Manhattan, NYC, but I currently live in the Bronx with my Mother, little sister, and Stepfather. Although I was born here most of my fondest memories come from my frequent visits to the Dominican Republic, and always being there. I even stayed there for a year due to my constant going back and forth, I grew to love the atmosphere there and sometimes I yearn for it more than the actual city.