395: The Many Levels of Character and World Building in a Rom-com - Interview with Alana Quintana Albertson

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Alana Quintana Albertson.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alana is a Latina bestselling romance author whose books have hit the top of several different charts. She has written thirty books and landed a three-book deal for the Latinx romantic comedy series, Love and Tacos. The first book in the series,</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Ramón and Julieta</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, has just been released and it has been optioned for television.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Like Ramón from her book, Alana has an impressive educational pedigree, with a Masters of Education from Harvard and a Bachelor degree from Stanford. And, like Julieta, she’s a natural leader who is passionate about the things she loves. She’s the former President of Romance Writers of America’s Contemporary Romance, Young Adult, and Chick Lit chapters and she founded the non-profit dog rescue, Pugs N Roses.™</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today we’re talking about her latest book,</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ramón and Julieta,</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">which happens to combine three of my favorite things: rom-coms, tacos (and other great food), and of course, Shakespeare references.</span></p> <p> </p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode Alana Quintana Albertson and I discuss:</span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">What inspired her to turn Shakespeare’s tragedy into a rom-com and how she pulled it off.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">How she kept raising the stakes for her characters, while keeping it realistic.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Using world building to convey deeper elements of culture and community in her story.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400