I’m on the train where I usually write every morning during my hour-long commute to and from work.
Season one of Leela is complete.
I filed the copyright yesterday.
Beta Readers are getting the episodes.
Plane tickets have been purchased.
Hotels have been booked in both Miami and Key West.
I’m heading into my last week of work at the small/growing restaurant company that I’ve helped build as a Senior Manager.
Five months of runway.
Five months to take this beautiful story that I have given the best of me and share her with the world.
(Yes even the story itself is a ‘her’ to me😉)
Five months to somehow figure out how to query, market, and sell.
My stomach is in knots.
But I’m not a wreck.
In a way I’ve prepared for this my whole life.
Teaching, coaching, negotiating.
Building business strategies, establishing relationships with vendors, writing training programs.
Traveling the country opening locations, creating project management systems, bringing other people’s visions to life.
Shooting training Tik Tocks and designing silly memes to relate ideas.
Creating life changing opportunities for so many wonderful people and investing into them—as a leader, a mentor, and an unofficial and unpaid therapist.
Charming the fuck out of strangers and turning them into friends.
All while protecting the spark of creativity and the dreams in my heart that only seemed to get further away the more successful I got and the more established my life became.
I wasn’t born for this.
I have no connections.
No following.
I didn’t even go to college.
No one in my family did.
But I’ll tell you what I have done.
I have spent every waking moment pushing myself to the absolute limits of my abilities for my entire life.
Studying. Reading. Plotting.
Sharpening the gifts and talents that were bestowed upon me.
Struggling against gravity.
Defying low expectations and predestination.
Honing myself into a weapon.
And now my gut tells me it was for a time like this.
Fear is nothing new to me.
Self-doubt is practically my roommate.
But I’ve got five months.
And one story.
A story about a woman that is everything I am and everything I want to be.
A story that I have woken up at 4:30am to write every morning for the past six months.
A story that has inspired me, thrilled me, and brought me to tears.
A story that started as a single picture.
A single prompt.
And now is seventeen episodes and fifty-eight thousand words—with four more seasons mapped out and ready.
Promoting myself has never come easy to me.
It’s not natural.
I’m pretty bad at it.
I’d rather shine the spotlight on the people I love.
But this one feels different.
This isn’t about me.
This is about her.
And I’d set the world on fire to bring her attention.
Because I think she deserves to be seen.
And her story deserves to be heard.
She trusted me to bring her into the world.
And I intend to do just that.
Five months.
Abuela give me the strength, the hope, the goodwill, the luck, and the support.
This may sound dramatic and grandiose—that’s because it is and that’s exactly what I need right now.
Fuck this patient graceful lady shit.
You can do this Elara!
People are going to see her, they are going to see themselves in her, they are going to love her, and they are going to jump at the opportunity to introduce her to all of their friends.
After episode one they’ll be intrigued
After episode two they’ll realize that they’re getting more than they bargained for
At episode three, they’ll be rooting for her
As episode four ends they’ll realize that it was never about her.
During episode five in a quiet church they’ll see her disguised as someone who belongs and they’ll fall in love.
In episode six they’ll tell everyone they know.
In seven they’ll understand where the damage came from.
In eight they’ll see a frog become a man.
In nine they’ll witness two giants meet connecting over loneliness of pursuing greatness.
In ten they’ll look up videos on how to make Espumita.
In eleven they’ll google the word Búsqueda and whether or not Leela made the whole thing up.
In twelve they’ll flood your inbox to let you know what it did to them.
In thirteen they’ll already know what Búsqueda means and a sombrero will make them cry.
In fourteen they’ll pray their favorite couple doesn’t fall apart.
In fifteen they’ll wonder how Lucy always knows exactly what to say.
And in the finale they’ll feel it all.
Everything.
And it will mean something because all of it means something.
As they read the final line they’ll understand that it’s all only beginning.
And As they wait for season two—they’ll share, start discussions, and create theories about little boys and professors, and what really happened in Vegas.
They’ll reach out to you saying the nicest things and thank you for bringing her into the world.
Even though her story is not for little girls, lots of brown little girls that have now become adult women will see themselves represented in a way that feels profound.
People disconnected from their roots will learn about fashion, food, music, and culture.
And lots of people will plan trips to Miami.
By season two—you’ll get to share the execution with partners.
Graphic artists, editors, photographers, fashion designers, the owners of small businesses…
Your platform becomes their platform and you do everything you can to celebrate their work.
By season three, you’re asked to stop posting on Substack because a famous Latina actress read the story and decided that she has to play Leela in a prestige television series.
Then a coalition forms and the doors are kicked wide open.
You have one condition—producer credit and co-showrunner involvement.
Our lady needs to be guarded.
And you see to that.
You meet Rosalia and Salma Hayek—she even agrees to play Lucy.
Benito even writes a song called Leelita.
Beyond that it’s hard to see…
Emmys?
A spinoff series?
Certainly new projects!
From the future I can tell you that it’s all very exciting, you bring joy into a lot of places, and I’m proud of you for staying grounded and remembering where you came from.
Five months and one day Elara.
And who knows what happens after that?
Even if no one else does—I believe in you.
And for good reason.
You never give up and you always find a way.
Feel free to read this again and again anytime you find yourself stuck.
Because you are writer, and writers fucking write.
You can do this!! 💜
Yes, yes, I can!! 💛