Believe You Have Wings and Fly

Bruna Vieira was a normal 15 year old girl who lived in a small town in Brazil. She was very dedicated in school, had a simple life, a great family and was very smart. One day she fell in love with a boy who didn't deserve her love. She really liked him and they went out once and he never called her back. She waited for a phone call, for an explanation, but got nothing. Being a shy person as she was, the only way out for her to express herself was with writing, words that she could type, because saying them out loud reminded her of her pain and disappointment. But she lived in a small town, so she had to find a way to do that where nobody knew who she was: the internet. 

She started her blog to help her get over the boy who broke her heart.. and the rest is history. But I will tell you anyway! She created the "Depois dos Quinze" (After the Fifteen), where she would write short stories and bash about the guy, love, etc. It all seemed pretty normal, she had no idea what her life was going to be in a few years after that first step. More and more girls related to her through her writing. They would leave comments and motivate her to keep writing and moving forward. They could relate to everything she was writing and Bruna was able to make connection in a deep level with thousands of girls in a short period of time. And she never stopped. Before she knew, her blog was one of the most accessed blogs of behavior, love, and fashion in Brazil, attracting the attention of companies who wanted to pay to advertise there. She was also offered an opportunity to write for Capricho, the biggest teen magazine of the country. Her writing improved in each new post. Her fan base grew more and more. She was offered so many opportunities that she had to move from her small town in Minas Gerais, to the biggest city of Brazil, Sao Paulo. She also recently made her big dream come true: she released her second book, "De Volta Aos Quinze" (Back to Fifteen), another best seller. 

The lines of girls waiting to meet her and have her book signed and a picture taken is loooong. And she is so grateful for this, hugging one by one, posing for goofy and cute photos, signing books and creating more buzz about how nice she is considering all the fame she's got. She is been on TV and many newspapers and magazines. The first book was a collection of all her short stories she had posted on her blog over the years. And the second one, a romance, the first of a series of book. She is touring  in Brazil promoting the book, giving speeches, meeting excited fans and traveling abroad for jobs. She is seeing parts of the world that she never thought she would be able to. And she won't stop! One things that hasn't changed is she remains the same person, simple, in love with love, writing, photography, books and her dog that she had to leave back home with her parents when she moved alone to the big city at such a young age.She bought her first apartment and is keeping it busy.

You might be asking yourself what happened to the boy. Well, almost 4 years later he shows up and tries to talk to her again. She was nice to him. But she was also so over him. But also grateful. What seemed like the end, was just the beginning. Guess who is laughing now?

 Below, Bruna is posing with fans at a book signing! I truly believe that every book signing should have an official photographer to take the pictures for the fans and post them in the official fan page on Facebook. That way the lines run smoother since a professional photographer can take pictures quicker than no-professional cameras can and the author and the book publishing can promote the book better and basically for free since images speak a thousand words. Fans would "like" and access the fan page, share images, create a buzz! And fans love pictures!!

 Below, Bruna and other young blogger of Brazil.

The Revenge Wears Prada

One of my favorite books will always be " The Devil Wears Prada". It was My first "young adult" book since I started reading the Princess diaries and the Harry Potter series in my teen years. RI read the first page and I was hooked.  When I was back home in Brazil living a boring and simple life  I would read this book over and over and picture myself on Andy's shoes, working with fashion and magazine in the greatest city in the world, New York.

I wanted that. The fun, the excitement, the challenges, the morning coffees! I saw myself in her in so many ways and every experience I had I could find a way to relate to the book. Weird, I know! It was the perfect success and love story with the drama and adventure that made it perfect! It had a beginning, middle and end. 

 This book guided my path to New York since  day one and I was only super thrilled when,  what felt like an eternity later, the author decided to release a sequel to what I called perfection: the Revenge Wears Prada.

After I heard the rumor that there was a sequel on the way, I started to imagine what it would be like! Not only me but the fans all around the world were counting the days for the release. It was sooo expected that I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. And I was sure that it was going to be a hit!

But what when disappointment shows up without an invitation?

Right after the release I couldn't find the time to grab a copy (and I forgot to pre-order it!) so While waiting for it  I did what I shouldn't have done: I read all the possible reviews of it. Yep, about 50! From fashion bloggers to well known book critics... All with their opinions saying that they expected more, that the story was too confusing and pointless...WHAAAAT??... and with all that I suddenly decided not to read it myself. Yep. Save me from disappointment for a change. Do you know when you watch a perfect movie like the "Lion King" or "Aladdin" and Disney can't help but write sequels to a perfect ending and you just end up not liking them as much? I didn't want this to happen to my perfect book with a perfect ending. Not this time. I will forever have her as one of my favorite authors and all the negative and disappointing reviews about the sequel won't affect that. So I just won't read it for now, maybe when out paths cross again and opportunity happens in the future, maybe with more time, I', sure I'll be ready for it then. Ready to appreciate the story better, maybe with different eyes and less expectation. What I've learned from past experiences and life is that I believe waiting for the right moment might be worth the wait. So I will wipe out all the negative comments about it and digest it in my own terms when the influence from them is gone. I see it it as postponing happiness, which I never do, but in this case, it seems necessary.

The Bookstore

The other day we had a field trip to a major publishing house located here in Manhattan, the famous Simons & Schuster for our book publishing class.

I didn't know what to expect. I know I love books so much and bookstores are my favorite place to go. I don't know how to explain but there is this magical feeling about them. To me it will always be as if the books appeared there by some magic spell or something. How they convert thoughts to words, to sentences, to full books... So many titles, so many opinions in one place. From all over the world. It's a place where different religions can coexist in peace. All in harmony, all in silence. If this isn't magic, I don't know what it is. 

I sure was excited about the field trip but to be honest I was afraid that meeting the business side of it would take away all the magic and mystery behind my favorite place. You know how most business are, behind the curtains is all about numbers, numbers, numbers... So I took a deep breath and headed to meet my classmates and professor that cold Friday. 

As soon as I spotted the building my jaw dropped. OMG, how can they actually own an entire building with the freaking business of online books and magazines taking over the good and old paper?!!?? Apparently yes. I was amazed.

Going through those doors and sitting at the conference table was extremely exciting! Seriously. I've seen those cool meetings in several movies and I've always wondered if one day I would be a part of one. I am not that kind of person, who enjoys business and stuff, but I like the cool part of it, looking important and dressing up in the morning. So "Confessions of a Shopaholic"...

Anyway, we were able to meet some of the employees who have been working there for years. No, seriously, YEARS! Like a decade! Which was an amazing thing to see, I'm sure they are great employees who love their jobs, otherwise they wouldn't be there.

Anyway, we heard about their experiences and how the business side if it works and to be honest, I wasn't disappointed at all. I was mesmerized. Right there, in the middle of the greatest city in the world I was learning more and more about books, taught by people who not only do that for a living, but love what they do. They love books and they are there because they fell in love with them. Magic. Right there!

We finished our visit with some free books and funny enough, I caught the one that couldn't have been more cliche, "The Bookstore" by Deborah Meyler, a British author. And I can't wait to start reading it.

The Path to Success

People have different dreams in life. Some want to be a rockstar, some want a Nobel Prize , some want a happy family and a house with a big backyard and so on. When I moved to New York in 2010, I only had  one goal in mind: to be a successful photographer.

 I didn't know where to start but I had a vision that I was gonna make it. I've read so many books where the main character, usually a young woman like myself   lives in the city and works as hard as she can until she makes it! The "Devil Wears Prada" and "Queen of Babble" were two of those books that I would read over and over whenever I felt like giving up. Yep, I had those moments. I received many, many "Nos" since I began and even though they didn't shake me that much, at times of exhaustion, they would add up and make it for a big meltdown. Which made me even consider acting as a career, I can put on a (drama) show like nobody else. Still, thanks to the books on  my shelf, inspiration wasn't a problem for me, I've read plenty of these stories and I decided that being them fiction or not, mine was going to be real. 

And today I can say that all that "if you love what you do and work hard for it you will achieve" cliche, is not a joke. There is no magic formula, it's not an overnight thing. If you have big dreams, you have to work hard for them. 

Weekends off are something that don't really exist in my life for the first 3 years. Working as a nanny from 8-5 and going to school every day at night, I only had 2 days to do what I loved, which was and still is, photography. It wasn't easy. Apart from running around carrying very heavy equipment in all types of weather, there was also editing, one part of the process that I particularly dislike and that unfortunately is the one that takes the longest to do. I often edit after class, so going to bed at 2am and waking up at 6:30 was my new routine for the past three years. It wasn't easy. Living in New York and not being able to enjoy the city was hard. Not being able to see your friends and family, even harder. But that was the price to pay if I wanted to learn, improve my skills and be where I am today.  I still have a long, loooong way to go, but right now I can support myself and sleep at least seven hours every night if I want to! And I am able to attend school at day time and meet my classmates, even hang out with them, something that I wasn't really able to do in my  evening classes when everyone was exhausted from a long day of work.

I feel complete. I feel like I have the most exiting life, going from photographing a celebrity event at Lincoln Center to running downtown to photograph a newborn baby! Every day is different. Every day is a different client, a different theme, a different subject to work with. One day I'm wearing converse, jeans and a t-shirt at the park and the next hour I have to put on heels, fancy clothes and cover a gala event.  I had amazing experiences, amazing concerts, amazing places that I got to go and photograph. I've met some idols in person and had to act really professional event though inside all I wanted to say was that I am a huge fan and I still might or might not have posters of them on my walls. I also learned how to behave myself and be professional at all times. I grew up and matured. I learned how to provide great customer service, how to find clients, how to promote and grow my business and how to work with crazy deadlines. I've traveled for work and I've seen the world with different eyes since them. I came from not knowing how to get clients to having to turn them down because I was already booked. And it all happened here, in New York, my city of dreams, it all happened because I read a book that made me believe it was possible to be found in this crazy city.

Speaking of dreams, I wanted to share this event I covered last month at the Parsons School of Design here in New York. It was for a Non-profit organization that does an excellent job helping women and children who were abused in some form. They have an annual fashion show to benefit the organization and this year I had the honor to watch it and photograph. Seeing so many young designers and artists donating their time and talent, working really hard, full of dreams and expectations...It just made me realize how amazing it is when you love what you do. You might not get compensated financially every time but when you can do what you love and smile even then, you my friend, are on the right track.