Every day, when I take my place at my desk in front of the computer, I swear I feel as if I am getting away with something - I get paid very well for doing something I love doing. How cool is that?

However, more than a writer, I think what I am is a storyteller. When my daughters were very young, instead of reading to them at bedtime, I would tell them stories. These stories were quite lengthy, and often were so complex that I would have to make up charts of the different characters to keep them straight. Some of them were downright cheesy, quite soap opera-y, but they were always entertaining. Something of that bedtime storytelling must have rubbed off on them, as my middle daughter, Antonia, is working towards her master's degree in poetry, and the youngest, Gabriella, is planning to major in creative writing in college. 

I have read interviews of other writers who claim to experience writers' block. I have never had that happen (knock on wood). My one fear is that I will not have enough time to write all the stories I want to tell. I am never happier than when I am sitting in my office very late at night, typing away, sipping from a glass of red wine (I know, I know!), still dressed in my workout clothes, some or all of our five dogs - inevitably snoring loudly (they are very, very old) - lying at my feet, listening to love songs in Spanish (Marc Anthony is one of my favorites) at almost full volume on the CD player just a few feet away. I am very thankful that - apart from my family and close friends - few people have seen me in that condition, or for sure they would never purchase any more of my books. There is an old saying (I am quoting loosely, very loosely here): There are certain things that should never be seen being made: laws and sausages. I, personally, would add to that: Carolina writing her books. 

It has been said that writing is a solitary occupation, but I have never felt lonely while doing so. When writing a book, I enter the world of my characters so completely that I am constantly accompanied by them - sometimes so much so that it feels that they never leave me alone. It's almost as if they don't trust me to portray them as they wish to be portrayed. I do not have 'back seat drivers' - I have 'back seat characters.' My first six books were in a series that featured a young Cuban-American private investigator, Lupe Solano. I know her so well that, to me, Lupe is not a fictional character: she is alive, vibrant, constantly chattering away at me, directing me as to what to say in the books. She scolds me if I don't get the dialogue right "Ay, Carolina, what are you trying to do to me? You know I would never say that!" Lupe sits at the top right hand corner of my computer screen, dressed in a chic Armani suit, legs crossed, one red Manolo Blahnik shoe perilously dangling from her foot, reading (and commenting on) every line that I write. No, trust me, I am never lonely.

It is wonderful to be successful in the eyes of the world, but, for me, it is even more satisfying and deeply fulfilling to be successful in the eyes of my daughters. Years ago, when my eldest daughter, Sarah, was a student at the University of Pennsylvania, during Hispanic Heritage month the administration at the university had allowed each group of Hispanic students to invite a guest speaker who they felt best represented their ethnicity. Sarah told me that she had been unable to attend the meeting in which the decision as to whom to invite would be made, but that, soon afterwards, she learned that the Cuban students had ultimately decided to invite a writer from Miami, a Cuban-American woman called Carolina Garcia-Aguilera. However, there was a problem, as no one knew how to contact her to extend the invitation. Sarah told the president of the Cuban students' organization not to worry, that she could do that, but never told him how she would, or why it would be easy for her. Not all success can be measured in monetary terms. 

Is it any wonder that I feel so very blessed?

SBTV: To meet Carolina Garcia-Aguilera go to www.latinastyle.com, sbtv. Provided by SBTV.com