ABOUT | Deidre Sequeira

Hi! Thanks for checking out my site. Read on to get to know me a little better!

I'm Deidre. I'm a twenty-three year old author living in San Antonio, TX. I originally hail from Gilroy, California, though, which—fun fact—is actually the garlic capital of the world.

I'm an ELAR teacher to some awesome fifth graders, and I love showing them the power of words! It's been one of my greatest joys to be able to share my love of reading and writing with them, especially during Nanowrimo, when we can partake in writing together!

As a woman from a mixed Latina/Portuguese heritage,I have a huge family. I have four brothers and two sisters, plus too many tias, tios, and cousins to count. Family is so important to me.

It may come as a shock to hear this, but I enjoy reading and writing very much. I've been writing since I can remember, and reading has long been a favorite pastime of mine. These hobbies have made me really passionate about words, in general, so they lend themselves well to my career.

I began taking writing more seriously in middle school after taking an amazing creative writing class with my 8th grade science teacher. Once in high school, I started reading on Wattpad, and the authors I discovered there, like D.K. Combs and Lana Sky, inspired me to really get going and tell the stories in my head. Did I finish what I wrote on Wattpad? No. Mangled Heart is, unfortunately, sitting in Wattpad Purgatory, but I did get a lot of positive responses, which really encouraged me to keep writing. I'm so glad for that experience.

Speaking of college, I attended two: San Antonio College, which is where I earned by AA in English and AA in Liberal Arts, and Texas A&M University - San Antonio, where I received by BA in English with a Concentration in Teaching.

I have always loved school and learning, so college was a blast for me. And as an educator, I find my appreciation for it heightened. I had a lot of great professors who inspired me as a teacher, namely Jane Focht-Hansen, Dr. Jonathan Lee, Dr. Katherine Burgard, and Dr. James Finley.

I really appreciated their enthusiasm for what they did, and it made me want to be enthusiastic about my work, too! Why do something if 1) you don't love it and 2) you're not going to give it your all? Thus, whether its my teaching or my writings, I always put my heart in it. I hope that it shows.

However, these are not the only things I love to do. I've also been a great lover of music for my entire life. My whole family is very musically inclined, and it's a big part of how we connect with one another and show love.

I've also dabbled in filmmaking. In high school, I went to an amazing charter school that taught me all about the industry in an immersive, hands-on environment, and I really enjoyed it. Since then, I've continued to work on productions throughout college, as time allowed. I even made some for college assignments with a friend of mine; they were always about books, and were always a hit. You can check them out at the bottom of this page!

Meet the Author

WANT TO VIEW THE VIDEOS MENTIONED ABOVE?

Court of Fives: Addressing Biracial Representation PSA

This was for an assignment where we had to, in a group, choose a book from a YA award list. We had a group project (which I don't really remember), but the video project was individualized. My group's choice was Court of Fives by Kate Elliot. I really enjoyed this book and thought it did a great job of bringing biracial representation to the YA Fantasy genre.

"Wonder" Promotional Trailer

This was for an assignment where we had to read a work of children's literature and make a promotional trailer that encouraged others to read it. The book I'd selected was Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

Fond Memory

This was for an assignment where video production was an option but not required. We had to make a creative representation of a piece or related pieces of writing we'd read in our British Literature class. I chose "Fond Memory," a poem by Eavan Bowland, an Irish poet. It's a wonderfully emotional poem, and I wanted to give it a visual to go along with it. So I decided to rewrite it as a script and film it as if the speaker were talking to a therapist.