Michele Serros

[2] As a Latina writer drawing on her own life experiences, much of her works gave voice to the complexities of lives straddling two worlds: working-class Mexican-American heritage and southern California pop culture.

[5][6][7][8] Unlike the assertion made by many authors about their own time as a youth, Serros feels she wasn't a "nerdy, withdrawn teen" that ate lunch alone in the school yard.

As a student at Rio Mesa High School, Serros had many friends and love interests who often ditched 5th period class to continue socializing.

[6] She married musician Eugene Trautmann, a member of seminal rock bands Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal, and whom she had met 11 years earlier backstage at the Leave Your Mind at Home music festival in Antwerp, Belgium.

[9] Since then, Michele continued to work diligently as a motivational speaker, was invited to deliver commencement speeches and attend book fairs all across the country.

[1] After Lalo Press, the original publisher ceased business, she continued to sell copies from her garage[5] while maintaining a devoted following of fans as well as a place in academia where Chicana Falsa became required reading in many high schools and universities in Southern California.

[18][19] In 2005, Serros was approached by Alloy Entertainment to create a "Latina version" of their hugely successful Gossip Girl Young Adult Book Series.

[20] In an interview with the Ventura County Star, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, stated he picked up a copy of How to be a Chicana Role Model as reading material for a trip and "By the time I got to the end of the book, I was crying like a hypersensitive wimp.

[15] In addition, alternative rock band, Rage Against the Machine, features a photograph of Serros' first book of poetry, Chicana Falsa, on the fold-out sleeve of their 1996 Grammy Award-winning album, Evil Empire.

[21] In addition to her books, Serros has written for the Los Angeles Times,[22] Ms. Magazine,[23] CosmoGirl,[24] and The Washington Post[25] and contributed satirical commentaries for National Public Radio (Latino USA, Morning Edition, Weekend All Things Considered, Anthem, Along for the Ride, and The California Report).

[17] The same year, Serros was chosen by PEN Center USA to write and perform an original piece honoring John Steinbeck to commemorate the Twentieth Century Masters Tribute where she shared the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' stage with literary luminaries as Arthur Miller, William Kennedy, Dorothy Allison, Studs Terkel, Peter Matthiessen and George Plimpton.