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Erika M. Simms writes literary fiction and film. She focuses on the Afro-Latina experience in America, especially that of young adults. Her web series Platanos in Carol City specifically deals with three South Florida tweens struggling with gender, race, and ethnicity within their own families. Their personal experiences are held in comparison to how the rest of the world sees and treats girls based on how they talk, dress, and act. Erika’s fiction also weaves the Spanish and English language, showcasing the authenticity of Latino families with second and third generation children, who gravitate more to their American than Latino counterparts. Erika also writes film, art, and literary criticism.
Erika earned a BA in English: Creative Writing from Florida State University and a Creative Writing MFA from Full Sail University. She writes for various media platforms that include film, television, short stories, novels, poetry, and criticism.
When not writing literary fiction or film, Erika drafts, revises, and provides administrative support to management officials of thirty (30) Social Security offices in SFL, as a Management Support Specialist. Erika’s governmental areas of expertise are Labor Relations Management, Performance Quality, and Security and Facility workloads. Erika has served 19 years (and counting) as a Federal employee of the US Government and received two Regional Commissioner Citation Awards for her exemplary leadership and demonstration in job knowledge in the Atlanta Region.
Erika spends her free time playing video games with her seven-year-old daughter, while chasing her 2-year-old daughter around the couch. Her children are her motivation, and a good source of exercise.