A Transgender Fairytale
Samara Riviera is a huge part of New York City’s gay nightlife and a celebrated journalist and author.
She is one of the happiest and most content individuals that I have ever had the honor of speaking with.
Happy and proud to be part of the transgender community, she surrounds herself with self-fulfillment, void of drama and confusion. Being extremely candid, we spoke about her upcoming projects and what motivated her to begin them. We also touched on topics a bit more risqué.
So how have you been?
I’m doing really good. I’m really excited about life and everything that’s coming to me.
Let’s start there. What’s coming to you?
Well, I’m just so happy and grateful, because I’ve had my talent manager in L.A. working with me, and now I have an editor for the books that I’ve been writing. Now I have an attorney who is willing to represent me in everything that I need, and an illustrator for my children’s books that I’m writing. I have a director that I’m working with, and then I have my psychic, so I’m really, really excited.
Your psychic sounds the most fun.
I met the psychic at work, and he gave me all this good news, which was mainly confirmation. I kind of knew where I was headed and what I was doing, and that everything was going to be happening for me with my projects. But then when someone else tells you and confirms it, especially a psychic, it gives you more confidence. So I’m really happy to have this whole team that will help me bring my projects to fruition.
Let’s back up a little. For the sake of our readers who aren’t familiar with you, what exactly is it that you do?
I’m into acting. I’ve been doing some acting my whole life. That was my #1 dream, to be an actress, like all of my favorite actresses—for example, Raquel Welch and Jane Fonda and all those divas. I’ve been working on that since I was a kid in junior high. My #1 love has always been acting. Then I got into writing. I’ve been writing for an LGBT publication out of California for over 10 years called Adelante Magazine. I am still writing for that magazine. I do celebrity interviewing. I’ve interviewed Rihanna, Nelly Furtado and many other divas. Recently I got into writing books. I am getting ready to publish my first children’s book. It’s a fairytale with a transgender twist.
No way!
Yeah, it’s going to be something that has never been done. It’s definitely something new and will be really awesome for the transgender children of the world. Even adults are going to love it. I wrote the first children’s book when I was in college and got a lot of positive response from it. Back then I didn’t know what to do or how to do it. But now we have self-publishing, and I have a lot of contacts. It’s becoming something bigger than I thought it would be. At first I just thought it would be a side project, but it’s becoming a lot more than I thought it would be. It’s going to be bigger than I ever dreamed it would be. It’s just such a good thing for the transgender children. They have to have something to relate to when it comes to fairytales and children’s books. I know that when I was a kid, if I would’ve had something like this, I would’ve been in love with that book. So after I do my children’s books, I’m doing the second one, which is a memoir of me being a cougar. Yes, I’m a proud cougar.
I love that!
Thank you. Then I’m going to do a screenplay, which is also a transgender romantic comedy. Then I’m writing a play, which will be a musical, and I’m in touch with Tym Moss for him to do the music.
You’ve got a lot of things on your plate. That is so cool. So how does one know if they are transgender?
You mean like someone confused?
Yeah, like for someone who’s trying to figure it out.
That’s an interesting question. I don’t know how to answer that except to tell you my experience. The thing with me is I was happy being a gay boy. I was happy-go-lucky. I was never one of those people with the mindset that I was born in the wrong body. I never subscribed to that. I was just always a happy person. I was happy being me, the gay boy. But I did always identify more with the female gender than the male gender. I always liked playing with Barbie dolls, and I didn’t like any sports, and I didn’t like hanging out with the boys. Of course I had crushes on boys, but I always kept that quiet. So for me, what happened was, I was curious about dressing up. So one Halloween I dressed up as a drag queen. My roommate dressed me up. He was a professional makeup artist. He made me look fabulous. Ever since then I just looked at myself in the mirror and thought, “Wow, I look amazing.” I loved it and thought this is how I want to be for the rest of my life. I just sort of started little by little. I started dressing up in drag every weekend, and then all the time, and I sort of transitioned little by little. I started buying only women’s clothing. I felt more comfortable in that lifestyle being a woman.
That is a nice story. I really like that story.
I was never the type of person with all that drama saying that I was born in the wrong body. I was always happy about who I was, and now I’m even happier!
That is such an uplifting story that you just told me.
Thank you. I think that hopefully we will be hearing more happy, positive stories, especially with the transgender books coming out.
Samara, do you have a title for that book?
I do, but I’d rather not say right now. Let’s just say it’s a transgender fairytale.
So what do you do for fun?
I like going to dance clubs. I like chatting with the boys on the dating apps. I’m a big flirt. I’m enjoying life right at the moment, and I love New York, all the new and undiscovered places that New York has to offer.
Tell me a little bit about your website.
I’ve had my website, vivalariviera.com, since 2008. It started when I moved to New York, because I had a lot of outlets out of my interviews that I was putting out. I was interviewing celebrities, and I was doing red carpet interviews, and I had a lot of information to put out. So I wanted to create my own website, something like Perez Hilton. On my website I like to put a little bit of different kinds of stuff on it. I put entertainment, the Latin world, English world and a little bit of politics here and there. I put a lot of spirituality and a lot about the Law of Attraction.
I live my life by “The Secret.”
The Law of Attraction has really, really helped me a lot in my life. I like to put it out there so that other people will benefit. That’s how I started with “The Secret.” I just meditate and ingrain it into my mind so that I can be happy, and it’s working.
So tell me, who is the most fun person you’ve ever interviewed?
Honestly, the funniest person I’ve ever interviewed was Lady Bunny. She is the best! I don’t know where she came from. She must be an alien from outer space, but she is one of a kind.
Yes, I agree. I’ve interviewed her also.
She is the best. I love her. She is definitely the funniest. I always have fun with my interviews. Sometimes I have a drink or two so I could get people loose and comfortable.
Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Just that I’m really happy right now writing my book and on my way to a lot of good stuff. Hopefully it’s not only my own personal projects that I am creating, but maybe it will help somebody like transgender children, and talking about the Law of Attraction, helping people get into that. When I was a little kid I always thought that I wanted to be a teacher. Now that I am grown up I think I know what that meant. I’d like to teach people all the good things and good stuff that I know about.
