Aún Te Amo
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Dominican-American Author
Stories from a life well-traveled.
Author of the memoir I Was an Unwanted Child, But I Always Loved Myself — a story of resilience, self-love, and the light we find within.
Memoirist · Essayist · Songwriter
I write to make sense of the past, celebrate the present, and navigate what’s still becoming.Chilen
DebutMemoir
01 — The Memoir
I Was an Unwanted Child, But I Always Loved Myself
An intimate account of being left behind as a child in the Dominican Republic — and of the long, deliberate work of coming home to yourself.
Moving between English and Spanish, the memoir traces a journey through abandonment and adversity toward independence, self-possession, and an enduring sense of self-love. Readers have praised it for its honesty, its vulnerability, and its insistence on a single idea: our past may shape us, but it never has to define us.
02 — The Work
Four ways the writing shows up
Memoir was the beginning. What followed are essays, services, and songs — different rooms in the same house.
Essays & Reflections
On travel, identity, culture, and the quiet things that change us. Personal writing that starts small and opens wide.
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Legacy Writing
The people we loved, the places that changed us, the choices that shaped who we became — brought together into a written story.
Learn More →
Travel & Life
Stories and insights from journeys that shape who we become — Italy, France, and the strangers met along the way.
Explore Travel →
Spanish Songwriting
Original songs written in Spanish, lyrics and melodies with soul.
Listen & Learn →03 — Writing
Essays & Reflections
Lessons from Roland Garros, from strangers on Italian platforms, and from the unexpected moments that stay with us.
One Day Someone Will Do This for Me
An invisible network of women who notice — carried from a station in Pavia all the way home, one small kindness at a time.
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One Electrolyte Away From Seeing the Light
Ninety-degree heat, a dream years in the making, and the questionable decision to let nothing stand between me and Roland Garros.
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It Was Nice to Meet the Tennis Player.But Even Nicer to Meet the Person.
An unexpected conversation in Paris that began with tennis and became a reminder that underneath titles, accomplishments, and public identities, people are still just people.
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Featured Essay
The Man on the Train to Milan
“We barely shared a language, yet I understood him perfectly.” A stranger, a heavy suitcase, and an unexpected act of attentiveness somewhere between Milan and Rome — a reminder that tenderness still exists.
Read the Essay →04 — Creative Services
Working together
Two ways to put this craft to work — for your family’s story, or for a song that has been waiting to be written.
Legacy Writing
Some stories deserve more than memory.
A life is made of moments that often seem ordinary while we are living them, the people we loved, the places that changed us, the choices that shaped who we became. Legacy Writing brings those moments together with care and intention, creating a written story that can be returned to, shared, and carried forward forever.
Explore Legacy Writing →
Spanish Songwriting
Songs written in Spanish, with soul.
Original songs written in Spanish, with lyrics and melodies created from the heart. Below are three original demos from a larger catalog of original work.
Me Vas a Rogar
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Amor Real
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05 — Travel
Places that kept changing me
Travel has a way of humbling you. In your own city, you know how things work. In a foreign country, the person with the answers is not you — it’s the stranger standing beside you.
06 — About
I’m Chilen
Chilen Moya is a Dominican-born writer and founder of Within Publishing whose life journey from hardship to healing inspired her debut memoir, I Was an Unwanted Child, But I Always Loved Myself.
Through raw honesty and poetic reflection, she shares a story of resilience, identity, and the unbreakable power of self-love.
Today she writes memoir and essays, helps others preserve their stories, and writes original songs in Spanish.
More About Chilen →
07 — Press
Recognition & Appearances
- 01AQUA Magazine
“Speaking Her Truth” — a featured excerpt from the memoir.
- 02South Florida Writers Association
Featured author and member of the Author Exhibit.
- 03Miami Book Fair
Participating as part of the SFWA Author Exhibit.
- 04Miami Rooftop Book Launch
A celebration with readers, friends, and the local literary community.
- 05National Book Festival, Library of Congress
Attended the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., connecting with readers and the wider literary community.
- 06Sisley Author Event & Book Signing
Featured author event and book signing at Sisley, followed by an invitation to return.
- 07CUNY Dominican Studies Institute
An upcoming ceremony at The City College of New York to donate a copy of the memoir to the Institute’s Archives and Library.
08 — Contact
Let’s connect
For Legacy Writing, songwriting, author appearances, literary events, interviews, or simply to say the book meant something to you.