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There But For the Grace of Grunts Go I. . .

I enlisted into the Navy right out of high school. I graduated early and everything so I could make it to boot camp. My dad was the one who took me to the recruiter's offices on base. He let me get a feel for each of the branches of the military by letting me ask intermittent questions. There was something about the Marine recruiter's look that put me off. The Army guy was fine, but they only had openings for infantry. The Navy guy, though, made me take notice. Navy was looking to recruit for Intelligence Specialists, and with my ASVAB scores I qualified. My natural pessimism helped prepare me for the awfulness of boot camp in Orlando, Florida during the height of summer. Other recruits seemed bitter because their recruiters lied to them, or let them believe it would be different, which isn't that much different than lying. I made...

April 1, 2019
Military, Science Fiction, Writing
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It’s That Time of Year: My 2018 Eligibility Post

Folks, it's awards season and it's time for me to submit my eligible stories for 2018. I humbly request you read them for consideration for the Nebulas, Hugos, Locus, World Fantasy or the Campbell (I'm in my last year of eligibity). At the very least, I'd love for them to be read and thought about again. Many thanks! My two eligible publications are in the Short Story Category (under 7,500 words): Writing for the End of the World - This appeared in Nature on March 7, 2018 (996 words). This is an origin story for post-apocalyptic fiction interwoven with one of my favorite jokes. Emergency Evaluation for Penny Ante, as Recorded by Cal-Q-Tron of the Benevolent Order of Heroes - This appeared in Galaxy's Edge #32, their May/June 2018 issue (999 words). Penny Macías, sidekick to Major Patriot is up for her her first job evaluation, and it turns out she's not the best fit for the job. Over at...

December 2, 2018
Awards Eligibility, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Writing
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Disintegration Loops

Some days ago, prompted by an online friend, I started listening to William Basinski's "Disintegration Loops". It was overcast, and quiet in the office as the musical phrase repeated, diminishing and distorting with each cycle. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjnAE5go9dI[/embed] I recognized it from the Radiolab episode, "Loops," which I'd listened to years ago, and as was often the case then, it flowed over me, but I didn't try to learn anything more about it. I filed it away as not much more than a curiosity. Until the other day, listening to the music, I decided to look it up online. Basinski recorded the ambient music fragments from old magnetic tapes from the 80's in an effort to salvage them. As Basinski played them, the ferrite on the tapes kept cracking, deteriorating with every loop around the magnetic tape head. The tapes kept tearing themselves apart in an effort to continue playing the music. He completed recording in Brooklyn,...

October 11, 2018
Memoir
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A Long-Awaited Acceptance

I am overjoyed at being able to announce the acceptance of one of my favorite stories, "How Juan Bobo Got to los Nueba Yores" to the Latinx Archive. I remember hearing Juan Bobo stories at my late grandfather's knee in his marquesina. He interspersed the Juan Bobo stories with his own memories of his childhood living in the mountains of Aibonito. I learned from him the fact that if you lived in rural Aibonito, you didn't wear your shoes to come down the mountain on your way to school. You slung them around your neck by their laces and walked barefoot to school. You could always wash mud off your feet at the pump in the schoolyard, but it wasn't so easy to do the same with your shoes. My grandfather's stories were so vivid, they stayed with me and meshed with his own experiences. This is what inspired writing...

July 23, 2018
Fantasy, Latino, Writing

Short Update: Named as a New Writer at Tor.com!

I was thrilled to find out I was included in a list of "new" writers over at Tor.com. I was in good company, including many of my colleagues on the writer's forum, Codex, as well as Sherri Cook Woosley, one of my fellow writers in our local group. She also has an exciting novel due to come out in September of this year! Being mentioned in an article in one of the largest publishers of speculative fiction made me realize, though, that I hadn't collected previous mentions of my work. I have since corrected that oversight and included a new page, titled "Press & Reviews" with links to any reviews on the Web. That's everything I wanted to discuss this week. See you all next time!...

June 18, 2018
Latino, Writing
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