I open at random one of my favorite books of Nonfiction, Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands. Page 41: Half and Half There was a muchacha who lived near my house. La gente del pueblo talked about her being una de las ortras, “of the Others.” They said that for six months […]
We are back to cropping ideas for plot. Today’s, claims Mr Bell, works like this: Develop a dynamic character, and see where it leads. I think Cortázar claimed this method. He was always interested in the people populating his stories. The story could be about anything, so long as […]
It’s the morning, and I wake up with a terrible ache in my stomach, my wife gone, and darkness all around me. I don’t know the time, but surely she’s gotten up earlier to make coffee in the kitchen. I have to get there. My eyes don’t work, however. […]
There once was a handsome man, with a big jaw and strong hands, a great job and many good years ahead of him. But, despite these blessings, there was one thing about him not so great, something odd and embarrassing. The minute he opened his mouth, he became aware of […]
There’s nothing I hate more than wasting time, except talking about it. Yet I knew there was a pointless fight to be had as soon as I got home from the office. So I took the highway, hoping to speed down the left lane, get to my wife quicker than […]
There once was a secretary and a school teacher who loved each other very much, but they seemed to always argue over the children. They were hers, he said. She should do more to take care of them. Yeah, but I’m more busy than you, and you live in my […]
2018. Julia sat at a table alone with a birthday cake. Stuck to the creamy icing were six wax candles and a red letter A. She had spent the morning mixing chocolate and eggs for her son, to see him enjoy the three or four slices he was capable of […]
I. Leroy was an exceptional man. Except, for one reason or another, no one wanted to date him. It led to much confusion, then suffering. Why? In answering this question, he began to consider his mother. The cause of his loneliness might be in her. Only, she was […]
It is as hot as last Sunday. The air smells like sand and seafoam. There she is. The same waitress works today. She wears an apron, but who cares. Ilya is distracted. He can’t look straight at the woman he is meant to join. He sees her table has […]
Sore-throated and restless, our hero today discovers the root. He moved to a new city last week, and has been learning the language. Technically, it’s an old city, old language, since his family is from here originally. For this, something tells him he has returned to the city, although […]
The restroom was occupied. So Margot danced to the center, where Gaspar and Linda were wrapped in a single embrace. When the couple noticed who was approaching, they made room. “Happy birthday,” shouted Gaspar. “You throw cool parties,” followed Linda. Margot thanked the new couple, handing […]
Have you ever wondered what makes a great piece of literature? Theorist Viktor Shlovsky believed that what a good story was was this, one that sticks around, plays with us, remains. However, to achieve that “long-lasting effect” in a work of art takes a specific set of devices. Like poetic […]
It came to my attention that I should focus on deepening my characters. As it goes, things should actually happen in a story. Funny, because I have known for a while that my personages spend a lot of time thinking. What’s wrong with thinking. That some people don’t want to […]
Pasó así, Papá, y aunque pese, como lo viví te lo narro, en inglés: Completely cut off from chance, no hope, only needs and responsibilities. I got home at 1 PM from working a four-hour at the language school. I would talk about that shift later in the day, […]
(Art by George Fredric Watts, Hope, 1886) Click here for PDF of Asesino. Asesino is a story inspired by the dream a friend, Diego Sebastian Figueredo, told at a milonga about a year ago. It begins with an epigraph borrowed from Thomas De Quincey’s On Murder as Considered […]