fantasy
Grad Student. Teacher. Author. Nerd. It’s a good thing I always have a weekend to myself because I would have broken down a long time ago. Well…actually I did suffer a fatigue snap during my first year in China but, again, thank God for weekends/days off. Seriously, I do need my day of unplugging and winding down. Now! On to some good news…
This week was beyond hectic for my colleagues and me. All of us spent the week reviewing everything for our students’ finals next week. Most of us have more than two grades to teach and, in turn, review (I had three, but my Twelfth Grader graduated). That alone is enough to drain us mentally. But, alas, I’m not just a teacher.
“I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.”
― Maya Angelou
What if you had the power to bring your loved ones from the brink of death?
What I’ll Do For Family is something special to me for many reasons, namely three. The first reason is that it was the first fantasy idea that I had for this project which led me to spread my wings and try out different genres. Secondly, it was the first short story that I wrote about that had a Latin character. Interestingly enough, I opted to release it last because of a funny little story. Finally, and more importantly, it led me to the life-changing decision of going back to school for my MFA.
You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
― Dr. Seuss
What if a werewolf met a bookworm?
Puppy Love was my first attempt at a love story. Romance is my least favorite genre to read because, to be frank, the genre is a bit generic for me. I mean, the formula is the same and I wasn’t finding anything that deviated from it. But, my friends told me to reconsider and take a look at paranormal romance. Of course, it’s literature so I said, “Sure”, and ask them for recommendations. They gave me enough to make me figure out that I was wrong about the whole thing. It also gave me the inspiration I needed to tackle this interesting genre.
“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.”
― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
The duality of intolerance
The Silver Plague was the easiest story for me to write because it was from a dream I had. I mean a very vivid one. I was actually going to save it for the fantasy series that I’m currently worldbuilding for along with my LGBTQ+ Crimeverse series. Anyway, I had this dream and I wanted to get it down on my paper before it escaped me. Glad I did, too, because I felt like this would be a close candidate for My Top Ten Favorite Short Stories.