Interview of Manuel Ramos by Xánath Caraza

Interview of Manuel Ramos by Xánath Caraza

 

Manuel Ramos

Manuel Ramos is the author of ten novels and a short story collection. He has received the Colorado Book Award (twice), the Chicano/Latino Literary Award, the Top Hand Award from the Colorado Authors League, and Honorable Mentions from the International Latino Book Awards. His first novel, The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz, was a finalist for the Edgar® award. My Bad: A Mile High Noir was a Shamus finalist. He is a co-founder of and regular contributor to the award-winning Internet magazine La Bloga (www.labloga.blogspot.com), which deals with Latino literature, culture, news and opinion.  His latest crime fiction novel is The Golden Havana Night:  A Sherlock Homie Mystery.

1Who is Manuel Ramos?  How do you define yourself as a writer?

I’m a Chicano -- Mexican by heritage, American by birth.  I’m a retired lawyer, a writer of dark stories, usually crime fiction, a weary survivor of the cultural wars of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s … well, they never stopped. I hope to write stories that people will read.  My self-definition is that I am a writer of fiction that may contain the truth. 

2As a child, who first introduced you to reading?

I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading.  My grandparents gave me magazines and newspapers to read.  My parents spent hard-earned and scarce money on the so-called Book of Knowledge so I would have something meaningful to read.  The librarians in the small library of my small home town suggested books for me to read and eventually let me read any book I wanted, such as the crime classics of Chandler, Hammett and Cain.  I read everything as a kid, including canned food labels and Sunday morning newspaper comics.  That’s probably one of the main reasons I wanted to be a writer.

3How did you first become a writer?

Influenced by all the reading I did, I wrote as a kid, mostly descriptions of my relatives.  In high school I was encouraged by a teacher and because of that encouragement I wrote short stories and character sketches for a high school literary journal. These were my first publications. This happened at Harrison High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  My professional publishing career started with the publication of my short story “White Devils and Cockroaches,” which was published as part of a fiction writing contest sponsored by the weekly Westword, in 1986.  That year I also published “His Mother’s Image” in the short story collection entitled Southwest Tales:  A Contemporary Collection.  “His Mother’s Image” is about La Llorona, a character that consistently reappears in Chicano fiction.

Seeing my first published story, and then getting the news that my first novel would be published, were intense moments of joy and celebration.  I had tremendous respect for people who could string together words and sentences into a story that transported me into imaginative situations filled with drama, adventure, pain and happiness.  I thought that the title “author” or “writer” was a prestigious term of accomplishment and success.  When I realized that I had joined the club, I was a bit overwhelmed and insecure, but I also relished the challenge. 

4Do you have any favorite novel by other authors?  Could you share some lines along with your reflection of what drew you toward that novel?

One of my favorite authors is Alfredo Véa, a writer who lives in Oakland, California.  Alfredo has written four amazing novels that are superb examples of brilliant literature.  La Maravilla (1993), The Silver Cloud Café (1996), Gods Go Begging (1999), and The Mexican Flyboy (2016) should be on everyone’s reading list.  I believe my writing improved because I read these books – Alfredo is truly a writer’s writer.  His latest, The Mexican Flyboy, won a 2017 American Book Award.  My descriptions of these books can’t do them justice.  Instead, here are a few lines from Gods Go Begging.  The narrator is describing the children of an urban housing complex.

“Here, where Biscuit Boy was born and raised, was a free fire zone, open season on any moment of calm.  Like the Middle Ages, this was a place of basic oral communication only.  An oligarchy of sports and movie celebrities ruled over a new consumer peasantry.  Like poor soldier serfs, these children built their lives around the imaginary castles of athletes and actors.  In this land of functional illiteracy, there were icons everywhere, sports icons, icons of status, icons on the computer screen.  There were icons on every television urging children to buy denim icons for their legs and canvas icons for their feet.  As a new medieval age dawned, iconography, cryptography, and a feudal impotence merged and now held sway.”

5What is a day of creative writing like for you?

When I am fully into a project, I write every day, usually in-between my other obligations such as my exercise classes (a necessity because of my Parkinson’s Disease).  I start by going over the last few pages I’ve written, edit those, and strive to write a few more new pages.  I do this in the morning, evening, anytime that is open.  But I make sure to do it every day (as I said, when I’m fully into a project – I don’t write every day of my life – only when I’m committed to a new piece.)  My writing usually takes place in my home office on my laptop, although I keep a notebook that I carry all the time and which I use for preserving lines, dialog, ideas, etc. 

6When do you know when a text is ready to be read?

I don’t share my writing with anyone until I think it is ready for my wife, Flo, to read it.  She is always my first editor.  She makes comments, corrects mistakes and typos, and asks questions about the narrative.  When the draft passes the “Flo test” I am ready for the world to read it.

 

7Could you comment on your life as a cultural activist?

Not sure I’m much of an activist, but I have believed for most of my life that I have an obligation to speak for people who could not speak for themselves, to resist injustice, fear, and racism, and to work for peace in everything I do.  I’ve tried to uphold that belief in my professional career as an attorney, in my work as a writer, and in my interactions with friends and family.

8What project/s are you working on at the moment that you would like to share?

I am in the very beginning stages of working on my next Gus Corral novel. At least, I think it’s a Gus story – it may morph into something else.  If it works out, I intend to tell a story that picks up where The Golden Havana Night ended.  But as I said, this is only the beginning and a lot can, and will, happen to the story before I get to the end.

9What advice do you have for other writers?

Read, read, and read again.  Then write, write, and read some more.

1 What else would you like to share?

Read La Bloga – there is nothing like it anywhere else.