Chicanonautica: And Now, a Blatant Act of Unashamed Self-Promotion . . .

by Ernest Hogan

 Yeah, here I go again. I know some folks think that a literary artiste should stay aloof in their assigned ivory tower (which is usually not ivory or a tower), but in my career, I’ve learned that if you want people to read your work, you have to go out and make noise. And I consider it my right in non-paying gigs like this one.

I always have great expectations when I start a story. I think, wow, this one is going to set the world on fire! Who cares if the short story has become an artform that most people ignore, we have social media, it’s quite possible if the word gets out in the right way, it could go viral. It could become The New THING! Society would be influenced. The course of history changed . . .

‘Scuse me while I do my diabolical mad scientist laugh.

It was that way when I wrote “Those Rumors of Cannibalism and Human Sacrifice Have Been Greatly Exaggerated.” I have been traveling around Aztlán, and particularly New Mexico, seeing things from my Chicano (pardon me, but I have to be specific about what part of Latinx, and the Greater Latinoid Continuum I’m talking about here) viewpoint, with its political and historical baggage. I also took note of what I saw, how things were developing, did some extrapolation, played the time-honored sci-fi game of What If? . . . and came up with (if I can get away with saying it myself) one helluva story.

 

Of course, I sent to all the usual markets, and thanks to email submission, quickly exhausted the possibilities. Undaunted, I kept scanning the horizons for new ones to come along (I am sorry to say that this process can take years).

Finally, it sold to Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology. Let’s have a round of applause for the editors Alex Hernandez, Matthew David Goodwin, and Sarah Rafael Garcia! 

Then there was the process by which the book actually came into being, which took a few more years. Yep, this publishing business takes time. If you want to be an overnight sensation, go into pop music or politics or something more appealing to the masses.

And to go beyond finally, Speculative Fiction for Dreamers is coming out. There’s a page on Amazon where you can pre-order it.  On the page the publication date of September 8, 2021 is emblazoned. Or if you prefer an alternative to Amazon, go here. (Note: This is your cue to click and pre-order.)

Why should you take my word that you should take my word that you should spend your hard-earned cash on this book? Well, you not only get my story but 400 pages of stories by the likes of Stephanie Nina Pitsirilos, Patrick Lugo, Frederick Luis Aldama, Lisa M. Bradley, Pedro Cabiya, Scott Russell Duncan, Julia Rios, Sabrina Vourvoulias, and others who represent an emerging community or writers who are creating diverse new possibilities for the Latinx imagination.

Besides, Publishers Weekly says, “This is a knockout.”

They also mentioned my story:

Ernest Hogan explores decolonization in “Those Rumors of Cannibalism and Human Sacrifice Have Been Greatly Exaggerated,” in which two truck drivers in the liberated region of Aztlán—formerly the southwestern United States—pick up a hitchhiking American anthropologist.

So there!

Maybe this one really will go viral and shake the world!

Think I’ll do my mad scientist laugh again.

Ernest Hogan is considered to be the Father of Chicano Science Fiction. His dyslexia and lousy math skills are all that kept him from becoming an actual mad scientist. The human race should be thankful for that.