Three chingón lit pieces today, including opportunities for
submitting your novel manuscript or writing. First, Kathleen Alcalá provides
her sober and challenging views about latinos entering the world of American
spec lit. Do leave her comments about your own views. Kathleen's credentials for
this include her attendance at the prestigious Clarion West Science Fiction Workshop as a student and an instructor.
Science Fiction and You
by Kathleen Alcalá
Is there a place on science fiction for Latino/as? No. Anywhere in the
publishing universe? No. You have to make a place. Want a checklist?
You get 1 point if you are White, East Coast, Old money, a straight male
or have a famous last name.
You lose a point if you are: Brown, West Coast, Female, A gay male or have
a name that is hard to spell or pronounce for non-Latin@ English speakers.
Are you still at zero or below? So what? Why are you writing?
The advantage of writing science fiction, mysteries, or romances is that
genre writing pays. It has an established system of conventions where readers
meet writers and buy books. There are fan clubs, and plenty of media
cross-over. The only category of fiction that lacks this is literary fiction.
If this is your passion, you must write for love. Editors are subservient to
the marketing department, and marketing continues to stay well behind the curve
on demographics.
More to the point, if you have read this far, why should you care about
science fiction? Because science fiction offers both the grandest and most
nuanced metaphors for the human condition. Where do the templates for the
civilizations of the future originate? In the past, including yours. Countless
writers have mined your history for their work. This is the same history that
certain school boards don’t want you to know. It speaks of science, of
religions, of land dearly won or lost. My ancestors looked at the stars and saw
the campfires of their beloved departed. They used the plants around them for
medicine, grew and wove cotton for their clothing. All of these details are
gold for people who have lost or tired of their own mythologies.
Latin@s can step into this field and bring an authentic voice to it.
Will people accept you? Who cares? You create your own gravity in any field,
and people come to you. Will you get published? Yes. There are thousands of
places to publish, and one of them will take your work. Can you succeed through
self-publishing? If your work is good and you persist. Can Latin@s help each
other? Sure. Publishing is a new frontier. You can form publishing co-ops,
review each other’s work (as Rigoberto Gonzalez did without pay for ten years),
read drafts, share opinions, go to Cons and form your own caucuses. You can
start a Con.
Will you be disrespected? Yes. Will you be adored? Yes. Science fiction
readers are early adopters, so many jumped to e-readers and intermedia
presentations early. They are also collectors, so if you have published one or
more books, you might be approached by someone with a bagful to get your
autograph.
Science fiction people are very sweet, very bright, and have their own
subculture. If you’ve got a good story, it will be picked up, and you will have
the opportunity to promote it in a very supportive environment. Your first
publisher might not be Tor, but there is a publisher for you. Science fiction
readers have always valued small presses as much as large, and pride themselves
on discovering new writers. Rudy Ch. Garcia met some amazing writers and
editors at his first WorldCon. Would that have happened if he had gone to New
York and tried to meet the top writers and editors in mainstream publishing?
Not a chance, unless he had already written a bestseller, or received a major prize.
Common advice is to “write what you know,” but Ursula K. LeGuin advised
us to “write what you care about.” The greed of a few corporations has brought
us to the place where we are destroying the world around ourselves. Is that
important to you? Human rights? Censorship? All topics of science fiction. All
aching to be written about.
Ursula LeGuin said of her first
collection, “This is a book of wonders. Each story unfolds with humor and
simplicity and perfect naturalness into something original and totally
unpredictable. The kingdom of Borges and García Marquez lie just over the
horizon, but this landscape of desert towns and dreaming hearts … is
Alcalá-land. It lies just across the border between Mexico and California, across
the border between the living and the dead, across all the borders – a true new
world.
Kathleen Alcalá is the author of a
short story collection, three novels set in 19th Century Mexico and the
Southwest, and a collection of essays based on family history. Her work has
received the Western States Book Award, the Governor’s Writers Award, and a
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award. She received her second
Artist Trust Fellowship in 2008. Kathleen has a B.A. in Linguistics
from Stanford University and an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of
Washington. She completed a Master of Fine Arts at the University of New
Orleans. Her work is often referred to as magic realism, but Kathleen considers
most of it historical fiction. She has been both a student and instructor in
the Clarion West Science Fiction Workshop. A permanent faculty member at the
Northwest Institute of Literary Arts.
Untold Press Open for Submissions
We are currently open to Novel Submissions for a limited time.
We accept stories from Middle Grade to Adult.
Novels must be a minimum of 50k words (40K min for middle grade).
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, SciFi, Steampunk, Horror, Romance (except
Erotica)
We also accept previously published novels as long as you have the
rights back. Author will need to provide proof of release of rights.
To submit, please E-mail submissions@untoldpress.com the following:
Query letter (be sure to include word count and genre), Synopsis, and First
Chapter.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact us at the same E-mail
address. We will get back to you as soon as possible, normally in 2 weeks or
less.
About Untold Press: There are an infinite number of stories, most
of them remain unheard. No tale should ever remain untold. We are a small
group of authors dedicated to sharing these tales. Thus began Untold Press LLC.
A US company (based out of Florida) with Canadian parts. Untold Press is not a
vanity publisher. An author will not be asked to pay for publication, editing,
cover art or other services. We pride ourselves on publishing works that are
exceptionally edited, formatted and have gorgeous covers!
Submit your writing samples
[from the National Hispanic Cultural Center]
May 22-25, 2014, 10 am - 5 pm
NHCC History and Literary Arts Bldg.,
Albuquerque
Mark
your calendars to attend this unique conference emphasizing the work of Latino
writers and poets; all are welcome. Genres include: novel, poetry, memoir,
play/screen writing, young adult, children, creative non-fiction and news
writing.
Internationally
recognized authors from Mexico and Spain and nationally known authors,
publishers, editors and agents will conduct workshops, panels and individual
consultations. There will be opportunities to read from your work and to
interact in an intimate and beautiful setting. Faculty will read writing
samples submitted by the deadline of
April 1, 2014.
Price
for the 4-day conference ($400) includes several meals and a formal awards
banquet. Register early and get an early bird discount. For more info contact
Greta Pullen at greta.pullen@state.nm.us
505/724-4752.
Es todo, hoy,
RudyG
I'd
guess that whoever contributes, for whatever reason, the present line-up of
authors and the explosive possibilities of spec lit will make your contribution worth more than you can imagine. Maybe even more than the authors did. I'm already imagining what a book-signing event of Latino/a Rising will look like with authors Kathleen Alcalá, Ana Castillo, Junot Díaz, Ernesto Hogan,
Daniel José Older and Sabrina Vourvoulias up front. [Check it out--so many women?] And maybe me. If I can just make this damn long story shorter...
