Experience as a community worker in Venezuelan shantytowns led me to become a sociologist and then to write articles and books about social issues in Latin America and among Latin Americans in the U.S. I began writing fiction (not necessarily about Latin America) around 1980. A great influence and mentor has been the poet and writing teacher Walter James Miller, whom I met at New York University and still keep in touch with. Another more recent influence was a trip to Turkey, which fascinated me so much I spent years researching and writing a novel about a key moment in its history.
A new anthology of "living fiction" includes my story "On a page from Rilke." It gives me a thrill to have another publication, and this is a good crowd. Check out this YouTube video Above Ground trailer.
Breakthrough, shmakethru. Writing up my publications for the Red Room has reminded me of my mixed experience with small press publishing. I'd had several short stories published in little magazines and anthologies when 20 years ago I thought I'd made a breakthrough: My first (and to date only) collection of short stories -- Welcome to My Contri -- got a rave review in the Sunday New York Times ...
Nice. Just been invited to include my "On a Page from Rilke" story in a new anthology. No money, but maybe some new readers. I have enjoyed working with the anthology editor and getting her responses to the little jokes in the story. Usually we publish but don't know how people are reading our things.