PALABRAS: How Blogger & Author Rudy Ch. Garcia's Life Experiences Helped Form His Identity as Chicano Writer

This article is part of Palabras, the Latin Post Latino Author Series. In this edition of Latin Post's "Palabras" series, the delightful Rudy Ch. Garcia chats about his writing, and purposes of creating Chicano literature that doesn't conform to any rules.

San Antonio Mexican. That's what author Rudy Ch. Garcia and his people called themselves.

It wasn't because of geographical pride or egotism driven by distinguishing traits belonging exclusively to those who claimed that identity. Rather, it was simply who they were. They were San Antonio Mexican, but they were also an ensemble of bilingual peoples, who "flowered like the mesquite and the cacti, south, past the border," despite others not wanting them to flourish.

According to the author, his father was a bruto and a sci-fi fan who spent far more time reading than with his family. And although much of Garcia's intent to become a writer can be attributed to his homemaker mother who taught him to read before he began school; or his childhood English teacher, Mrs. Rodriguez, who encouraged him; revenge also played an instigator as he felt a need to deliver transcribed retribution for years of maltreatment by his father.

"The lesson? Never beat your kids ...or wife ...or you might inflict the writing virus on a kid," Garcia stated sharply, during an interview with Latin Post. "Seriously, abuse in various forms runs through my writings. But I love writing it. One of my missions in fiction is to speak to whatever abuse--from racism to parental neglect--that our people need to resolve or admit."

Now on his "ninth life," Garcia is a retired teacher, father, husband and spec author who has penned the noir detective story "LAX Confidential," the southwest fantasy work "Memorabilia," and his witty and thought-provoking debut novel "The Closet of Discarded Dreams."

He enjoys tapping themes, characters and plots that are as humane as his abuela and as progressive as his tío and abuelo, and he works to create writing that strays from copying U.S. mainstream literature's paradigms with a slim dose of Chicano characters and culture. Instead, he wants to create worlds where Latinos interact with others in different ways. He infuses his writing with what it means to live as a Chicano in a nation that overtook the Southwest, and never fulfilled its obligations to its native peoples. Because of that reality, he feels that he isn't allowed to write for art's sake, or to simply create for entertainment -- even if his writing is now geared toward younger audiences.

"I'm fascinated by the different realities we might develop with other historically oppressed people, as well as progressive Anglos," said Garcia. "Beyond how other authors inspire me, I'm mostly moved by the promise of youth, both children and teens, and I want my writings to encourage them to develop their own unique future."

"LAX Confidential," Garcia's first published story, was featured in "Latinos in Lotusland," an anthology with numerous outstanding authors. The story focuses on a Chicano detective who searches for the missing novelist and Chicano Movement activist Oscar Zeta Acosta, and it was inspired by the prolific novelist Manuel Ramos. The short story "Memorabilia" is sci-fi/fantasy piece based in Chicano lore, and tells the story of aliens hiding in the Southwest, and a Chicano shaman, Sentinel, who prevents them from taking over the planet. His debut novel, "The Closet of Discarded Dreams," is an invented, alternate world that's occupied with Chicano scenarios and dream sequences, reflecting Chicano's position in U.S. society. The Dreampeople and the nameless Chicano protagonist are confined to a dimension that's shaped like a long rectangular prism, with a low-hanging ceiling.

"I write like a rasquache on a vision quest. I let my imagination run, the words flow and the characters and plots take unimagined paths. 'The Closet's first draft was done in six weeks; revisions took longer. I get writer's block as often as Ebola," said Garcia. "The end products usually align with my original intentions, only, much more refined. If they didn't end like I imagined, they probably had good reasons of their own. I know I'm done when I've created characters that will surprise the reader and plots that will take them into worlds they've not seen before."

In recent writings, he's carried Mexican heritage into U.S. settings. His unpublished children's book on Aztec legend recognizes the dark-skin prejudice faced today. And linking his literature to pre-Columbian civilizations is as necessary as linking Anglo lit to its classical roots. Identity is paramount. According to Garcia, "they've burned all our libraries, most of our codices, and I see it as a duty to resurrect what we can and gift it to our raza, whether through fiction or nonfiction. We came from great, disappeared civilizations."

While writing six to eight hours a day throughout the last two years, Garcia has churned out a YA Chicano fantasy novel "Bruised Hearts," a Mexican fantasy novella "The Grandest Gardener of Texcoco," a children's Aztec book "Sleeping Love" and two short stories.

Those who don't recognize Garcia for his fiction are likely familiar with his popular Chicano literary blog, LaBloga, a platform that offers insights, photography, reviews and witty thoughts pertaining to Latino authors and their stories. Librarian-scholar Teresa Marquez inspired the blog, which for more than ten years has featured daily articles on culture, politics and pensamiento, by more than a few dozen raza authors. Through Garcia's exploration of others' work, visitors also become insiders, privy to Garcia's unique approach to any subject matter.