Boston, MA
Separated from my family during El Salvador's civil war, by death and adoption, I am an author, filmmaker, and technologist.
Every December, I use my Author Update to reflect on the year that was. I like doing this because working on the book is slow going, and progress often only becomes apparent when looking back. For this year’s update, I thought I would do something a little different and reflect on the book project
This past month has been exciting, as I started working with Claude AI to run through a series of story-related exercises. This was a surprising development because I’ve been skeptical of AI for a while now. I’m not opposed to the technology per se, but I think it has been overhyped.
This month, I’m excited to announce Los Testigos (The Witnesses), a membership program, where you will bear witness to my magical realism rewrite as it unfolds. The name reflects both the story I’m telling (about forced disappearances and recovered truths) and the role you will play in shaping it.
Today, I have some exciting news to share with you. I plan to resume work on my magical realism rewrite in November and will be launching a new Early Reader Experience to coincide with this effort.
Over the past month, I have been working on upgrading the technical infrastructure that powers my website and several other websites that I manage. While on the surface, this may seem like a distraction from my work on the book, it is an important step toward getting back to my writing.
While the spring coaching season is often very busy, I’ve also had some distractions to contend with that have made it harder to write. Since I don’t have a lot of news on the writing front, I thought I’d share some links to some of my work and a video that was sent to me.
A collection of film photographs taken during trips to Scotland, London, Barcelona, and Tepoztlan, Mexico.
Throughout most of January, I participated in the Under the Volcano writing residency in Tepoztlán, Mexico, which was an unforgettable experience that I will reflect on for some time. The remarkable people I met there inspired me to continue developing my craft.
This past month has been a good one. I was able to get some writing done and have finished seven chapters of my magical realism rewrite. I also started working on one of the new historical fiction scenes, and have been preparing for my writer’s retreat in Mexico.
This month’s update will be shorter, as most of November was occupied by my fall coaching job. Despite the hectic end of the season, I was able to get some writing done and prepare for my trip to Tepotzlán, Mexico.
I have some big news to share this month: I have been accepted to the Under The Volcano writing retreat taking place in Tepoztlán, Mexico, in January of next year. I’ve also completed four chapters of my magical realism rewrite.
It’s September, which means school and my coaching job have started back up again. Besides applying to the 2025 Under The Volcano writing retreat, I also started working with a productivity coach to help me as I rewrite the first half of my manuscript.
I didn’t get much writing done during the summer because my wife and I were traveling again! However, the print version of my article arrived, and I applied for a couple of writing workshops.
Once again, my spring coaching job took up much of my time, so I didn’t have the bandwidth to send out a newsletter update for May. Instead, I’m doing a combined May/June update. However, before I get into what I have been up to over the past two months, I want to share an exciting announcement.
This month’s update is shorter because the ultimate frisbee season is in full swing. However, I want to share a new direction I’m working on for my book and several novels I have been reading.
Even though February was technically shorter than March, this month has flown by. I ran a storytelling workshop for a group of Central and South American adoptees, worked on a series of blog posts, and explored a new direction for my book.
Despite February being the shortest month of the year, I got a lot done. I wrote a draft of my essay for the NACLA Report magazine, created a workshop on how to tell a personal story and was interviewed for two different audio programs.
It's been several months since my last author update, so today, I'd like to look back at 2023 and also talk about what lies ahead for 2024.
The lumbering city bus comes to a halt next to a small rectangular concrete structure meant to act as the neighborhood bus stop. Lucia Angulo de Escobar, better known by her family as Mamá Chila, steps off with a few other women who are also returning home from work.
