Ernest Hogan's Blog, page 36

CHICANONAUTICA FINDS STEELSNAKE AMOK AGAIN

A new story about my postcyberpunk luchador Steelsnake is out, and you can read all about it in Chicanonautica, over at La Bloga.

It's extrapolates on lucha libre:


And the peace business:


And war:


It gets violent:
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SKIN DRAGONS TALK IN THE AFROFUTURISM BUNDLE

He didn't want to give the guards one more chance to beat him to a bloody pulp. It would have made them far too happy. The dragons tattooed on his bruised arms and shoulders twitched and asked, What's so funny?


That's the first paragraph of my story, “Skin Dragons Talk,” originally published in the March 1998 issue of Science Fiction Ageand later reprinted in Mothership: Tales From Afrofuturism and Beyond. It's set on a moon colony run by yakuza where an intelligent virus from deep space causes all hell to break loose.

For a limited time, Mothershipcan be purchased along with similar Afrofuturistic book as part of The Afrofuturism Bundle . You also books by Nisi Shawl, Bill Campbell, and many other books that take back the future and the imagination from white supremacy. What are you waiting for?
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CHICANONAUTICA THINKS ABOUT LATINOFUTURISM

Chicanonauticais about Latinofuturism over at La Bloga.

Because I took part in an oral history project for the Smithsonian:


The National Air and Space Museum to be exact:


Got me thinking about futurism:


Can it get Latinoid?

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A PREVIEW OF “PEACECON”

I sold another story! It's called “PeaceCon”--a slapstick comedy about social unrest and mind control starring my post-cyberpunk mask luchador, Steelsnake. It'll be in Unfit Magazine Vol.3.
Some of you may remember Steelsnake from my story “Novaheads” that can be found in the anthology Super Stories of Heroes and Villians, edited by Claude Lalumière.
And you can read a sample of “PeaceCon” now!
Meanwhile, stay tuned. I'll let you know how to get it as soon it's available.

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CHICANONAUTICA TASTES SALSA NOCTURNA

Chicanonautica reveiws Daniel José Older's Salsa Nocturnaat La Bloga.
Lucky for me, he has a lot of videos:

I agree with him on this:

He's from Boston:

And here he is reading from the book:
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LEPRECON REVELATIONS

While the cactus were blooming all over Phoenix, Emily and I went to another LepreCon, at the Doubletree, next to the library where I work, across the street from Hooters.

The hotel looked like the set of a sci-fi flick from the Seventies.

There was a Lyft station our front to remind us what century we were in while I took Kubrickian snapshots.

The con was small. A good thing, because so was the hotel. Most of the time you could walk around and not notice that there was convention going on.

The attendees were mostly older fandom. Our g-generation.

But there were younger folks, too, in costumes that seemed more eclectic than tributes to favorite franchises. One young woman showed off a shield she was making emblazoned with the word “fuckface” that was inspired by her baby, who she pushed around in a stroller. It was a flash of the old days when all this was considered a threat to polite society.

We had to talk about where the whole damn SFF kit and kaboodle is going. We can to the conclusion that it was all getting bigger and more diverse. We’re in for an explosion.

Later I got to talk about what the new classics could be (beats the hell out of me), and  bullshit about creativity.


Nobody had anything for me to sign, so I doodled at the signing. Note to writers: Unless you’re super famous and know there’s going to be a long line with stacks for stuff for you sign, bring along something to amuse yourself.

The audiences were small, were actually interested in books and wanted to talk about them. This got me thinking on the last day, Easter Sunday, while most folks were celebrating in honor of everybody’s favorite zombie: Just what is SFF/Fandom all about these days?

This was not just an excuse to eat at Chino Bandido.

Has it all been totally commandeered by big publishers, and corporate media franchises? Where are the new ideas coming from? Is anything important ever discussed at the newfangled “comic cons.” (Corporate lawyers please note the lower case letters, no hyphen, and quotation marks, no copyright infringement is intended--I’m just trying to say something so that people will understand it, godammit!)

People still find out about new and unusual books, and other interesting cultural phenomena at small, independent conventions, like Leprecon. We need them, but keep your funky subcultures going.

So support your local conventions!
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CHICANONAUTICA SAVES SOULS IN 2099

Chicanonatica reviews James Steven-Arce's SoulSaverat La Bloga.
It's set in Puerto Rico:

In the future:

And deals with Latinoid religion:

So get ready:
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SPRINGTIME IN AZTLÁN

The world is awash in political turmoil. Not just Washington, but the whole planet. It’s reaching out into orbit. And I have writing to do.

But, it’s springtime in Aztlán, the Wild West, the Southwest, my native region, my homeland.


There are those who see it as a vast, hideous wasteland. I feel sorry for them. They do not know what beauty is. Their lives are poorer for it.

It never really got cold this winter. Now the brighter light and warmer temperature snags my attention as I sit in front of the computer, trying to take care of business. I find myself getting out of my chair, and wandering out into the visual delirium.

My wife, Emily Devenport’s garden glows. She says I have a way with capturing light on flowers, but the truth is, it captures me. I see it, do a WOW that’s sometimes audible, then run to get my phone. I've learn that if I wait, the magic configuration of planet and star are lost.

Sometimes surrealism just happens.

Sometimes I find natural occurring abstract art. As Jackson Pollock once said, “I am nature.”

And people keep forgetting the cold, hard fact that flowers are plant sexual organs in a state of arousal.

Again, it's spring. Plants, lizards, and motorcycles are in full mating display.

Throughout Aztlán, as the chaos brews.


John Wayne stands guard over a Men’s Room, and a two-dimensional cowgirl hang with a bloated saguaro, as mythologies battle over the fantastic landscape.

And the world still grows more apocalyptic. Like the “In the springtime” at the end of Un Chien Andalou, with a man and woman buried up to their waists in the sand, being devoured by huge insects.

We need be like cacti who refuse to die.
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CHICANONAUTICA MEETS QUANTUM SANTERIA

Chicanonauticareviews The Assimilated Cuban's Guide to Quantum Santeria, over at La Bloga.From roots in Cuba:

We get quantum:

Throw in some Santeria:

Heading for new frontiers:
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ERNESTO ART AND MONARCHS FLY TO KANSAS

If you squint your eyes, or enlage the picture to ridiculous proportions, you can see three of my drawings and copies of High Aztech and Cortez on Jupiter.

Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly has taken wing again and landed a the Nerman Museum of the Contemporary Arts, on the campus of Johnson County Community College, in Overland Park, Kansas.

My stuff is there courtesy of Josh Rios and Anthony Romero. Once again, thanks, guys!

Meanwhile, here's a look at the drawings to whet your appetite.P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }