Victor D. López's Blog: Victor D. Lopez, page 69

Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (information and links)

This book is a compilation of 10 science fiction and speculative fiction short stories by the author from his two previous short story collections, Book of Dreams and Book of Dreams 2nd Edition, as well as two new stories written in 2013. Its scope extends from the innermost dimensions of the mind to the outer reaches of the universe, focusing from diverse perspectives on some common themes as to the meaning of life, the superlative strength and wrenching weakness of the human spirit, the pow...

Enough is Enough: Time to End the Hyper-Partisan Vitriol

The politically motivated shooting of Republicans in Washington DC today by an apparently rabid Bernie Sanders supporter is a tragedy that is as unsurprising as it is troubling.

Before the echoes of the shooting die down, the left will spin this as a tragedy that points to the need for gun control. I am open to discussing the issue of assault riles in the hands of wing nuts. But that is not the real issue here, and no amount of spin can change that. This is about an increasingly shrill, angry,...

Heroes Desconocidos: Parte I y II (Unsung Heroes--Spanish translation)

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Central Park (Blank Verse)

Central Park(C) 1979, 2011, 2017 Victor D. López

Flowers bloom next to rusting Pepsi cans,
Watered by the spit of cocaine dealers,
And the semen and vaginal fluid,
Of hot lovers groping under blankets,
Under stars dimly blinking through thick smog.
Nightly haven for muggers, rapists, fiends,
Whose every breath profanes the species they,
So poorly represent, turning Plato’s,
Featherless bipeds, to dead plucked chickens,
Soul-less, pointless wastes of protoplasm.
Abomination-- not in itself but,
For the us...

The Subway (Free Verse)

The Subway(C) 1979, 2011, 2017 Victor D. López
I stand alone in the dark Fulton Street subway station,
Breathing in the urine-scented air,
Breathing out clouds of steam,
A subway train rushes along,
Not stopping,
Biting at my eardrums,
With the painful percussion,
Of thousands of people,
Silently screaming,
I don’t want to see,
I don’t want to see,
I don’t want to see,
The air fanned by each subway car,
Rushes against me,
Pushes the ozone and the smell of burnt brake linings,
Into my nostrils,
Along with the...

Unsung Heroes -- Felipe (free verse)

Unsung Heroes – Felipe (1931 – 2016) (C) Victor D. Lopez 2016
You were born five years before the Spanish Civil War that would see your father exiled.Language came later to you than your little brother Manuel. And you stuttered for a time.Unlike those who speak incessantly with nothing to say, you were quiet and reserved.Your mother mistook shyness for dimness, a tragic mistake that scarred you for life.
When your brother Manuel died at the age of three from Meningitis, you heard your momE...

Free book of poetry -- one day only (June 9)

Although I have refrained from enrolling my poetry, fiction and intellectual property books in the Kindle Unlimited program as I don't like being tied to publishing exclusively with Amazon even for three months, I decided to do a trial run for 90 days with my book of poems Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems. If you are an Amazon Prime members or are enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited program, you can download the book for free through September 9. For everyone else, the book will be free for...

El Enigma de la Esfinge: Resuelto -- Cuento de Ciencia Ficción

For my Spanish-speaking readers, I've translated a second (and last) short story from my Mindscapes collection as a fun and useful (for me) return to my native tongue. It is a quick translation, and as such imperfect, but I hope it captures the essence of my original short story for a new audience.
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El Enigma de la Esfinge: Resuelto
(C) 2011, 2014, 2017 Victor D. LopezEl sol del mediodía brilló en la gloria cegadora directamente sobre la Gran Esfinge de Giza, mientras el Dr....

Cuento de Ciencia Ficción: "Justicia"

The following is a quick and imperfect translation from the original English into Spanish of the shortest story in my Mindscapes short story collection. It is just a fun exercise for me to reconnect with my original language roots which, alas, I have too tenuous a connection to these days. 
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Este es el cuento más corto de mi colección de cuentos de ciencia ficción y ficción especulativa Mindscapes. A diferencia de la mayoría de mis cuentos de mis colecciones actuales y ant...

"Mars: Genesis 2.0" SF Short Story Preview

This is not the only end of days scenario from my Mindscape short story collection, but unlike the far darker “End of Days” short story where more than merely our world hang in the balance, my “Mars: Genesis 2.0” short story offers a more optimistic view if there can be such a thing when facing Armageddon. A previously undiscovered 200-mile-wide asteroid is heading for Earth and will hit in 666 days. That is the unanimous, somber prediction of astronomers the world over. As civil society desc...