Serial Fiction in Progress
Working Title: The Masters
A storytelling project written in the style of documentary fiction, with flourishes of magical realism, horror, and slow-boiling intrigue (à la X-files). I begin with the premise that (a few) indigenous people developed super powers in response to European colonization, then jump forward to the world of Puerto Rico, on the eve of the Korean War.
The World of Puerto Rico in 1950
Luis Muñoz Marín is governor. No one knows it, but he’s in the back pocket of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover because of secret files proving he’s a heroin addict. Hoover uses this leverage to ensure that Marin plays nicely in the ongoing suppression of the independence movement, led by the nationalist party. The leader of that party, Pedro Albizu Campos has been jailed since 1930 for attempting to overthrow the government of the United States, and spends his days languishing in a stone dungeon at la Princessa prison, not even a mile from the governor’s mansion. The Gag Law, recently passed by Governor Marin, makes it a crime to display a Puerto Rican flag or to sing patriotic songs, and the FBI enlists the aid of tens of thousands of Puerto Rican informants—regular citizens—to spy on their neighbors; anyone suspected of harboring sympathies with the independence movement, even high school students. The military has aggressively expanded its footprint on the island—in the west, with Ramey Air Force Base; and in the east with the island of Vieques. Probably a good idea, since 60,000 communist troops, armed by the Soviet Union, have just crossed over the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. And unbeknownst to anyone, the militant wing of the nationalist party is on the verge of carrying out island-wide armed uprisings, along with assassination attempts on Governor Marin and President Harry Truman. There’s been a break-in at New York Presbyterian hospital in San Juan. Tissue samples were stolen—removed from a pregnant woman and kept under lock and key at the HPS lab since 1942. The researchers studying those tissue samples could never figure out what to make of them, but when FBI station chief John Spillers learns of the theft, he immediately makes moves to locate and take possession of the tissue samples. Complicating things is the fact that Captain Sepulveda of the 65th infantry regiment has also taken a keen interest in the theft. Several of his men died at the hospital, and he suspects foul play—perhaps even biological and chemical experimentation.
I hope to develop the ideas I flesh out here into a mature serial, and later a book.
Here’s what to expect
I’m in world-building mode, so most of my work is in the form of research as well as writing. I’ll write something once or so a week, and email you things like…
Historical timelines and synopses, relevant links, books and shows
Character sketches, scene fragments, maps and illustrations
Trivia nuggets (culture, science, history, geography, language, etc.)
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