Science Fiction

Alternate Universe Essay for Lightspeed Magazine’s People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction

I read through all of the personal essays written for Lightspeed Magazine's People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction, edited by the enthusiastic and all-around good human being Sunil Patel. Each one of the essays offers a window into why the writer finds the field of science fiction is important to them. Full disclosure: I submitted several times during the open call, and as of this writing still have something under consideration. That said, after reading the essays, I was inspired to write one, too. "But you're not really Puerto Rican. . ." I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My mom was Puerto Rican, and my dad was from Philly. Both of them were teachers for the local U.S. Army military base, Fort Buchanan. As a result, I was able to write and read in both English and Spanish by the time I started in Kindergarten. My parents weren't big into science fiction, but...