Lorraine M. López and Daniel Chacón
In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the In Process Series welcomed two special guests: authors Lorraine López and Daniel Chacón. After an introduction from MTSU’s Fiction Writing professor, Dr. Fred Arroyo, both shared excerpts of their current works in progress.
López began with an excerpt from a project she’s working on, which she describes as an “autobiographical science fiction anthology.” Through its sci-fi conceit — the narrator’s sister having traveled back in time —the book explores sisterhood and childhood.
The excerpt was moving for its juxtaposition of the fantastical and the mundane. At one point, the narrator and her sisters theorize about wormholes and time travel while smoking weed in their car. Through this contrast, an honest portrayal of sisterhood comes through. One of my favorite segments from the reading is the narrator’s description of her favorite TV show, the 1972 series Kung Fu. The description of the show — and what about it the narrator finds appealing —paints a captivating portrait of childhood through specificity.
After López finished her reading, Chacón made an appearance from El Paso, Texas, through Zoom. Despite technical difficulties, he read an excerpt from his published collection, Kafka in a Skirt, based on his cat, Bacon. Afterward, he shared several stories from another collection he’s working on: a series of extra short “stoplight stories.”
Chacón’s stories tended to be quick, witty, and frank. Standouts include a piece about a Christian who begins dating a witch he meets at a party and one about an argument between exes who meet weekly for sex.
Chacón admitted that he hadn’t even looked over some of these stories since he had first written them, and the class even watched as he struck an unnecessary line from one. It was, perhaps, the most “work-in-process” project we’ve seen thus far, and having a front-row seat to the creative process demonstrated what makes this series so valuable to aspiring writers.
After both readings were complete, both authors answered questions about resurrecting stories, how they select stories for a collection, and discovering character as they write. One of the most helpful topics covered was the process of editing. Chacón offered one of the most striking and relatable pieces of advice in the night. As he said, there will likely come a time where “you stop believing in your story.” His advice was to put it away somewhere and come back to it, and then make the decision to either save it or let it go for good.
Matthew Parris is an English major and senior at MTSU.
Screenshots courtesy of In Process’ official livestream photographer, Dr. Aleka Blackwell.
