Poetry

The Story of Life's unique lyrical style comes from the way it was written and the texts that inspired it. I did not write in English and translate into Spanish, I wrote the book in both Spanish and English simultaneously. I would write a passage in English, translate it to Spanish and keep going, translate the new text into English and keep going, an so on. The method kept me from biasing towards either language and added a certain character to the epic tale of life on Earth. It also means that readers of both languages will be able to enjoy a natively, colloquially written version of the story in their own tongue.

The Story of Life was directly inspired by The Popol Vuh and Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony.

I was reading both books for different classes when I began writing The Story of Life, so I absorbed and combined elements of their writing styles. From the Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of The Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings, came the long lines of descent and the genderless beginning. From Ceremony came the "Sunrise" convention and the poetic style - a column of short phrases centered on the page.

Other, more indirect influences are the Bible, the Qur'an, the Ramayana, and more Native American, Greek, Roman, Indian (from India) and Viking mythologies than I can name. These are works that I did not look at directly during writing, but I had either read or heard before and subconsciously added their elements to the mix.

Now that you know everything, go read the story!