“I know what I’m supposed to write: Get up early and write for two hours before the world rushes in. Yeah, right. Some prickly voice just piped up and tried to make me feel bad for not waking up at 4:00 AM so I could write for two or three hours before the baby wakes up. Whatever, prickly voice, why don’t you try it and report back?
At night, after dinner, after putting the baby down, after making sure the teenagers are as settled as teenagers can be, the wife and I have about ninety minutes to kill before we get so unbelievably tired we crumble to dust. In the age of binge-watching we’re watching one episode of one show a night, like we’re a pioneer family. My recommendation: Star Trek. Look, times are stressful. I hope you can read this in a time when ‘flattening the curve’ sounds like imaginary tech speak from some wacky start-up. Star Trek (from the original through to the new series, Discovery and Picard) is a perfect escape because it’s not escapist—it’s a blueprint. It features a society that has conquered human suffering through reason and science. A society where tolerance and acceptance underlies all decisions. A society that has moved past money, social status, and greed, but still values cultural identity, languages, and traditions.
It’s hard for me to write. The world is distracting. I take soul nourishment where I can find it.”
—Richard Z. Santos, author of Trust Me (Arte Público Press, 2020)
Photo credit: Casey Schlickeisen