Michael Janairo

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  • Travels in Guatemala: Chichicastenango

    The landscape north of Antigua, as seen from the Pan-American highway.
    The landscape north of Antigua, as seen from the Pan-American highway.
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    Walter’s van

    I spent most of my visit to Guatemala in Antigua, which you can see and read about here, but I also took trips to other parts of the country.

    All these trips were put together Walter, the owner of the Don Quijote Travel Agency in Antiuga Guatemala.

    Here’s Walter’s van to the right. Our trip from Antigua to Chichicastenango took about three hours, which included stopping for breakfast at a place high in the mountains. Though the roads we traveled on included the four-way Pan-American highway, it also included going though plenty of towns and villages and mountain passes, where the roads are twisty and traffic is controlled by speed bumps. Lots of speed bumps.

    Crit and Walter.
    Crit and Walter.

    Walter is the best kind of travel guide — he knows where he’s going, he explains things clearly and he has a great sense of humor. On the morning of our trip to Chichi — as the town was called — I sat up front in the van with him, my camera on my lap. He pulled over now and then as we drove along so I could get shots, such as the one of the volcano/mountain landscape with thick fog in the valley at the top of this post, and (after I turned around) of him and Crit in the early morning sun. (more…)

  • Review: The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

    The Colorado Kid
    The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
    My rating: 3 of 5 stars

    The TV show Haven brought me to this tale, which was more of a story about stories — a kind of using fiction to figure out a kind of aesthetic — that makes a clever distinction between stories that are good for the news media (ones that have only one thing strange about them and that can be summed up easily) versus stories that don’t work in the news media, that is stories that are too strange or unresolved or have too many points in them to be easily summed up.
    (more…)

  • That was fun

    Today is my last day as a newspaperman.

    When I was a kid, I was a paperboy.

    When I was a college student, I was a journalism major.

    As an adult, I’ve done lots of different things (teach English in Japan, teach college writing courses), but for more than 15 years, I’ve been working in newspapers, with most of that time spent at the Times Union.

    Things change — and soon I will be the Assistant Director for Engagement at the Tang Museum.

  • Review: The Dispossessed

    The Dispossessed
    The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
    My rating: 5 of 5 stars

    Awesome. Wonderful. Confounding. Clever. Brilliant.

    A coworker handed me her copy of this great Ursula K. Le Guin novel when she heard that I hadn’t read it yet. The book requires attention, and it wasn’t until I had long stretches of time was I able to get into it. New names. New places. Conflicts between people for reasons that aren’t clear at first. It is a testament to Le Guin’s world-building — the completeness a reader can feel of the places she creates on the planet Urras and the moon Annares — that I and I’m sure many other readers enjoy the process of moving through the novel and learning what things mentioned earlier mean.
    (more…)

  • New on Goodreads: Veterans of the Future Wars

    VFWCoversmAn anthology of military sci-fi that I am in — Veterans of the Future Wars — has just been added to Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20691034-vfw.

    If you haven’t already seen it, go check it out today. It is being put together by Martinus Publishing.

    Here’s what’s cool about the anthology:

    It’s military sci-fi about veterans, to honor veterans, and several of these stories were written by actual veterans. Read these tales to share in the adventure, the triumphs and tragedies, and if you like your freedom thank those who have served to protect it. 10% of all profits will be donated to Disabled American Veterans.

    Thanks!

  • Scenes from Antigua, Guatemala

    Agua Volcano looms over Antigua Guatemala to the south, as seen from Cerro de la Cruz to the north.
    Agua Volcano looms over Antigua Guatemala to the south, as seen from Cerro de la Cruz to the north.

    When thinking about going abroad, I always have these equations in mind:

    Tourist = Seeing others as others

    Traveler = Discovering self as other

    My take is that most people are a little of both: you can’t help but feel strange being in a new place, as long as you are open to learning about that place; you can’t truly let go of who you are — the sense of identity that allows you to feel at home in your skin no matter where you are.

    With that in mind, my wife and I headed to Guatemala, where a friend was house-sitting in the former colonial capital, Antigua Guatemala.

    Here’s a video of the yard of the house we stayed in:

    An elephant on a chain that supports a bench swing.The owners of the home, Americans who worked in international aid and development, had brought a few touches from past postings to their home, including lots of furniture from India. That includes this elephant, which was part of a chain that supported a bench swing just outside the bedrooms and facing the back yard. The yard was verdant with a green lawn and flowering bushes, including rose bushes. The city itself is referred to as the “land of eternal spring,” with low temperatures in the mid 50s and highs in the 70s year-round.

    The house is in the Candelaria section of the town, named for the ruins of a Spanish church adjacent to the property. Antigua had been the colonial capital until an earthquake in the 1770s destroyed nearly all the buildings, including this church.

    The ruins of the church in the Candelaria section of Antigua, Guatemala.
    The ruins of the church in the Candelaria section of Antigua, Guatemala.

    Some of the major tourist attractions of Antigua are the ruins of churches that have been converted into museums, but the one at Candelaria just sits there, protected by some rusty and sad-looking barbed wire. I took the photo standing on a basketball court, which must’ve once been the courtyard of the ruined church. Teens played there every day, and a fruit vendor and a tortilla vendor set up in the space between the street and the basketball court, so the area has maintained its use as a public gathering spot. (more…)

  • My latest identity upgrade: ‘Goodreads Author’

    I just got this email from Goodreads:

    Hi Michael,

    Welcome to the Goodreads Authors program! We have upgraded your profile to an official author account. Your special status as a Goodreads Author gives you greater access to the millions of readers in our Goodreads community—so expect to get to know some passionate book lovers!

    Here’s the link https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7796395.Michael_Janairo

    I haven’t done anything with it just yet, but this next step is all thanks to being listed as one of the authors of the Long Reads anthology.

    Anything you’d like to see on my Goodreads Author page?

     

     

  • ‘Long Hidden’ update: Giveaway on Good Reads and cover blurb news

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    This is getting real. The anthology Long Hidden, which is now up on Goodreads.com and includes one of my short stories, can be yours in a giveaway going on right now on Goodreads.

    Go enter the giveaway at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20642659-long-hidden.

    Also check out the book jacket copy. The blurb mentions five of the 27 stories in the anthology — including mine. Can you guess which one?

    In 1514 Hungary, peasants who rose up against the nobility rise again – from the grave. In 1633 Al-Shouf, a mother keeps demons at bay with the combined power of grief and music. In 1775 Paris, as social tensions come to a boil, a courtesan tries to save the woman she loves. In 1838 Georgia, a pregnant woman’s desperate escape from slavery comes with a terrible price. In 1900 Ilocos Norte, a forest spirit helps a young girl defend her land from American occupiers.

    These gripping stories have been passed down through the generations, hidden between the lines of journal entries and love letters. Now 27 of today’s finest authors – including Tananarive Due, Sofia Samatar, Ken Liu, Victor LaValle, Nnedi Okorafor, and Sabrina Vourvoulias – reveal the people whose lives have been pushed to the margins of history

  • A few tiny steps toward publication(s)

    Big day yesterday as, within an hour of each other, I got the ARC (that’s advanced reader’s copy) of the Long Hidden speculative fiction anthology that includes a short story of mine AND a request to do an author interview for Veterans of the Future Wars anthology that includes a different short story of mine.

    With the ARC, I get to proof my story one more time. With the interview, I get to talk about me.

    These are small steps in the publishing process, but add a sense of fun and anticipation.