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Daniel Ribot

Daniel Ribot

LEICESTER WRITER

 

Profile

A writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Daniel Ribot was born in Valencia, Spain and has since wandered widely, living in a number of places including Barcelona, Mexico City, Wellington (New Zealand), Paris, Nottingham, Stoke on Trent and Portsmouth before settling in Leicester. He has a PhD in Mexican political cartoons and comics. He works as a lecturer and translator.

Daniel has helped to found two writing groups called The Speculators and Phoenix Writers. A number of his short stories have been published and he has completed three novels. One of these, Vampsov 38, was accepted for publication by Omnium Gatherum Press in the United States. While Daniel specialises in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres, he writes using a range of genres, styles and themes.

 

Creative Work

Excerpt from A Martian Eye for an Earthling Guy


“Uuurgh... Where am I?”

Tork spoke.

“A designated police facility, Senor Nervion. My name is Anthony Stradivarius and I just need to ask you a few questions, that's all. You can be back in your car in half an hour with your lunch of spaghetti carbonara still in your stomach. It's what we all want.”

“Is this a... kidnapping? Do you know who I am?”

“Yes I do. You are Carlos Nervion, lawyer. So you'll understand that this is a legal interrogation under the provisions of the Patriot Act 2001, the 2015 Terrorism Act and the 2023 Security Protocol. But you probably guessed all that.”

“This is an outrage!" shouted Nervion, "I will sue the police department! How dare you violate my constitutional rights in this way?”

Tork chuckled. He grabbed the bottle of soda water resting on the table beside him and moved closer to his prisoner,

“Your nose has been buried in books for too long, my friend. There are no constitutional rights out here. So in your shoes, Mr Nervion, I would swallow my pride and cooperate.”

“And if I don't?” said Nervion, his chin jutting forward.

“So glad you asked that question. Let Anthony Stradivarius tell you all about it.”

Tork knelt down, checking the lawyer's bindings, staring him in the eye.

“Do you know why I call myself Stradivarius? Let me tell you; it's because the original Stradivarius guy was a genius. From his violins came sounds sweeter than anything else man has ever made. And all he had to work with was iron tools and glue from animal bones! With all our technology, all our science we just can't make violins as good. Even after all these centuries of progress, his are still better than the modern ones.”

Tork straightened up,

“I also make instruments sing in the old fashioned way. You, Mr Nervion, are my instrument. For all their science and psychology, modern interrogators can't play you like I will. And I only need this.”

He waggled the bottle of water in front of Nervion's nose,

“Over the border it's called Tehuacan water and we use it in a technique known as the Tehuacanazo. It's simple and effective. I just pour this water up your nose. The water and the bubbles cause excruciating pain and you will tell me everything. I remember I only needed a second bottle of water once. I think the guy I was questioning knew meditation or yoga. Do you meditate, Mr Nervion?”

The lawyer swallowed hard.

 

Reflection

'A Martian Eye for an Earthling Guy' is the first novel-length manuscript I ever completed. It's a simple story; the first manned trip to Mars is combined with a reality TV show to raise money for the trip. One of the contestant-astronauts is murdered and three detectives set out to find the killer. The manuscript has its flaws: there are too many characters competing for attention, too much tell and not enough show, indiscriminate usage of the passive tense. These problems are common to many writers. There are, however, elements of the book that I'm quite proud of. The plot and storyline work well and some of the writing is quite good. By finishing it I proved to myself that I write a novel from beginning to end.

The excerpt illustrates some themes that interest me. I love to incorporate real life elements into a fictional context, particularly when they have transcultural dimensions. The torture method using fizzy water, the tehuacanazo, is a well-known part of Mexican urban lore. My fiction is a vehicle for satire and political ideas that I have explored in my two other novels.

 

Publications

Grandfather's Axe, Aphelion 144, 2010
Life in Film, Sex and Murder 15: 1, 2010
The Cobbler's Off, Aphelion, 2010
Proust and Permanganate, The Avatar: 1, 2010
A Last Love Letter, The Avatar: 1, 2010
La Santa Muerte, Violent!, 2011
Vanilla Planet, Starbase Leicester, 2011
Gateway, Webzine of Horror Writing, 2011
Vampsov 38, USA: Ominium Gatherum, 2012



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