The Writer’s Desk features the desks and writing practices of Gemini Ink faculty, visiting authors, teaching artists, volunteers, students, interns, staff, partners and more. Receive new posts in your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter at bit.ly/geminiinknewsletter.
Join Caesar Morales on Saturday, February 3 & 10, 2024, 10am-12pm CST, in-person at Gemini Ink, for his workshop: The Art of Zine Making with Caesar Morales. This class is for those who want to distribute their work without waiting for traditional publication.
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, Caesar. We’re excited to learn more about your favorite books, podcasts, and fictional characters!
What is the one piece of writing advice that you value most? I remind myself that when I first start writing I’m just throwing sand into the sandbox so that I can build castles later. That’s a quote from Jordan Peele. Another quote, one that is slightly more disgusting, is one that one of my university professors told me and it goes, “Vomit drafts are great because you just throw up everything that comes out and pick up the delicious juicy chunks after.”
What’s a book or movie that you can watch over and over again and not get tired of? Two books I can read over and over again are Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and John Collier’s Fancies and Goodnights. A movie I can watch over and over again is John Carpenter’s The Thing and Die Hard.
What about podcasts? What are you listening to now? My two favorite podcasts are Lore and The No Sleep Podcast. I love horror, and I especially love horror that is based on historical events, people, and places, as well as cultural beliefs and rituals.
Who are your favorite writers? August Derleth, Stephen King, Ambrose Bierce, Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Algernon Blackwood, Joe Hill, H.P. Lovecraft, Mary Shelley, Ogden Nash, and Roald Dahl.
Which fictional character would be the most boring to meet in real life? Leopold Bloom from James Joyces’ Ulysses would be the most boring fictional character to meet in real life. Overall, he’s not particularly interesting and his daily routines and conversations are mundane.
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve heard or read recently? Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales, edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant.
What is your next project? An epistolary horror novel titled “Conquistador” which takes place in 1521 during the Spanish conquest of Mexico and a series of Splatterpunk Western short stories set in the mid 1800’s of the American Wild West.
Caesar Morales has an MA in Playwriting and Screenwriting from City University of London in the UK. Prior to that, he obtained a BSc from the University of Greenwich, also in the UK. His photo essays have been published in Private Photo Review, and he will have an original short story published in the upcoming anthology, The 42 Anthology, featuring 42 stories from 42 different writers, each writing in 42 different genres/categories. Caesar’s story “The Outlaw Gerald Dorris” will be published in the Western category. He’s also taught podcast production, photography, filmmaking, zine publishing and screenwriting at Wac Arts College in London, UK and at the Institute for the Urban Arts in New York City. He’s also had two feature-length screenplays workshopped at the London Screenwriter’s Festival.
