Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Iriarte.
Hi Jose, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m an author and a high school math teacher. This April, my debut novel, Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed, will be released by Random House/Knopf Books for Young Readers. It’s a contemporary fantasy story for middle-grade readers about a 12-year-old boy who discovers that his deceased grandfather’s ghost is still hanging around, trying to earn his way into the afterlife. Benny has to help Abuelo figure out his unfinished business, all while trying to navigate his transition into a new town, in a new state, with a new school and new friends.
Ever since elementary school, I’ve wanted to write stories and books and be able to affect readers in the same way that my favorite books and authors had affected me. Back when I was young, though, I didn’t have access to the kinds of resources that exist now on the internet to learn from people in the publishing industry. Selling fiction seemed like something out of reach that didn’t happen to “normal” people like me and the folks I knew. I’d go to the library and find books on writing craft, write a short story or two, send them out and get nothing but rejections, and then forget about my dream for a few years.
In the last few decades, I found good advice and mentorship online, with writing groups, blogs, and online classes from published authors. Even though I wasn’t yet selling fiction myself, I could get to know people who were and see that they were just folks like me–but they were folks who didn’t give up. In 2013, I finally made my first professional sale to Strange Horizons Magazine, a short fantasy story. It took about a whole year to make my second pro sale, but after that, the sales started coming more quickly, and some of my short stories got attention from literary award voters. In 2019, a novelette I wrote was a finalist for the Nebula Award, one of the highest honors a fantasy story in English can get. In 2022, a story of mine was a finalist for several different awards and republished in Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy from Harper Collins/Mariner Books.
I had found a space within the science fiction and fantasy community and frequently presented to groups to pass on what I’d learned and help others write and sell their stories, but a novel sale still eluded me. In 2022, I finally made that sale, and it has been a long two years of anticipation since then, waiting to hold copies in my hand and waiting for people to be able to read about Benny and his amazing family! That dream will finally be realized this April, and on May 4, 2024, I will have my very own book launch event at Barnes and Noble in Doctor Phillips!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest struggle was learning to believe in myself. I think of all the times “I gave up” when I didn’t write anything, and I wish I could have some of those years back. I was working in isolation, like a lot of artists initially are. Like many artists, I was also trying to juggle creativity with a day job and a family and only scratching out a little time for my writing here and there where I could. I’ve always tended to give my all to every commitment in my life, but sometimes, I got home too drained to be creative. I still need to work on balancing these things. Ironically enough, given that I write stories, I think sometimes the stories we read or watch set us up for frustration by giving us a false sense that there is a finish line, that eventually we figure things out and find success, and that’s it, we’ve got our happily ever after. We have successes and failures along the way, but sustaining our accomplishments doesn’t happen automatically. We continue to struggle, and we continue to fail. Writing hasn’t gotten easy for me yet, but I have gained confidence and become more persistent.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to become more familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
Until the novel gets out and in the hands of readers, I am best known for my short stories. Several of my stories have been recognized and reprinted in Best of anthologies. My most recognized story is “Proof by Induction,” a science fiction story that explores mathematics rather than more common sci-fi fields like astronomy or physics. It was tough to base a story on math because I knew just enough to know my limitations. I have run into online discussions of my story from actual math people, and I’m proud not to have embarrassed myself! My second most well-known story is my novelette, “The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births.” It’s the story of a genderqueer teenager who can remember their past life and who seeks to clear the name of the man wrongfully convicted of murdering their most recent incarnation.
My stories are known for having a bit of an emotional gut punch, for focusing more on relationships than on the speculative element or an excellent “What if” question. “Proof by Induction” was rooted in my challenging relationship with my father and the things I realized after his death that I would never get closure on. “The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births” explored gender and the difference between the internal substance of who we are and the external accidents of how we present to people. It was rooted in my own experience of nonbinary gender. Many readers have come up and told me those stories were meaningful. It’s not because they love math or reincarnation stories but because those stories spoke to their parental relationships or their own experience of gender marginalization. It means the world to me that the stories I wrote to explore my feelings resonated with others, too.
Before we go, can you talk to us about how people can work, collaborate, or support you?
Finding your audience is the most important thing for any writer and artist. I’m grateful to the people who have helped me spread the word about my publications, and I am always excited to find new ways to reach out to readers. I love to participate in readings, discussions of craft or the business of publishing, and to teach aspiring writers the things I had to learn the hard way. With a middle-grade book on the way, I’m out of my usual element in that I’m used to participating in events geared at adult fans or adult writers. So, if you’ve got a school group, a scout group, a library group, or any opportunity for me to share my story with younger readers, I’m all ears!
Contact Info:
- Website: labyrinthrat.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josepabloiriarte/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LabyrinthRat
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LabyrinthRat
- Other: https://bsky.app/profile/labyrinthrat.bsky.social
Image Credits
Professional portrait (white guayabera) is © 2019 Michael Cairns. The Benny Ramírez cover art is © 2024 by Mirelle Ortega and used with permission from Knopf Books for Young Readers. The Virtual Nebula alternate universe speech, me in the Red “Mathy” shirt, is courtesy of Chris Bridges. The photo of me signing books is courtesy of Jan Eldredge. The photo of me reading is courtesy of Brian Truitt. The Megacon photo was a selfie. The other two photos were taken informally by strangers using my cell phone.
