Welcome to my blog—a lair for all things sci-fi, fantasy, and creative non-fiction!
Writing has been a passion of mine for many years, and I’m thrilled to be sharing my debut novel, Deficient, with the world on September 12, 2023.
As we near the date of Deficient’s release, I’ll be sharing a few updates on my website along the way.
Deficient is a mixture of light sci-fi, superhero action, and mystery. It takes place in the near future at a time when society is progressively free from discrimination based on race, class, gender, and sexual orientation or identity. The main character, a fifteen-year-old named Alejandro (Alé) Aragon, lives in a world where nearly everyone has evolved to acquire supernatural abilities, yet he is one of the few that accelerated genetics left behind.
There is a hierarchy to the superpowers one can inherit. You can see these below:
(I’m always curious to know which ability my readers would like to have and why? 😉)
One of the rules of the power game in Deficient is that if an ability doesn’t manifest by the age of eight, you won’t get one and will be classified as a Deficient. Due to stigma and discrimination, being a classified as a Deficient is a horrible outcome and something to be feared. The treatment of Deficients is equivalent to the experiences that many ethnic, religious, and social minorities have faced in our world.
As a Deficient, Alé faces violence and discrimination at home, school, and in society. Because he doesn’t have an accelerated ability, his future opportunities are limited. He has one trusted friend in an outspoken and extraordinary artist named Yalamba—a Feral who can draw objects or scenarios into existence.
But things take a turn for the worse when Yalamba disappears in a hate crime against her ability, and Alé is the first person to be blamed. He finds himself having to rise above his insecurities and sense of powerlessness to track down the real culprit and save Yalamba’s life before it’s too late.
For me, Deficient is about the desire we all have to belong to something—a desire that burns most fiercely in our younger years. Though Deficient’s cast of characters can do fantastical things that (I’m guessing) most of us cannot, we can all relate to the human quest for belonging, self-love, and acceptance.
Does Deficient sound like a compelling book? Do you think a friend or family member might connect with the themes being addressed? Do you have any burning questions about it?
Again, I cannot wait to share this book with all of you, and I look forward to hearing what you think!
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