Daniel José Older is the New York Times bestselling author of Salsa Nocturna, the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series from Penguin’s Roc Books and the Young Adult novel Shadowshaper (Scholastic, 2015), a New York Times Notable Book of 2015, which won the International Latino Book Award and was shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize in Young Readers’ Literature, the Andre Norton Award, the Locus, the Mythopoeic Award, and named one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read. He co-edited the Locus and World Fantasy nominated anthology Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History. His short stories and essays have appeared in the Guardian, NPR, Tor.com, Salon, BuzzFeed, and the anthologies The Fire This Time and Mothership: Tales Of Afrofuturism And Beyond, among others. Daniel has guest edited at Fireside Fiction, Catapult, Crossed Genres, and Fantasy Magazine, and served as a judge for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the Burt Award for Young Adult Caribbean Literature, and the PEN Center USA Literary Award. He has taught at Voices at VONA, Mile High MFA Program, Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing For Children and Young Adults MFA Program, Boricua College, St John’s University, and Rikers Island among other sites. You can find his thoughts on writing, read dispatches from his decade-long career as an NYC paramedic and hear his music at http://danieljoseolder.net/, on youtube and @djolder on twitter.
You got a big fan here in Salvador, Brasil! Loved Salsa Nocturna! Can’t wait to look through this site and read more of your work! Para frente! Axé, Jacob
Thank you Jacob!
Mr. Older,
Thank you for your video on the use of italics for spanish words in english. It wasn’t something I’d thought about before and was a pertinent point. At the moment we’re putting together an anthology of science fiction stories for middle grade readers. We have a couple of stories with latina main characters, and I’ll be re-editing to make this change.
Best,
Corie Weaver
The Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/815743020/bring-the-stars-to-a-new-generation-sf-for-young-r
thanks! Glad to hear it!
Some writers still have there books sold at CC even when they are not present can I still buy your book at Comic Con on Sunday? If so what booth should I look for? I know I can find it online but I would prefer buying it at CC.
thank you
You can pre-order Half-Resurrection Blues here: http://www.penguin.com/book/half-resurrection-blues-by-daniel-jos%C3%A9-older/9780425275986
Señor Older: I will be buying “Half-Resurrection Blues” and I want to make sure that I have a complete collection of stories set in the “Bone Street Rumba” world. I have the novella “Anyway: Angie” (I bought it in support of your work) and I noticed that the stories in “Salsa Nocturna” appear to fall within the same world. Are there any other published stories that also occur in this world? If there are, I’d appreciate your telling me their titles and where I can find them.
Sincerely, Simon Ellberger
Thank you for telling me a story that I really needed to hear about rooftops and weird monsters on bikes, about friends and house ghosts who love you anyway. Thanks for telling me a story about women as friends, women as heroes, about the excitement and terror of new love. Thanks for telling me a story where people smoke without guilt and drink everything but water. Thanks for telling me a story about enduring under the weight of bureaucracy and the confliction of a beautiful concept executed with malice. Thank you for a story that treats me, my people, my culture casually, as a ‘just is’ and not an exhibition. Thank you for words like ‘assery’ and phrases like ‘infinite ughh’. Thank you for writing and thank you for sharing your story with me and the rest of the world. I needed that.
Thank you for these beautiful words Celeste! very moved
Thanks Simon! Both Anyway: Angie and another story that’s now up on Tor.com, Kia and Gio are edited excerpts from the HRB sequel, Midnight Taxi Tango. That book ends right before Salsa Nocturna begins, chronologically, but there are no spoilers if you read them out of order. Besides that, the only other published story in that world is called Victory Music and was published on PANK: http://pankmagazine.com/piece/victory-music/
Hi Daniel,
I am just letting you know that Nalo Hopkinson’s new collection of her short fiction will be available this fall from Tachyon Publications. This is her first collection in more than twelve years. FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS (https://tachyonpublications.com/product/falling-love-hominids/)ISBN: 9781616961985 / Published: August 2015 / Available Format(s): Trade Paperback and ebooks
If you are interested in seeing a copy, please let me know and I will send you (either a digital copy or an ARC).
Hope to hear for you.
Jim
Once I started to read your book, I couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait for book 2. Please inform me when it is released. Thank you.
P.S I will be giving my copy of your book to one of my daughters previous English teachers. He of course loves to read and post his thoughts and recommends books not only to his students but to parents and coworkers.
Thanks Faith!
I’m reading “Shadow Shaper” right now and I love it because it’s so relatable! I’m Dominican, from Lawrence, MA which is like a small scale version of a NY borough like Bed-Stuy and my friends, family and I speak a lot like the characters in the book. Not too many books like this so it’s really refreshing to find one like this. I love how Sierra has two older brothers as well because I do too. So many relatable things in this book for me to connect with overall! I was just wondering, what’s your origin? Since some of the characters say “nena”, I was thinking they’re probably Puerto Rican and that you are too? Anyway, again love the book!!
Hello Mr. Older,
Would you mind emailing me so I can ask you some questions about the Mile High MFA program?
I am also on Twitter, @hwheaties.
Thank you,
Heather
Great book
I am so happy to have found you. Keep up the great work, Daniel. I’ve enjoyed all the books. I especially liked your narration of the stories. Your voice made the characters come alive better than anyone else could have done. I’m anxiously awaiting the release of Battle Hill Bolero.
Daniel: Lovin’ your books!!
I’m listening to them and reading them. Having you do the narration is fantastic. I feel like I’m actually connected to what you wrote. It’s not that feeling of being one person removed from the author that I sometimes feel when I listen to audiobooks. You’re fantastic. Keep up the great work. I’m looking forward to Battle Hill Bolero.
P.S. When is Salsa Nocturna going to be re-released? Will it make it to e-book form soon?
Hi Daniel, so great to meet you at SIWC 2016. Wonderful keynote, thanks again for that and for your kind words. So, we’re near neighbors in Brooklyn, let’s get together!
Hi, Daniel!
My co-worker, Marina, and I met you at the NCTE in Atlanta. We work at Bronx Prep High School and are really interested in having you come to the school to talk to our kids! We didn’t know your contact information, so we thought we’d try to reach you through here.
Reach out and let me know if you’re interested in coming. Our kids would really like you and are going to be reading Shadowshaper in their lit classes in the spring.
Thanks,
Samantha Abel
I have been working on writing my novel for some time now and since I have been following you and am an admire of your work, i figure, I ask you is there any way you or anyone you know where I can attend a workshop/class to help me when it comes to the writing process/storytelling. I have written a synopsis and I am 10 chapters in writing my novel, but still don’t feel confident in my writing and need all the help I can get to making this novel happen. If you can help provide me with some guidance this would greatly mean the world to me. Hope to hear from u soon. Peace & belessings!