Translated by Jesús Ronquillo / Circuito Frontera
Jaime’s love for writing stories or comics began when he was a child, where his pets were the main characters of his first writings and comics. Inspired by the horror genre since he was 6 years old, he evolved and became a writer in Ciudad Juarez.
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“I remember a horror story I did about a supermarket chicken that revived by magic of a magician who started killing people and things like that,” he recounted.
Jaime Cano Mendoza is 31 years old and is a native of Ciudad Juarez. He is passionate about adventure or fantasy movies and his favorite color is blue.
For him, literature is a way of expressing, through words, a story in which emotions are transmitted.
His desire to acquire knowledge of the literary field, to write and tell stories in a correct way, inclined him to study a degree in Hispanic-Mexican Literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (UACJ), so he also specialized in a master’s degree in Literary Studies.
One of his favorite writers is Jorge Luis Borges for his revolutionary short stories, as it is said that they were the basis for some theories of quantum physics. Also John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, better known as J.R.R. Tolkien, writer of the Lord of the Rings saga.
Jaime said that he cannot write on his cell phone because it is easier to get distracted, so his ideal creative environment is the computer, where he can concentrate and immerse himself in writing. Although he doesn’t follow a strict routine, his approach is based on how he feels in the moment.
“I will use that time to write and not interrupt myself with something else (…) There are times when I just sit down and nothing comes out. Or a few things come out, but I don’t like it at the end and other times I can do up to three hours writing and I really like it, so it’s not quite a routine , but rather how I feel at the moment,” she explained.
In addition to his dedication to writing, he manages his YouTube channel Proyecto Alastor Books, where he shares book reviews and his love for reading.
His book “Miseonica”, published in 2020, is a collection of seven fantastic short stories, originally written during his master’s degree. The title of the work is a word invented by Jaime.
“It’s funny because at first I hadn’t thought of it as a book per se … But later on over time I realized that they kind of shared certain themes in common, so I said well why can’t I put them together and make an anthology of fantastic tales.”
Cano pointed out that support for writers on the Juarense border has been growing, in addition to the fact that there is a lot of local talent that has been promoting literature in the city.
one of his dreams is to be able to make a living from literature; to be able to write his novels and have people like them.
He recommends to those who are starting out in writing that they should read, not only in the area they like the most, but in all genres in order to acquire more knowledge. Also, to write, even if it is not to their liking at first.
Currently, Jaime is working on a literary project of epic fantasy, although he did not give many details, he mentioned that it will address the story of two brothers who are very attached, but at some point they will have to confront each other for an inheritance.
“I don’t want to give details because it will be a surprise when it comes out, but I am writing a literary project. This time it will not be a short story, but a complete novel, which is part of the project in which ‘Álastor’ will be very important for the story,” said the writer.
