I’m an artist whether I like it or not. It’s a bad habit I got into early. I’m always mashing around weird images in my brain.

I always have a sketchbook. And a notebook.

Sometimes I work as a writer, which has brought me more success―I’m known as the Father of Chicano Science Fiction, my novels have been taught as part of university courses.

My mother’s name is Garcia and I was born in East L.A.

In the last decade, I’ve been scanning stuff from the sketchbooks, and using GIMP to enhance them.

For years I thought of myself as a failure, but lately, my art and writing have been attracting attention. My art has been displayed in Latino and Native American art shows.

I keep creating more stuff. I can’t help it.

I blog at mondoernesto.com, and my Chicanonautica column appears every other Thursday at labloga.blogspot.com.