Derek MascarenhasTag

Signing off.

Horrific day to be posting this last entry. The violence and harm inflicted on Black people is enraging. Seeing the failure of some to recognize this terror—or worse be complacent and perpetuate it—can ...

Something on race.

I had planned to post something on race. I was going to look at how it has affected me, including the friendships I have (and don’t have) today in real life. I was going to explore race in story and ...

Writing and the Body.

As I sit at my desk and stare at this screen, I’m reminded of the impact of writing on my body. I recognize being able-bodied carries a tremendous amount of privilege, and there are many others with ...

Am I a Music Vampire?

I usually write to music. More accurately, I write to individual songs. I listen to one song on repeat, for hours, days, sometimes even weeks or months. I’m not sure at what point exactly this became ...

Readings...that feeling never goes away.

I always get that feeling right before reading my work in public. You may know it: the urge to simultaneously faint, throw up, and run out of the room. My first few readings were terrifying. I was fortunate ...

Goals from another time.

I found this piece of paper recently. I’d made it many years back and stuck it to my wall when I was trying to get organized with my linked short story collection, Coconut Dreams.Some observations:I’d ...

Watching a Storm.

There was one anecdote that for some reason didn't evolve into a story in my collection Coconut Dreams. My young sibling characters, Ally and Aiden, are in the garage of their quiet suburban townhome. ...

Getting to Know Coconut Dreams Author Derek Mascarenhas: Bloody Noses, Scars & Cozy Sweaters

Aiden and Ally Pinto, the brother and sister duo of the Pinto family, are at the heart of Derek Mascarenhas' linked story collection Coconut Dreams (Book*hug). Moving from Goa, India to suburban Canada, ...