Victor D. López, Author

In 2026 the world will be destroyed by an extinction event involving a massive asteroid far larger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs and paved the way for the eventual rise of homo sapiens to the top of the food chain. Earth will have nearly two years--666 days, to be precise--to prepare for the inevitable. What will the world do in an all-out effort to prevent the seeds of humanity and all traces of once glorious civilizations from being relegated to the ashes of history? That is the premise of this all too plausible short story that details some plausible efforts with existing technology to provide a chance for the survival of humanity's seed in the hope that it may yet once again take root elsewhere in our solar system.

I've previously posted the first five chapters in two separate podcasts available here and elsewhere, and today I'd like to provide some additional information that can help place the novel and its narrative in context. The narrative itself is fiction based on actual events. Beyond the tension, humor, drama, romance, and personal and professional struggles in the narrative, the underlying themes about some of the failings of both for-profit and not-for-profit higher education which have come parallel one another rather closely in a growing segment of traditional higher education are deadly serious and worthy of wider airing and debate. 

Lectura de un verso libre en  homenaje a mi madre.

Esta es una lectura de un poema escrito inmediatamente después de la muerte de mi padre. Tanto en el dolor como en la alegría a lo largo de toda mi vida he recurrido a la poesía. Mis padres y yo tuvimos una relación muy especial a lo largo de mi vida. Ambos tuvieron vidas extremadamente difíciles que incluyeron tener que vivir a través de dos guerras: la Guerra Civil Española y sus secuelas y la guerra para derrocar a Perón en Argentina, y sufrir la ruina económica debido a circunstancias fuera de su control en el caos económico de Argentina en la década de 1960. Sin embargo, nunca se verían a sí mismos como víctimas ni comprometerían sus principios frente a la adversidad. Simplemente encontraron un camino a través del autosacrificio y el trabajo duro que habría aplastado a seres humanos inferiores como su amado hijo. A menudo hacemos héroes de aquellos que no merecen el título. Pero si miramos a nuestro alrededor, podemos encontrar verdaderos héroes para venerar y emular en nuestras propias familias y entre nuestros amigos. Que los recordemos siempre, y las lecciones invaluables enseñadas por su ejemplo.

This is a reading of another free-verse poem from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2) collection.

This is a reading of one of my free-verse poems from my recent collection, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2). 

This is a sample reading of a portion of one of the short stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories collection. I hope you enjoy it. 

This podcast is a reading of one of the poems from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk book of poems. It is a poem about love, regret and wisdom come too late. 

#love #love_poem #regret 

Este es uno de los poemas de mi segundo libro de poesía, "Echoes of Dawn at Dusk". Fue originalmente escrito en inglés. La traducción del al español es mía. 

This podcast is a brief presentation from a scholarly article I am presenting this month at the North East Academy of Legal Studies in Business annual academic conference dealing with the problem of notarial fraud. 

Unlike notaries public in the overwhelming majority of nations around the world that follow the prevalent civil law legal system, U.S. notaries public are not required to be highly trained lawyers and, unless they are also attorneys, are neither qualified nor authorized to give legal advice, represent clients in court or before state or federal agencies, or provide immigration-related advice, filings, or representation. Foreign-born permanent and temporary residents--legal and illegal--are usually not aware of the very limited role that non-lawyer notaries public are authorized to play in all U.S. states and most territories and are, therefore, easy prey for unscrupulous notaries to whom they turn for advice and representation in the mistaken belief that U.S. notaries public are the same as notaries in their countries of origin, be they in Africa, Asia, Europe or the Americas. 

Notarial fraud is almost always framed as an issue that affects only Mexican nationals and nationals of other Central and South American countries seeking immigration-related legal advice and assistance with issues relating to change of immigration status or sanctuary applications. And, though it certainly affects these individuals, it also affects many others who mistakenly place their trust in unscrupulous notaries public to handle a wide range of legal issues such as divorce, wills and trusts, contract negotiation, and a wide range of other civil and criminal matters. My paper and this presentation touches on what measures need to be put in place to prevent the widespread unauthorized practice of law by non-lawyer notaries and educate the public as to the nature and extent of the problem.