This month, I had the chance to chat with the incredibly talented Pedro Iniguez about a favorite author that’s shared between the two of us: Ray Bradbury. Throughout this conversation, I found myself considering and re-considering Bradbury and his oeuvre as a result of the different perspective that Pedro provided. For anyone looking to get reacquainted with a favorite author, I highly recommend chatting someone else who likes that same scribe. The end result here was quite the creatively invigorating discussion.

Pedro Iniguez is a Mexican-American Bram Stoker Award-winning science-fiction and horror writer from Los Angeles. He’s also the author of Mexicans on the Moon: Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future, Fever Dreams of a Parasite, Echoes and Embers: Speculative Stories, and his debut picture book, The Fib, among others. With a writer’s CV as varied and interesting as that, it’s easy to make the Bradbury comparisons, at least in this interviewer’s mind. Trust me, when Pedro says, “I’m writing us into the futures we want. Speaking it into reality,” I believe him 100%.

Apart from leading writing workshops and speaking at several colleges, Pedro has also been a sensitivity reader and has ghostwritten for award-winning apps and online clients. A proud and passionate writer and human being, Pedro’s thoughts on one of speculative fiction’s greatest stylists are well worth your consideration.

Who is your favorite author and why?

This is a tough call but it would have to be Ray Bradbury. I think he’s influenced me the most. With regards to my own writing, I straddle science-fiction and horror prose along with speculative poetry, and no one did that better than Ray. He was this amazing jack of all trades. His fiction also evoked this sense of wonder that I like to convey in my speculative fiction as well.

Yeah, the “sense of wonder” is definitely something I associate with Bradbury’s work. But at the same time, he’s got a deep bench of horror and horror-enfused sci-fi or fantasy stories that just as readily evoke a sense of dread. Could you talk a little about the relationship of dread and wonder in Bradbury’s fiction? Are they both necessary? Do they support each other?

I think much of his fiction comes from a child-like lens, and so the mysteries of the worlds he describes take on this grandiose, wondrous— albeit scary—form. The sense that something may be off; something scuttling in the shadows; the sound of rain pouring on a dead world.  Wonder and fear go hand-in-hand, especially when exploring the mysteries of the universe, which he did so well.

When were you first made aware of this author and when were you first drawn to their work?

It was my first year of college, I believe, that I first read Fahrenheit 451 along with many of his short stories. It kind of snowballed from there.

That’s so interesting to me because I feel like a lot of folks I know (including myself here), came to Bradbury much earlier. I recall reading “All Summer in a Day” and Fahrenheit 451 in middle and high school respectively. Did coming to his work later have any specific effect on your enjoyment or the sense of inspiration derived from reading the works? Did you think your reading of Bradbury was informed in a different way by virtue to the life experiences you’d had or the other works of literature you’d experienced up to that point?

At the time, I’d been really diving deep into political and military SF and speculative fiction. Books like Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, 1984, The Forever War, Ender’s Game, etc. So I was becoming angry and political myself. Ray Bradbury’s fiction, in many ways, became this palate cleanser; something that kept me anchored in the worlds of hope and imagination. I’m very thankful for that.

Is there one particular piece of work from this author that you are especially fond of or that’s had a significant creative impact on you? What is that piece and what makes it so appealing or affecting for you?

This is a tough one but I’d have to say The Martian Chronicles stayed with me the most and had the most profound impact on me. Its structured use of vignettes, short stories, and expository tales really informed my speculative poetry collection Mexicans on the Moon: Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future.

Bradbury’s fiction in works like The Martian Chronicles (and plenty others, Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked this Way Comes, both immediately come to mind) often seems to be engaged in and engaged with a consideration of nostalgia. Even in his science fiction, there’s this element of yearning, of seeking a “time before.” Yet, with your writing, I know there’s a concerted effort on your part to show more people like yourself, by which I mean Mexican-American, in these far-off futures and worlds. How do you reconcile your vision of the future vs. what Bradbury presented to readers? Or do you need to reconcile the two? If considering your work in conversation with Bradbury’s, how would you characterize the tone of that conversation?

Two things: Latinos never really had it easy in the US. We faced discrimination, deportation, lower wages, hate, etc. We never had a yearning for better days because they were never there. So, we look to the future. Also, at the time, Bradbury was imagining white Americans in far-flung futures. Now we see that as nostalgic. I’m imaging Mexican and Mexican-Americans in far-flung futures so that one day people will look back on this, and, hopefully, see that too became a reality in time. I’m writing us into the futures we want. Speaking it into reality.

How often do you revisit that particular piece or the author’s work in general? What lessons have you learned at various times from the work?

I tend not to re-read something I’ve already read. I allow its initial impact to stay with me.

That’s an interesting notion, this idea of the “initial impact” of a work sticking with you. Where did that preference come from? Was it a conscious choice or the result of there being simply too much to read, both new and old?

I tend to jump from one book to the next because there are indeed many books to get to. So, I let a book’s initial impact inform me. How it made me feel at the moment, what it made me dwell on. Those things stay with me the longest.

Are there any pieces in the author’s oeuvre that have not worked as well for you? If yes, which ones and why do you think that connection was not as strong?

I think, like with any author’s output, some short stories had less of an impact than others, but that’s normal. His overall body of work is spectacular.

What writing lessons have you taken, purposefully or accidentally, from your favorite author?

Ray Bradbury was a proponent of writing every day and allowing that discipline to take over when you’re in a rut. Sometimes, I don’t get to write every day, but I do tend to write a lot. His sense of wonder is also something I try to instill in my science fiction.

Even if you’re not writing every-every day, I think there’s something to the idea of consistency, of showing up for the words even if the words aren’t showing up for you, yeah? What do “consistency” and “discipline” look like as far as your writing practice is concerned?

For me, it means sitting at the desk and answering emails, brainstorming, making notes, doing research, outlining. As long as I keep the brain stimulated, I consider that writing, even if I’m not actively adding anything to my work in progress.

Are there any works in your bibliography that you feel are closest to the work of your favorite—whether in terms of style, subject matter, length, etc.? Talk a little about those similarities.

My speculative poetry collection Mexicans on the Moon, and much of my science fiction is inspired by him. A lot of my early writing also tended to be poetic (purple prose) like his.

I’ve seen that “purple prose” label applied to Bradbury’s work. Do you agree with it? And if it is present, what is it about Bradbury’s writing that allows him to overcome the negative connotations that can go along with that label?

I do think some of his work is poetic and descriptive. He likes to play with language in order to instill a sense of wonder in a way lean prose probably couldn’t. He is a master storyteller, so I don’t think the application of purple prose hurts him in any way.

Where does your writing diverge from your favorite author’s? Are there any elements from your favorite author’s work that you would like to incorporate in your own? If yes, what are these?

Nowadays, I’m definitely a tighter writer. My prose is leaner and cuts to the point a lot more than my early writing, particularly my horror writing. Ray tended to get poetic.

If a reader wanted to start reading your favorite author, what piece would you recommend they start with?

For science fiction, I’d say, The Martian Chronicles, for horror, you can’t go wrong with Something Wicked This Way Comes. If dystopian fiction is your cup of tea, Fahrenheit 451 is a masterpiece.

If you could ask Ray Bradbury one question about his work, what would it be?

I’d ask him to look back at his body of work and tell me what he’s learned about himself.

What do you have coming out next on the writing and publishing front? What are you working on now?

I’m currently outlining a few novel ideas. My debut picture book The Fib, from Gloo Books, is out October 7th 2025. My horror poetry collection, The Build-A-Monster Workshop, from Raw Dog Screaming Press, drops in 2026. There are also a few more things I can’t discuss that I’ve sold, but I’ll be making announcements on those things soon.

I’ll be looking forward to all of those projects! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me about your favorite author.

It’s been a pleasure. Ray Bradbury was one of those once-in-a-lifetime literary forces. I enjoy his work immensely.

Where can readers find you online?

People can find me on most social media platforms as well as at my website pedroiniguez.com.