Meet the author

Hi! I'm Eduardo Ficaria, the writer behind Prosaparte. And yes, that dispassionate look in the portrait has the fortune of resembling my own; the crucial difference is that I smile… on special occasions. Is it just age, or also this damned society? Thank goodness, in person, I come out ahead in decadence and sarcasm. You know, the perfect attitude to live in these very cyberpunk times.

Perhaps "Ficaria" sounds a bit odd to you, and it should. My surname is very common in Spain (and across the entire Spanish-speaking world, I think), so I need something to stand out online. I've published under other aliases and, occasionally, under my real name when pressed. But "Eduardo Ficaria" is where I've found my signature as a writer, not just due to its exotic touch, but also because my surname comes from the term ficaria. If I have piqued your curiosity, follow this thread to uncover my true name and even my other professional profile.

Since I'm mentioning my real identity, here's a quick bio. I was born around 1980 in a seafaring city in northern Spain, though I ended up living in Old Castile. Yeah, I'm a "Gen X", though barely. If that's earned you a puzzled look, let me translate: I belong to the generation that grew up during the transition from an analog world to a digital one. Professionally, I studied computer engineering and worked as a generalist developer, but now I unravel the mysteries of software as a technical writer. You could say I've parked myself in a geosynchronous orbit around technology. But long ago I realized I'm drawn to writing stories, and not just any kind.

My leaning toward science fiction will seem obvious at this point, but I also venture into stories where fantasy takes center stage. More than that, I find it stimulating when sci-fi and fantasy intertwine and you cannot tell where one begins and the other ends. After all, they're all fantastic stories. As an author, I've written genre stories in bursts, always in short form or microfiction. Now I'm aiming to be more ambitious: writing longer pieces and publishing articles on the themes I explore within my own worlds. Sounds good, right? Like a New Year's resolution. Luckily, the twenty-first century hands us every sort of writing tool to help us, though some were born… tainted.

"Aha, I knew it! You've sold your soul to AI!" If that's the thought on your mind, you're wrong. First: I was born soulless, so nothing to sell there. Second: yes, I use AI, but not that way. Everything I publish comes from my own hand and keyboard! An LLM's value for a writer is not in its ability to generate readable text, but in its analytical potential and reasoning capacity. Assigning the automaton different roles lets me pester it a thousand ways to polish my writing. That gives me the most versatile personal editor—all without triggering an identity crisis in it! But I don't run my texts through the AIs that tempt us from the cloud. I don't want my work ending up in some training dataset before it's even published. That's why I only use models I can lock inside my own computer. Watch out! These digital beasts don't fit into just any cage. If yours doesn't measure up, they'll eat right through the bars!

Can it be that you've actually read this far? You've survived my vague memoirs and predatory AIs! Either that, or I've had you hooked the whole time. Since I've already bewitched you with my words, I invite you to dig deeper into the writings I publish—and manually translate from Spanish into English—in my Substack newsletter for English-speaking readers called Proseapart. Although beware: I'll take you on expeditions to fantastic and terrible settings, you'll face my speculative reflections alone, or you'll lose your mind in the attempt—which has its charm, too. And if in your delirium you dare to reach out to Eduardo Ficaria, the author of fantastic stories and other decadent writings, summon me via this contact form. Or, if you'd rather, find me on social media via the links in this website's footer.

If you want to keep up with my publications, the best you can do is subscribe to my Prosaparte newsletter. No worries: I don't charge, but my words have teeth. May my writings stir your imagination and shake you to the core!