November 11, 2025
Shaping a Debut Novel
Diego Rico is currently at work on the second draft of his debut novel, a project nearly five years in the making. After a promising editorial letter from his developmental editor, Ema, the manuscript has begun to take its full shape with real potential for traditional publication. His work leans toward literary fiction with a subtle thread of surrealism, exploring identity, family, and belief through both grounded moments and slightly bent realities.
Gateway, A Novel
When his brother Reggie dies under mysterious circumstances tied to a fringe mind-expansion experiment known as The Gateway Process, Rudy — a skeptical, disillusioned consultant — returns home to El Paso. There, he becomes entangled in the lives Reggie left behind: Terra (Reggie’s ex-wife), Jacob (Reggie’s son), and Amber, the woman Rudy can’t seem to let go of, whose presence shadows every choice he makes. As he’s pulled deeper into the half-real, half-mythic world of Gateway — a blend of government program, meditation technique, and personal obsession — Rudy must confront the forces that shaped his brother’s life, and the ones shaping his own
Contact Me
ricoda.tx@outlook.com