I've always been inspired to write since I was a child. When reading comics as a young child, I designed and developed my own plotlines and characters about whom I write in the stories I created. As an adolescent and young adult, I began reading realistic fiction and classic literature. As both an undergraduate and graduate student I refined my writing skills and expanded my vocabulary, but it was my father who had the greatest influence on me as a writer. His erudition, command of the language, capacity to express complex ideas simply, and depth of insight enabled me to become a better writer. He instilled within me a sense of confidence in my own abilities both as a writer and a human being and I dedicate my writing to him, may God rest his soul. Other major influences include Richard Wright, Nathaniel Hawthorne, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Joseph Beam, Plato, Bessie Smith, Marvel Comics, among so many others.

Flame of Knowledge Award for Outstanding Academic Performance (Doctoral Program, Carlos Albizu University)
Who' who Among American High School Students (1984)