You’ve probably heard of La Llorona, the legendary phantom woman who weeps for her lost children. While researching La Llorona for my next story, I made an amazing discovery, one that connects her to the same street in Boyle Heights, East L.A. where I spent most weekends at […]
Did The Monsters of Chavez Ravine hit the bestseller list? No.
Did I make a lot of money publishing the urban fantasy novella? Hell no.
Did I get all sweaty and clammy waiting for the first reviews to roll in? Oh […]
The Monsters of Chavez Ravine will always be my favorite “book child,” so I was thrilled to learn that it’s an International Latino Book Awards finalist for Best Novel Fantasy/Sci-Fi English. Empowering Latino Futures will announce the awards in October.
May 8, 1959 is a day that Rachel Cantu will never forget.
It’s the day Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies forcibly evicted her family from their grandparents’ home in the Palo Verde neighborhood of Chavez Ravine.
The media had turned out in force, so there are lots […]
My mother always wore her hair short. Really short. It looked fantastic on her with her high cheekbones and high-bridged nose.
Then I was scrolling online and saw one of those clickbait galleries that show you what a famous person would look like today. Love those!
The monsters in my urban fantasy novella, The Monsters of Chavez Ravine, are many and come in different shapes and sizes, but the one that first popped into my head was Dog Face Bride.
I’ve been thinking about it since I was […]
As can only happen during a pandemic, the release of my new urban fantasy novella The Monsters of Chavez Ravine collided with Covid reality.
I planned to spend the day continuing the marketing push for this book that is so close […]
One day, I was scrolling on Twitter and came across a tweet I found fascinating.
A young traditionally published author announced in very bold terms she does not italicize Korean words in her novels. In fact, she said she REFUSED.
Another author chimed […]
There is a character in my urban fantasy novella, The Monsters of Chavez Ravine, nicknamed Ripper.
The residents of the old neighborhoods of Palo Verde, Bishop, and La Loma were big on nicknames. In photographer Don Normark’s stunning book, Chavez Ravine […]
