V. Castro is a two-time Bram Stoker Award–nominated, Mexican American writer from San Antonio, Texas, now residing in the United Kingdom. She writes horror, erotic horror, romance, and science fiction. Her books include The Haunting of Alejandra, Immortal Pleasures, Aliens: Vasquez (film tie-in), Mestiza Blood, The Queen of the Cicadas, Rebel Moon, The Pink Agave Motel, and Goddess of Filth.
Her new novel is Maria the Wanted, and she edited the anthology Latin American Shared Stories.
Maria is a wanted woman. She’s wanted by an Aztec trafficker, a cartel boss, the people she fights for, and now the devil she can’t resist. A would-be immigrant turned vampire, Maria is forced to leave her home and family and embark on a journey across Mexico. She learns to fight, becoming an unlikely bad-ass enforcer of justice. Then an encounter with a violent, ruthless vampire boss leads her to find her creator. Drawn into a world of ancient vampires, deadly conspiracies and a dangerously seductive devil, Maria must find a way to fight for herself and all humankind.
From pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, via the powerful figure of Santa Muerte, to racism in the Bronx, this anthology of speculative stories and essays by Latin American writers, about Latin American life and beyond, is an engrossing and important read.
This vibrant anthology presents a selection of speculative stories and fascinating essays highlighting the many voices, mythologies, folklore and storytelling prowess of authors from Latin American countries or writing in the traditions of the Latin American diaspora.
Edited by the wonderful V. Castro, Mexican-American speculative, horror and sci-fi writer extraordinaire and author of "Mestiza Blood" and "The Queen of the Cicadas," the authors featured are: Hector Acosta, Alyssa Alessi, Gustavo Bondoni, David Bowles, Arasibo Campeche and Carra Flowers, Dr. R. Andrew Chesnut, Angel Luis Colón, Rios de la Luz, Ivette N. Diaz, Laura Diaz de Arce, J.F. Gonzalez, L.P. Hernandez, Pedro Iniguez, Ruth Joffre, S. Alessandro Martinez, Juliana Spink Mills, Vanessa Molina, Mo Moshaty, Richie Narvaez, Wi-Moto Nyoka, Daniel A. Olivas, Monique Quintana, A.E. Santana and Richard Z. Santos. These are complemented by new stories selected from open submissions.
Spanning the many cultures of the region, stories range from those that explore heritage and the importance of ancestors to ones that imagine new worlds and futures, but at their core they all celebrate and give agency to oft-underrepresented Latin American characters and concerns, while the book will help counter the lack of contemporary Latin American literature.
