San Antonio is full of secrets, and seventeen-year-old Erasmo Cruz investigates the strangest of them in The Devil’s Promise by Celso Hurtado. After surviving the city’s legendary Ghost Tracks, he works as a paranormal investigator – but nothing can prepare him for the dark web of cults and bargains with the Devil. In The Flyers by Peter L. Scamardo II, Ellie Burgess falls into the lives of the Falco family, one of Texas’ largest land barons. She must race against time, encountering giants, a mysterious huntsman, and an impossible forest. These authors will discuss writing genre books for young adults, and the monsters and myths of Texas.
Introduced by Liberty Arciniega
Photo Credit: Richard Rives
Celso Hurtado was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. His first book, The Ghost Tracks, was praised by NPR and won an International Latino Book Award. He is also a member of the Horror Writers Association. His latest novel is The Devil’s Promise.
Photo Credit: Duy Vu
Peter L. Scamardo II is an author and journalist based out of San Antonio. The Boys in the Brazos River Bottom was his first novel. A Houston native, his work has appeared in the San Antonio Express-News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Victoria Advocate, and Corpus Christi Caller-Times. By day he works as an editor at MySA.com, leading expansion coverage in Austin and the Texas Hill Country. His latest book is The Flyers.
Patricia Portales, Ph.D. is Professor of English and Humanities at San Antonio College and a member of the Macondo Writers Workshop. She is a contributing writer for the San Antonio Report and the San Antonio Current. She also serves on the advisory committee of the San Antonio Book Festival. Her chapter “Tejanas on the Home Front” appeared in Latina/os and World War II: Mobility, Agency, and Ideology published by the University of Texas Press.
