Here’s a tentative list of the stories in my next collection, Chupacabra Vengeance and Other Weird Tales (which will be in front of an editor in March, so let’s cross our fingers):
- The Teen and the Triton—girl living at South Padre Island finds an injured young merman
- The Devil’s Lagoon—retelling of the legend of the haunted body of water near Rosita
- Chupacabra Vengeance—after his mother dies, a boy travels through Mexico to search for his father who lives in the US; when his group of companions are stopped by crazy militia near the river, they receive help from a very unexpected source
- The Black Cats—Oscar’s magic-dabbling military dad leaves his black cats behind when he is deployed, and the felines will do anything to protect their master’s secrets
- Barbie Versus el Puma Negro—someone has raised long-dead luchador el Puma Negro from the dead…and only Barbie de los Ángeles, spiritual protector of the mid-Valley, can stop him
- Sketch—an abused girl finds solace in her art…as well as a weapon to help her escape from her twisted father
- The Donkey—retelling of a Mexican legend about a very scary…donkey
- Tamales—retelling of a Mexican legend about some tamales made with…the flesh of children (yikes!)
- Big Bird—retelling of a very famous Valley legend. Not the Sesame Street Big Bird, but a very big, antediluvian, scary freaking bird.
- The Deal with the Devil—retelling of the famous story of a Valley landowner and the price of his deal with dark forces
- The Alligator (from The Secret Diary of Donna Hooks)—a young girl in late 19th-century East Texas faces off against a child-eating reptile
- The Wildcat (from The Secret Diary of Donna Hooks)—a young white woman hoping to tame a corner of the border wilderness learns valuable lessons from a Mexican chamana and an orphaned wildcat
- The One-Eyed Lady—retelling of a local legend. A boy in 1950s McAllen keeps seeing a mysterious one-eyed lady everywhere. Does she mean him harm, or is she trying to tell him something?
- Orphans in the Wood—Chalcie Paz is stranded on an uncharted island continent on a distant world. Her only chance at survival is to befriend the enormous, wolf-like alien that discovers her.
- To Brave the Mountains—in a strange fantasy version of Mesoamerica, a girl struggles to save her brother from being sacrificed to undead overlords.
- Stowaway—in a future devastated by ecological disasters, a teen travels out of a nearly uninhabitable US into Mexico in an attempt to sneak aboard the first spaceship to carry a colony to a distant star.
- Vampire Girl—in 19th century New Mexico, María discovers a horrifying family tradition
- Ghost—three young women have immigrated to the US, trying to escape a horrible deed. But when a ghost begins to plague their lives, they realize you can never run from your past.