Zoraida Córdova shouldn’t need an introduction among Latinx readers, but for those of you who aren’t as familiar with her body of work as perhaps I am, here goes:
Zoraida Córdova carved a space for herself in the YA realm with The Vicious Deep, a trilogy focusing on mermaids, followed it up with a story of a bisexual bruja who misplaces her entire family, and the rest is history. She dabbles in the Romance genre under a pen name, and sometimes gets tapped in the shoulder to write for Star Wars. She’s multifaceted, booked and busy, and yet she finds the time to mentor writers and have a good time. Of all the authors I’ll be interviewing, Zoraida’s the one whose work has shaped me the most, both personally (hello! first Latina bisexual in a book by an actual Latina!) and professionally (I wrote a paper in undergrad on Queer YA Lit that included Labyrinth Lost in it, which cemented my desire to research more Latinx Lit).
Without further ado, here’s Zoraida Córdova.
A lot of people talk about Labyrinth Lost (as they should), but I want to talk about Bruja Born. While Labyrinth Lost deals with self-acceptance and -discovery, Bruja Born is an exploration of grief and trauma and an extension of what “be careful what you wish for” means in the context of the Brooklyn Brujas world. It’s definitely darker in tone than Labyrinth was. Why was it important to put these two books in contrast, with Labyrinth dealing with finding your own light versus Bruja’s exploration of what could happen if you allow to let yourself stray from the light due to trauma?
Anytime someone talks about my books, a bruja gets her powers, so thank you all. Labyrinth Lost was sold as a standalone. So when my publisher asked for two more books, it was important to me to keep Alex’s ending as it was. Lula goes through some shit in book 1, but because it’s not seen on the page, I wanted to see what that journey looked like for her.
The discussion of beauty is constant in the Latinx community, especially since women’s bodies are treated a certain way and are always policed. For a bruja in the world I’ve created, this looks different, especially when you throw in magic and the consequence of magic. When you’re a teen, you lead two lives: your home life and your school/friend life. Lula, who has always had a connection with her magical heritage, [feels] displaced. She rejects her home life and tries to cling to her “friend life” (being her ex boyfriend Maks). Of course it all goes terribly wrong and so her pain —her hurt— is all manifested into the living dead. Lula has been going through the motions for months and now, each casimuerto (zombie) is her fault. “What have I done?” is something each Mortiz sister says in her [own] book, or it’s implied. And each sister approaches the same question differently.
At the end of the day, they find their light by learning what the most important things are for them, even though it is done the hard way.
With the third installment of the Brooklyn Brujas series arriving in August 2020, what do you hope readers take away from the books, either as individual installments or the series as a whole?
As a whole, I hope that I have introduced readers to a magical system that I’ve created. Oftentimes I get asked what research books I used— I didn’t. I made up my own magical roots and gods because I needed this story as a girl. All I had were books with European witches. Or Brown girls who used European magic without actually discussing why. I loved those books and still do. But I hope that this might inspire someone to go off and create their own magical system. What would witches from your cultural background be like? Books are in conversation with each other and I hope this convo never stops.
With Rose’s installment, I just hope that my take on fairies honors the stories I loved like Tithe by Holly Black. Latinx fairies. It’s happening.
You also write Romance under the pen name of Zoey Castile and the Happy Endings series just ended, which is sad for all of its fans. When you first started writing the series, how did you keep the balance between having intricate stories dealing with mental health, difficult families, found families, sex work, trauma, and then imbuing them with fun, sexy, and hilarious moments?
When I write, I want to highlight the painful moments with the levity of humor that naturally occurs. Anyone who knows me knows that I seldom take myself seriously. My friends and family save me from myself. I worked at various nightclubs for 10 years and I’m familiar with the world of strippers. I hate how it’s written about, either as a joke or as a shame. I knew it wouldn’t go over well in traditional publishing since some people still want the “stripper with a heart of gold and a nice dollop of shame.”
I hope the movie Hustlers changes that. Magic Mike did that for male strippers and so I wanted to take that and make it into romance with a side of humor. The third installment, Flashed, is definitely the most serious but that’s because there is so much trauma to heal during the narrative. If I ever write another adult romance, I think you can always expect a romantic comedy.
You have free reins to collab with another Latinx creative and they’re free and on board as well, who are you picking and what are you making?
Yamile Saied Méndez - I think that we would write a romantic comedy that’s to die for.
Guillermo del Toro - Fantasy epic movie that will ruin you.
How does your identity affect your writing?
This is an interesting question because I never sit down and think: How do I “Ecuadorianally” write this draft? I came up in a time in YA when the majority books about kids of color were pain and struggle books. Publishing and media love these types of books for a reason. So most of my Latinx characters were on the side. Writing Labyrinth Lost was so hard for me— I talk about it in depth on my website).
The publishing industry is strange because when something does well, it is great for all of us. But now publishers become the arbiters of who gets to tell what story, and if it doesn’t we might get blamed in harsher ways than our non-PoC colleagues.
At the end of the day, the thing that matters is the reader. When I write my characters, I do the best job I can when constructing their identity, not mine. I already know who I am, but who is it I’m writing about? What is this world I’m constructing? Sure, when I’m world-building, I can’t help but name something after a city of my home country of Ecuador. I can’t help but use words that I grew up hearing. Food that my family makes. Sounds that are as part of me as my hair and birthmarks and eye color. Latinidad is a culture, not just a region. When I read it, I know it. I recognize it because it calls to me. I can taste. It is in the marrow. Identity can’t be duplicated or lightly painted or Google translated. So I don’t need to think about my identity when I write; it’ll be there for the reader or it won’t be.
Who do you write for?
My mother, who left her country without knowing a lick of English and two kids she needed to care for on her own. My grandmother who became disabled at 19 in a freak accident and still worked every day until she was 65. Now she’s retired and waiting for my books in translation. My other grandmother who died before her time, who only knew a domestic life and loved me. My great-grandmothers who never left the cities and towns in which they were born in. I dream because they couldn’t.
What movie(s) would you pair your book with?
Contrary to popular belief, I’ve never seen Practical Magic, though I get comped to it a lot. I’m going to change that this October, I swear!
This is a question I’ll let readers answer for me! Give me suggestions.
Shoutout a Latinx writer or creator whom you admire!
Gods, there are so many! But let me start with Anna-Marie McLemore the queen of magical realism, Adriana Herrera is shaking up romance, Alexis Daria for amazing romances, Mia García who is writing excellent contemporaries, Jen Cervantes and David Bowles who are killing it in middle grade, Maya Motayne who wrote the first YA high fantasy set in a Latinx-inspired kingdom, Daniel José Older for always using his voice for good, Torrey Maldonado for his work with kids, and Adam Silvera for keeping it real and being so supportive!
Anything else you can share about your upcoming projects?
My 2020 is going to be a little busy! I’ve been working on these novels since 2017, and I have something for everyone.
Incendiary (Hollow Crown#1) - A high fantasy about a memory thief who infiltrates the palace in order to kill the king and a weapon being developed to destroy her people’s magic, set in a 15th century inspired kingdom.
The Way to Rio Luna - My debut middle grade about an orphan boy who finds a magical book that is the key to a fairyland called Rio Luna, and possibly to his missing sister.
Brooklyn Brujas #3 - Rose Mortiz gets kidnapped to a fairy court in the middle of the Caribbean and has to team up with other magic beings in order to save the land and earn her freedom to go back home.
Vampires Never Get Old - An anthology I’m co-editing with Natalie C. Parker (author of Seafire), featuring ten tales with bite.
You can buy Zoraida’s latest, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge: A Crash of Fate, today! Pre-order links for her upcoming releases are all on her website so check them out!
The paperback of Bruja Born will be out October 1st.
Follow Zoraida on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr.
Zoraida Córdova
Zoraida Córdova is the author of twelve novels, including the award-winning Brooklyn Brujas series and The Vicious Deep trilogy. Her short fiction has appeared in the New York Times bestselling anthology Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, and Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft. She is the co-editor of Vampires Never Get Old, a YA anthology forthcoming from Imprint/Macmillan in fall 2020. Her upcoming YA novels include Star Wars: A Crash of Fate (Disney/Lucasfilm Summer 2019) and Incendiary, book one in the Hollow Crown duology (Disney/Hyperion 2020). Zoraida was born in Ecuador and raised in Queens, New York. When she isn’t working on her next novel, she’s planning her next adventure.