Leticia’s Creative Obsessions: On Embracing Expansiveness

I’ve been reflecting on a conversation I had in therapy earlier this year that about what word would describe how I wanted to feel once I transitioned out of full-time work to focus on our upcoming RV travels and my writing. Every time I thought about it, the word “expansive” came to mind. To me that means having expansive time in the morning to wake up, drink my coffee, make a nutritious breakfast, stretch, meditate, read and wake up my mind. It means expansive creative possibilities. It means the great expanse of our travels in front of us, the wide open road of the United States that we will be exploring. Expansive possibilities.

This reimagining of my life is both daunting and freeing. I will have to conceive of new ways to contribute to our expenses and how that work can still leave the time I need to create and share my work. It also means a hard reassessment of what “work” looks and feels like for me. How can I resist the metrics of creative “success” that are continuously pushed on writers and creators in this late-stage capitalist trash heap, and instead use this expansive time to explore what kind of creative work fulfills me. What kind of work brings me closer to what feels fun, interesting, or most truthful to me? What kind of work will remain just for me, and what creative projects would I be excited to share with others? How can I also make space and offerings to help guide others on their creative journeys?

These are all questions I am exploring right now, and in many ways, part of writing this monthly newsletter/blog is to explore what I am learning out loud. I hope to offer possibilities to myself, and in turn offer those same possibilities to you, the readers of this humble blog.

What’s Happening with Leticia?

As I prepare to leave Texas and begin our cross-country travels. I’m working on new several new projects, including revisions of stories and work to submit and to prepare for the release of my next book, The Remedy is the Disease, out next spring from Undertaker Books, a fantasy graphic novel script, my poetry chapbook and much more!

I also offer editing and consulting services to help you with your own creative projects! I have over a decade of experience helping writers of all ages develop their creative voices and their work with a caring and supportive approach. I love helping people learn more about their creative processes to best tell their stories.

I am currently taking on clients ages 16 and up for my services, although if your child would like support honing and publishing their work, I am happy to work with younger clients upon request. Since I write across a variety of genres, I am able to work with folks who are writing poetry, creative nonfiction, short stories, novels and more, with a special place in my heart for horror, speculative fiction and fantasy. If you are working on a comic, that is fantastic. I would love to work with you! Or, please share with other writers you know who might be interested!

I am also considering what the future of this newsletter will be once I have am writing full-time. I know that I want to document our travels once we head out on the road, as well as continue to discuss my creative work, provide book recommendations and other resources. I am also realizing that to make this newsletter more sustainable, I may need to convert this newsletter to a paid model where followers can pay a small monthly fee for the the resources (and more!) provided.

Please take a minute to fill out the poll below to let me know your interest in any of the resources I am considering providing in going forward.

What I’m Reading and Watching: Summerween edition!

As anyone even remotely acquainted with me will know, I am a writer and lover of horror in all its many forms. It is such an expansive genre! My husband and I also started watching Gravity Falls for the first time and we are loving it, especially to fill the gap in our animated shows that Steven Universe and Bob’s Burgers left behind (I mean we still watch those shows, but this is a new one for us). In it, twin siblings Mabel and Dipper are visiting their Great Uncle Stan for the summer by helping out at his tourist trap of weirdness, The Mystery Shack, in Gravity Falls, Oregon. It is absurd, creepy and hilarious, and one of the episodes (Season 1, Episode 12), is about how the town of Gravity Falls celebrates Summerween with trick-or-treating, costumes and watermelon jack-o-lanterns. Of course, creepy paranormal shenanigans ensue, but I loved the idea of Summerween. It’s not the first time I have heard that term, but it inspired me to plan some Summerween reading, movie/film watching and activities around the summer scares. After all, there are so many subgenres to choose from: Oceanic or underwater horror (including shark horror!), wilderness or nature horror, vacation and camping horror, summer camp horror and slashers, historical and frontier horror and so much more!

You can also find some creepy titles for the Horror Writer’s Association’s annual Summer Scares Reading List that usually has great suggestions!

Here are some of the books I have read or am reading now that encompass Summerween for me!

1. Camp Lanier by Sylvester Barzey (reading on Hoopla)
   • I just started this book, but here is a short descriptor: “When Taylor, a Black private school student, gets tangled up shoplifting with her wealthy White classmates, their parents paid for them to stay out of jail. But Taylor’s only option is a community service program that takes at-risk youths and employs them at Camp Lanier.  The camp sits on a manmade lake the state constructed in the 50s. Urban legend says an all-Black town was forced out to create the lake and that deep in its waters lies homes, a school and even a church, but that’s just a story to scare kids, during swim class, right? That’s what Taylor thinks as she starts working as a camp counselor for the summer.” So far, Taylor’s character is really interesting and I’m excited to read more.
2. This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer
   • Also on my TBR, but I love wilderness horror, so this one is right up my alley and has been on my list since last year. This novel about a rock-climbing expedition gone wrong seems like the perfect fit!
3. Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning (read as an e-ARC via Netgalley)
   • If you love slashers with heart, this is the book for you! Willow is a disgraced sitcom star who has been “canceled” online for a tweet gone wrong. Her fiancée has dumped her and she has lost her job on the long-running series. Desperate to escape, her agent secures her a spot at Camp Castaway, a healing adult summer camp in the woods of upstate New York. There, Willow meets other folks who came to the camp to disconnect from their phones, their social media and the rest of the world. For the first time, Willow feels like she can be herself and let go of her anger, guilt and fear of all she has lost. She evens starts to make new friends, including a surprising connection with her favorite horror movie actress Juniper and a camper named Dani, which awakens feeling in Willow she hasn’t felt in a long time. There’s also a creepy legend about the camp and a mysterious figure called Knock Knock Nancy who was beheaded by a zealot preacher and now searches for her head by taking the heads of others. At first, the campers laugh off the stories, but as they begin to disappear and weird symbols and doll heads appear around the camp, Willow realizes that there is a killer at camp, and they’re after their heads! I love a good slasher, but this book also delivered a refreshing story and take on slasher tropes that kept me guessing until the very end. I liked the emphasis on the emotional story too, Willow’s arch, the connections she makes with the other campers, and her fight for survival. Some slashers can be so focused on the violence that they forget about the human toll of all the kills, and this didn’t feel that way, though it didn’t shy away from the gore. There were a few times I felt confused by the text messages and notes between chapters and the mystery reveal at the end felt a little rushed, but over this was a bloody good read. 
4. Grin by D.W. Gillepsie (read as an e-ARC via Netgalley)
   • If you hung out in a lot of arcades like me as a kid, you will love this middle-grade video game horror story. As a hardcore gamer, twelve-year-old Danny is thrilled to be spending a week during the summer with his Uncle Bill at his old-school arcade, PixelWorks. It’s going to be a week of nonstop gaming, snack bar food and fun with Bill, who, unlike Danny’s parents, gets his love of games. But when Bill acquires a new vintage game called Grin with a sinister history, strange things start happening at the arcade and it’s up to Danny to ban together with his friend Jodi, who he reconnects with, and his favorite video game streamer, to save everyone, and the arcade, from Grin! Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC to me for this book, I really enjoyed the fast-paced but slow-building creep factor in this book and I really loved Danny’s character. It reminded me of a longer episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark, and in my book, that is everything!
5. My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
   • This book has been on my TBR for a while now, as my friends and co-workers are big Grady Hendrix fans and this one was recommended to me multiple times. Well now I am finally going to prioritize it, especially because I saw the Prime film adaptation and was told the book is better (isn’t it almost always?!). Here’s a quick summary: in 1988, best friends and high school sophomores Abby and Gretchen go skinny dipping one night. But soon after, Gretchen begins to act differently, disturbing even, and Abby must investigate because she suspects her friend might be possessed! I love how Grady Hendrix rights young women’s stories, as I just finished his latest book, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, and I can’t wait to read this one.
6. House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias (going to get this from the library!)
   • I started reading this book last year but didn’t have time to finish it before the copy was due back at the library, so here is my second attempt! This book is about childhood friends, Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo who have been bonded by all they have survived. But when Bimbo’s mother is killed by a drug kingpin of Puerto Rico, the friends are pulled into Bimbo’s thirst for vengeance, all while a hurricane brews, bringing with it spirits who have their own plans. Excited to dive in!
7. Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
   • This is another book I started last summer and didn’t get to finish, although I was really enjoying this surreal, unsettling book, as I enjoy most of Tremblay’s work. Here’s the book’s summary: “In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick. The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot. The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions–demons of the past be damned.” There were a lot of moments that creeped my out in this one, and it was recommended to me that I listen to the multicast audiobook, so I am going to give it a try that way.
8. The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T. Wurth
   • Erika T. Wurth is an author I have known and admired for a while, so I’m excited to read her latest book this summer. It is a novel about Olivia Becente, a paranormal investigator in Denver who can communicate with spirits after the death of her sister Naiche. When Olivia begins investigating Brown Palace, a landmark Denver hotel, where a girl mysteriously dies every few years in Room 904, Olivia is confronted with much more about her sister’s past and the mystery behind Room 904. I love a haunting story, and am excited to read Wurth’s latest book!
9. A Misfortune of Lake Monsters by Nicole M. Wolverton (listened to audiobook on Hoopla)
   • I read this lake monster YA book last year and really enjoyed it. In it, teen Lemon Ziegler want to escape her small town of Devil’s Elbow, but must take over the family legacy of impersonating “Old Lucy,” the seemingly fake lake monster of Lake Lokakoma. But when a very real and bloodthirsty lake monster begins attacking people in the lake, Lemon must join forces with her friends to get to the bottom of the monster’s mystery and save the town. This a bloody fun creature feature book that make you think twice about swimming in the lake this summer.
10. You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron (read as an e-ARC via Netgalley)
    • This was a wild book that had a lot of layers and though the ending felt a little muddled, it really was a journey I enjoyed. The book is about Charity Curtis who has her dream job as the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake, an interactive full-contact horror camp. But on the last weekend of the season, the slasher story becomes all to real when one of her co-workers turns up dead, and Charity must work together with her girlfriend Bezi and her friends to get to the bottom of the history of Camp Mirror Lake before it’s too late!

In addition to my reading, there are all kinds of great Summerween films and shows to watch! It’s the 50th anniversary of Jaws, and there are a ton of other Sharksploitation films to watch (still love Deep Blue Sea, a problematic favorite). Summer camp slashers and horror is always great, and Tubi has Friday the 13th streaming for free! I also love American Horror Story: 1984, one of the bloodiest seasons (like seriously, what was the fake blood budget for this show?!) but also always has me crying by the end.

In addition to my Summerween reading, I am also returning to my paranormal historical novel that I began writing in the summer of 2020 after a very bizarre dream and after listening to season 2 of one of my favorite podcasts, Unobscured, by creator Aaron Mahnke, about the history of the Spiritualist movement in the United States, starting with the Fox Sisters. At the time, I was navigating my own deep grief and loss, and studying this history felt like a balm for my healing heart. As a lover of history and of the paranormal, I went down a research rabbit hole, reading all I could find about Spiritualism’s origins, the cultural impacts and it’s history in Austin, of which there is a surprising amount! That is how I started following the Austin Seance Society, their quarterly zine and their events, including the Texas Spirit Social I attended last year at the First Spiritualist Church of Austin, and where I took the picture above of one of the largest collections of spirit talking boards in the country. I had to put a lot of the work on my novel on pause as my time was taken up by my full-time job and personal health issues, but now that I have this expansive amount of time back, I can dive back into my research, including archival research that one of the wonderful librarians at the Austin History Center provided me, as well as some other works for inspiration. My goal is to finish and submit this novel this year, and I will probably talk about my progress again in future newsletters.

I was also of course inspired by seeing Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners, which has become a cultural phenomenon and I can honestly say is the best film of the year, and possibly one of the best films I have seen in a long time. I don’t go to the theater often, but as we were watching this film, I was so immersed I completely lost a sense of time, and that hasn’t happened to be in a long while. It is a movie that so many folks are discussing, reflecting on and that is the mark of a truly incredible piece of art. I plan to talk more about this film in October when I do an entire breakdown of my favorite Vampire books, films and media, but one thing I want to say is that as someone who is working on a historical novel, I appreciated Coogler’s incredible attention to detail; setting the vampire storyline aside, his research and understanding of the people and communities that the film depicts was incredible and truly made the move great. I loved this recommendation list from author and librarian Alex Brown, “What to Read After Watching Sinners.” I’ve read a few titles on this list, but a few are on my 2025 reading list for enjoyment and because many of them are historical horror novels that I value as I work on my own novel, including:

1. The Reformatory by Tananarive Due will be on my top reads of the year. It is an absolutely heart-wrenching, creepy and beautiful book.
2. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephan Graham Jones-one of my favorite authors, and this is a Native historical Vampire novel that my mom read and recommended, so this is mandatory reading!
3. Dread Nation and Ophie’s Ghosts by Justina Ireland are both incredible historical horror books with speculative elements, and I recommend anything she writes!
4. Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark is another historical speculative horror novel that I just finished reading. It’s a quick read, one I wished was a little longer, but had me crying at the end.
5. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White-really looking forward to this one! I purchased a beautiful hard cover copy last year and am excited to finally prioritize reading it!
6. My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen is another one I have had on my TBR for a while, and a friend recently read it and recommended it, so I am pushing it higher on my list to prioritize to read in the next couple of months.

Getting back into these books for my research will also allow me space to read more of Haunted House canon, which I love, including concluding my re-read of the Haunting of Hill House and other newer haunted house reimaginings.

Do you have any Summerween reads that should be on my list?

I read queer and trans authors all year round, as should we all, and some of my Summerween recommendations are written by queer and trans authors, but since June is Pride Month, I also wanted to share a resource that has been so invaluable to me and that I think everyone should access and support, and that is the Queer Liberation Library! This is a free digital library archive founded by a queer librarian and maintained and curated by a variety of community members. And if you already use Libby, you can create a Queer Liberation Library account and access a wide variety of books via the app, which is so accessible. I’ve already put holds on several books that my regular library doesn’t have copies of that I am excited to read this year. Because this is a grassroots effort, you can donate and support the QLL here.

Some of the titles I am excited to read from the QLL are Someone You Can Build a Nest In (featured in my last newsletter), Kiss Me Maybe, Gender Trouble, Queer Oz (especially since I plan to read the Wizard of Oz this year), Queer Necropolitics and so many more! I also want to shout out two romance books I really loved recently that I got the chance to read as e-ARCS from Netgalley: Get Real, Chloe Torres by Crystal Maldonado, which a fun and heartfelt summer road trip romance that is really about reviving friendship and care during big life transitions, and Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi, which is a spicy romance celebrating love, bisexuality, horror and hauntings! Both of these authors are automatic reads for me, as I really love their work, so check them out!

Writing Prompts

What is your favorite part of the summer, or your favorite summer activity or treat (swimming, road trips, amusement parks, getting ice cream, watching movies, etc)?

What would make that activity unsettling, or downright terrifying? For example, what if the character from the film you watched followed you home, or what if there is something haunting the water at your local pool? Write that story, making it silly or scary depending on your mood!

Call to Action: Opportunities for Solidarity and Care

This weekend, the No Kings marches were organized all across the country, and it was heartening to see so many people turn out to challenge fascism and authoritarianism from our government, many joining this type of action for the first time. It is also harrowing to witness activists and community members resisting police brutality and the state violence of ICE kidnappings in Los Angeles, though we know this is happening across the country, many times in our own neighborhoods.

While the marches that took place this weekend are a good show of strength to the Trump regime, I find myself asking, what’s next? What actions are we, our families, community members, church congregations, coworkers, political groups taking beyond this one moment? It is a question I ask myself every day. We are beyond the point that one single march will somehow end the dire place we are in, facing so much state violence and repression. I refer you back to my post a few months ago called We Are Interconnected, as I stand by some of these suggestions while also knowing that these actions will need to escalate and organizing will need to become even more strategic.

The Building Movement Project and their Social Change Ecosystem Map is a resource I return to share as a helpful primer, or reminder, of the roles all of us have to play in our work towards collective care and liberation. I used to think that all I had to give to my communities were my words as a storyteller. I still believe that, but now that I have taught and created intentional space for folks across a variety of contexts, I also see how my role as a caregiver, whether that is taking care of children or cooking for others, as well as a guide to help others find the resources they need, and to help make space for them to explore their voices and creativity as methods for social change.

The Building Movement Project also has a very helpful “Solidarity Is, a Practice Guide.” Here are some questions I am ruminating on that you may also find useful:

• Who in your community is already building connections? What are their goals?
• Who are your close partners? What do you offer each other?
• Who do you regularly collaborate with? What are the strengths and growth edges of your partnership?
• Who could you collaborate with more? Why are they valuable?

So I ask myself, and all of us, what is your next act of solidarity towards collective liberation? Maybe it’s distributing Know Your Rights cards to community members or hosting a seminar. Maybe it’s starting or joining a book club or buddy read to learn more about abolishing ICE, police and borders. Maybe it’s rejecting the efforts of both Democrats and Republicans alike to normalize eugenics and mass infection of Covid-19, measles and other infectious airborne illness by trying to ban masks across the US, especially because high-quality respirator masks like N95’s can be useful for protecting ourselves and our communities as well as protecting our privacy from state surveillance and policing (don’t just wear masks at protests, normalize wearing them at the airport, the grocery store, and especially at doctor’s offices to help make these essential spaces accessible for all!).

Continue to learn and speak out for Palestinians in Gaza who are being starved by the brutal Israeli regime. Push your House Representatives to support HR 3565 (Stop the Bombs) to end or limit military support to Israel, whose regime is now bombing Iran in continuously flagrant war crimes. Very little food and aid is being allowed into Gaza, and the food that remains is prohibitively expensive. Not only that, but Israel has cut off communications in Gaza, which means many families cannot communicate with the outside world. I am asking those reading to please give to The Sameer Project, a grassroots organization that provides crucial aid to Palestinians in Gaza for whom food, water and medical supplies are scarce. In addition, you can support two families, Marwa and her children and Eman and her family. If you have a little extra this month, help these families to purchase the food and supplies they need!

If you give to both The Sameer Project, or Marwa and/or Eman’s campaigns, comment on this post, I will send you a free copy of one of my books, Las Criaturas and a copy of my Home Love Zine or a copy of my limited edition chapbook, The Monster.

What actions are you engaging in or organizations you suggest? I’d love to know in the comments!

Take care, each and every day ❤️

Leticia