Thirteen is a scary number, an unlucky hide-under-your-covers and don’t-answer-the-door kind of number. This is fitting because this October, readers will get a look at my new book, Fall of the Fireflies, the first book in the "Seasons of Sisterhood" series. It’s set in the world of Summer of the Mariposas, a fantasy I wrote 13 years ago that is a Mexican American retelling of the Odyssey. Some of the supernatural beings in that novel included a coven of screeching witch owls known as lechuzas, a ghoulish nagual with a hunger for power (and children), and blood-thirsty chupacabras. 

Since its publication, I’ve visited schools all over the country, sharing the behind-the-scenes stories of the frightful fiends in Mariposas. Young readers must love being petrified, because everywhere I go they always ask the same question: “When are you writing a sequel?”
 
This series is my answer to that question. I’ve written not one, not two, but three installments. Each book stands alone, as each is told from a different sister’s point of view, and every sister must engage with her own set of ghosts, ghouls, and gruesome monsters from our borderlands. Not to worry, every one of the four hermanitas in the series is divinely guided, protected by her own god from the Aztec Pantheon—though, to be honest, I think some of these gods are just as scary as the monsters.

Here's a Gods & Monsters Guide to help you figure out who’s who in the series:

Fall of the Fireflies, the first book, features 15-year-old twins, Velia and Delia, who are chasing the supernatural creature who took their father’s soul when they are recruited by the gods to become monster hunters. 

Quetzalcoatl (the Morning Star): the god who protects Velia is the god of wind, rain, and knowledge, but he’s also the god of death and resurrection. So, he definitely has a dark side. 
Xolotl (the Evening Star): the god who protects Delia has the head of a dog, the body of a skeleton, and some say his feet are on backwards (though the girls never see that). As the god of fire, lightning, deformities, and death, his main job is to escort the souls of the dead to the underworld. 
Mictecacihuatl (La Santisima, the Keeper of the Lovely Bones): the Goddess of Death who goes by many bone-chilling names depending on which part of the world she alights. 
Chaneques: sooty, malformed druidlike creatures who dwell in the woods, but only when they’re not popping out of the wallpaper of an abandoned, haunted house to chase the girls.
The Mano Pachona: an evil, disembodied hand with wicked ideas of her own.

Spring of the Cicada, the second series entry, features 17-year-old Juanita, a nature enthusiast and failing scholar who must escape the giant jaguar who’s stalking her so she can figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life.
Chalchiuhtlicue: the goddess of the sources of freshwater, such as rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. Though she is generally considered a benevolent goddess, Chalchiuhtlicue did wipe out humankind with a tearful flood during the Fourth Sun. Though many would say it was inadvertently done, she is associated with sea storms and whirlpools that can cause death by drowning at any time.
Tepeyollotl: the Jaguar god of earthquakes, echoes, and caves, associated with the forces of nature, is on the loose in this book. His vicious temper causes chaos, exacerbating the effect of climate change, destroying entire ecosystems, and turning the world into a frozen, desolate landscape. Worse of all, he’s tracking our heroine—literally hunting her down. 
The Black-Eyed Children: undead ghouls with black-on-black eyes and a foul, decaying stench strong enough to make people keel over are knocking on doors and asking to come in to use the phone to call their parents!

Winter of the Witch Moth, the third volume, tells the story of 15-year-old Pita, the youngest of the cinco hermanitas, whose first crush is a mysterious boy with a dark side that pulls and tugs at Pita’s young heart. 
Itzpapalotl: the fearsome, skeletal warrior goddess associated with death, sacrifice, and the stars. Itzpapalotl, also known as Clawed Butterfly or Obsidian Butterfly, is often depicted with wings made from knives. She presides over Tomoanchan, a misty, nebulous paradise where the infant dead live out their eternal lives.  
Tzitzimimeh: small, celestial female deities often depicted with skeletal bodies and said to have demonic tendencies. 
Tlahuelpuchi: a living vampire with a thirst for the blood of babes. The Tlahuelpuchi must once a month walk over fire, remove its human legs, grow wings, and fly over houses listening for its next victim.

I think it’s safe to say Delia, Velia, Juanita, and Pita have their hands full, and not just with the ghosts, ghouls, and gruesome monsters in the series. They also have grim gods and goddesses to contend with. Despite it all, our four fearless heroines are more than courageous. With their magical gifts and their beautiful spirits, they are equipped to defeat anything that comes their way. They are steadfast, strong, and smart, and I hope they’re going to win readers’ hearts.  

As for this little spell, the 13 years between the first book and this fantastical series, I think it’s great timing. I don’t consider 13 an unlucky number, after all.