Urban Fantasy Tropes, by Ann Aguirre:

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I've been thinking a great deal about urban fantasy tropes the past few months. Can you imagine what it would be like to live with a werewolf? Would he get mad if you insisted on cooking his steak? And what about the shedding? I´m thinking a new vacuum cleaner would be in order. You´d also need to put away the good silver forever. With a vampire, you´d have to keep blood in your fridge and see about finishing the basement, like, yesterday. If you were married to a fairy, you´d have to scour the house from top to bottom and get rid of the iron. I´m looking around my house, realizing it´s not very fairy-friendly at all.  No wonder I haven´t seen any since I´ve been in Mexico. -grin-

For the last four years, I´ve been immersed in another culture. In my daily life, I speak a different language. I do business in Spanish. If I order food, it´s in Spanish. Sometimes I find myself thinking in Spanish. I cuss in Spanish.  The folklore of Mexico is different, too, and it flavored my writing of Blue Diablo. (If you´re interested, you can find some examples here.) As I celebrate the release of Blue Diablo, I am proudest of the fact that I bring something new to the genre. Other people are already doing a brilliant job of exploring vampires, werewolves, and fairies (sometimes all of the above), so I wanted my contribution to the genre to be fresh and different. I´m delighted  to report that most of my ARC readers report they´ve never read anything quite like the Corine Solomon series.

As feedback trickles in, I´m seeing one consistent reaction: that Corine is real. I love that people feel I´ve brought her to life and made the world she lives in seem vital and authentic. I´m also receiving a common question, so I figure I´ll answer it here: are there really no supernatural creatures in your series?

Yes and no. Humans are the dominant species, and they have a wide range of interesting powers. Some, the Gifted, are born with these talents; they tend to run in family lines. Others have capabilities that they exploit via spellcraft. Through magic, humans can summon and/or create unearthly creatures, but they won´t be the usual suspects. You may see zombies, shades, wraiths, ghosts, or malign spirits, but they don´t arise on their own. Anytime you see one, you know there´s a spellcaster behind it. This includes a wide range of possibility: shamans, voodoun priestesses, hermetic practitioners, Qabalah magicians, and the list goes on. Finally, there are two classes of supernatural beings that you´ll see more of in forthcoming books; you´d call them angels and demons, since they spring from Powers Above and Below. Obviously, that doesn´t rule out cross-breeds, like nephilim.

Now that I´ve given you some background, I´ll be happy to answer any questions you may have about the series.

Ann Aguirre, Blue Diablo, fantasy, Penguin Books