Tag Archives: Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Feb 11 2021

Cover Reveal for Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

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We are delighted to host the cover reveal for Diana Rodriguez Wallach’s first horror novel, Small Town Monsters, which will be published by Underlined Paperbacks/Penguin Random House on September 7, 2021!

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First, here’s a description of the book:

Something’s wrong in Roaring Creek. . . .

All Vera Martinez wants is to get out. Out of Roaring Creek and away from her embarrassing demonologist parents. Not to mention the terrifying occult things lurking in their basement.

Maxwell Oliver just wants to fit in. But it’s hard to enjoy parties with his friends when his mom is morphing into someone he doesn’t recognize. Someone scary. And slowly he begins to suspect that the harmless self-help group she joined might be something more . . . sinister.

Soon Vera and Max are up against dark forces that extend far past their small coastal town—and into the very heart of evil.

The Conjuring meets The Vow in this terrifying paperback original that tells the unputdownable story of a girl, a dark angel, and the cult hellbent on taking over her small, coastal town.

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Now, here is some information about the author:

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Diana Rodriguez Wallach has never encountered a demon, or at least, she hopes she hasn’t. But she does believe in them. Before dipping into spooky stories, with Small Town Monsters, Diana published several YA novels, including the Anastasia Phoenix Series (Entangled Publishing), a trilogy of female-centered spy thrillers. The first book in the series, Proof of Lies, has been optioned for film and was chosen as a finalist for the 2018 International Thriller Awards. Diana is also the author of the Amor and Summer Secrets series (Kensington Books), a trilogy of contemporary Latinx novels. The first book in the series placed second at the 2009 International Latino Book Awards for Best Young Adult Novel. She is also a Creative Writing Instructor for Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth. Diana holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University, and currently lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and two children. This is her first horror novel. You can find out more about Diana by checking out her website: www.dianarodriguezwallach.com and by following her on social media: https://linktr.ee/admin

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And, here’s what the author and designer had to say about the process of creating the cover:

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Diana: It has been so exciting for me to be a part of the cover-design process! It’s a luxury I know not all authors get, and one I’ve never had with my previous books. During our first conversations, my editor, Ali Romig, and I discussed creating a cover vibe reminiscent of “old school horror movie posters.” It was fun researching and passing around old film-poster images. We also discussed color concepts; given the book is dual point-of-view with male and female teenage protagonists, I didn’t want anything that felt too girl-centric. I also preferred not having a face on the cover; this way both protagonists would be equally represented and the cover would focus more on an atmospheric vibe. As soon as Ali told me we would be working with artist Nicholas Moegly, my expectations soared. His work is so hauntingly beautiful with lighting, so exquisite it looks like a photograph. When I got to see the final cover, I was blown away! I also love how Underlined’s art department matched the golden lettering with the street lighting. Yellow is an important color in the book, as the creepy cult identifies themselves with canary yellow hats. So this cover really hits on so many levels.

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Casey Moses, Designer at Penguin Random House: For the cover of Small Town Monsters, we wanted to capture the essence of the novel by showing the small town setting and incorporating different elements to represent the darkness spreading and taking over. Nicholas Moegly was our first choice illustrator since he specializes in eerily beautiful and dark settings. He uses light and shadow in such a unique way that really adds drama and brings this cover to life. We wanted the reader to feel a sense of danger from the subtle demon idle in the sky to the vague silhouettes of cult members encroaching down this quiet street.

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Finally, here is the cover of Small Town Monsters:

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Ta-da!

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Cover art copyright © 2021 by Nicholas Moegly
Cover design by Casey Moses

Creepy, right?!

Small Town Monsters is available now for preorder: http://bit.ly/3oSud3j

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Sep 13 2018

Book Review: Lies that Bind by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

 

Review by Elena Foulis

DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK: Reeling from the truths uncovered while searching for her sister in Italy, Anastasia Phoenix is ready to call it quits with spies. The only way to stop being a pawn in their game is to remove herself from the board. But before she can leave her parents’ crimes behind her, tragedy strikes. No one is safe, not while Department D still exists.

Now, with help from her friends, Anastasia embarks on a dangerous plan to bring down an entire criminal empire. From a fire-filled festival in England to a lavish wedding in Rio de Janeiro, Anastasia is determined to confront the enemies who want to destroy her family. But even Marcus, the handsome bad boy who’s been there for her at every step, is connected to the deadly spy network. And the more she learns about Department D, the more she realizes the true danger might be coming from someone closer than she expects.

MY TWO CENTS: A year after Proof of Lies, author Diana Rodriguez Wallach gives us a sequel that is just as a fast-paced, Lies that Bind. We follow Anastasia Phoenix’s quest to discover the truth about the Dresden Corporation, her parents’ death and, like the protagonist, the reader does not know who to trust. The novel skillfully reintroduces us to the main characters and the story line; Anastasia reflects on the events Keira, Marcus, and Charlotte have just experienced and reminds the reader of the key information to put us right back into another action-packed adventure. Wallach continues to develop her female protagonists. Although Keira continues to act a bit irresponsible and Charlotte has developed a love interest, we see Anastasia take charge and make decisions about next steps in their quest for safety and justice. According to my teen daughters, one of the things that they most liked was the suspense-filled chapters, which kept them turning page after page to try to figure out which one of the characters was good, bad, or in-between. They also liked the romance that continues to develop between Marcus and Anastasia.

The novel moves locations and remarks on cultural differences in each of the places the characters visit. For example, they find themselves in the middle of festival in England that is full of satire about American immigration politics and borderline racist overtones. Another occasion worth noting, although not central to the plot, is a long speech given by one of her friends at the funeral of her dead boyfriend. The speech remarks on the experiences of young black men who the educational system fails to help. If nothing else, this adds to Anastasia’s growth in understanding the intersection of race and immigration as experienced by marginalized communities.

Wallach includes information about real events at the end of the book, such as the fake Turkish coup of 2003, Hilda Murrell’s murder, and the 1998 World Cup Final, which adds to the detective-like narrative and espionage plot. She titled this section as “truths,” but this is ironic because although these events happened, they are full of mystery! This is, perhaps, one of my favorite parts of the book, realizing how the author uses this in the novel and, at the same time, reminding us that life is full of secrets. The last book in this trilogy, titled The End of The Lie, comes out in 2019 and we can’t wait to read it!

CLICK HERE for our review of PROOF OF LIES.

CLICK HERE for a guest post by Diana Rodriguez Wallach about pushing genre boundaries.

Also, check out the video below. Author Diana Rodriguez Wallach talks about how her personal travels match Anastasia’s journey in Lies that Bind. The video was posted on Jean Book Nerd’s YouTube Channel.

 

 

 

AuthorHeadshot_2015ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Diana Rodriguez Wallach is the author of the Anastasia Phoenix Series, three young adult spy thrillers (Entangled Publishing, 2017, ’18, ‘19). The first book in the trilogy, Proof of Lies, was named by Paste Magazine as one of the “Top 10 Best Young Adult Books for March 2017.” Bustle also listed her as one of the “Top Nine Latinx Authors to Read for Women’s History Month 2017.” Additionally, she is the author of three award-winning young adult novels: Amor and Summer Secrets, Amigas and School Scandals, and Adios to All The Drama (Kensington Books); as well as a YA short-story collection entitled Mirror, Mirror (Buzz Books, 2013).

In 2010 Diana was named one of the Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch by LatinoStories.com, and she placed second in the International Latino Book Awards. Diana is featured in the anthology, Latina Authors and Their Muses (Twilight Times Books, 2015), and she currently blogs for Quirk Books.

 

 

headshot2016ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Elena Foulis has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of Arkansas. Her research and teaching interests include U.S. Latina/o literature, and Digital Oral History. Dr. Foulis is currently working on a digital oral history project about Latin@s in Ohio, which is being archived at the Center for Folklore Studies’ internet collection. Some of these narratives can be found in her iBook titled, Latin@ Stories Across Ohio.

Dec 14 2017

Book Review: Proof of Lies by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

 

Review by Elena Foulis

DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK: Anastasia Phoenix has always been the odd girl out, whether moving from city to international city with her scientist parents or being the black belt who speaks four languages. And most definitely as the orphan whose sister is missing, presumed dead. She’s the only one who believes Keira is still alive, and when new evidence surfaces, Anastasia sets out to follow the trail—and lands in the middle of a massive conspiracy. Now she isn’t sure who she can trust. At her side is Marcus, the bad boy with a sexy accent who’s as secretive as she is. He may have followed her to Rome to help, but something about him seems too good to be true.

Nothing is as it appears, and when everything she’s ever known is revealed to be a lie, Anastasia has to believe in one impossibility. She will find her sister.

MY TWO CENTS: It is not often that we find books written by Latina women that are outside of the traditional coming of age stories, biculturalism, bilingualism, or exploring patriarchal dominance within their culture and religion. In Proof of Lies, author Diana Rodriguez Wallach gives us a fast-paced, mystery and detective-style novel that has us turning page after page to discover how Anastasia Phoenix will make sense of her parents’ death, her sister’s disappearance, the untangled webs of half-truths and the untrustworthy adults in her life. Proof of Lies is a fast novel, full of twists, and with three strong female characters. Keira is Anastasia’s older sister; she is her guardian after her parents die in a car accident. She works, studies to be a nurse, and is the not-always responsible adult presence in Anastasia’s life. Charlotte is a friend who lives with them, she is tech-savvy and a hacker; she helps Anastasia find information when Keira goes missing, leaving only a bathtub full of her blood the morning after their home party. Anastasia, our protagonist, constantly criticizes her sister for having too many loser boyfriends, yet their sister bond is so strong that she spear-heads the quest to find her across the world. Anastasia is about to enter her last year of high school, when she finds herself looking for answers regarding her sister’s disappearance and her parents’ true identity. She enlists the help of Charlotte, Marcus—a Spaniard boy who just moved into her neighborhood— and the financial resources of her parents’ old boss Mr. Urban, the CEO of Dresden corporation.

When the local police refuse to give her information regarding her sister’s whereabouts, Anastasia takes matters into her own hands and travels all the way to Italy. She follows tips and clues from people who knew her and her family, fights and chases thugs, and isn’t afraid to confront whoever can help her find Keira. Rodriguez Wallach’s female characters are strong, and the novel offers the hint of romance, too. But what keeps you turning the page is the fact that everyone seems suspect, everyone seems to be hiding something, and Anastasia, like the reader, begins to question who might be withholding information that might lead her to her sister, or knows the truth about who their parents really were. Rodriguez Wallach offers additional information regarding some of the historical references and characters she uses in this novel. For example, the last pages of the book include information about the real Department D, an entity who has had considerable impact on world affairs and was involved with the KGB and Czech STB during the Cold War. There is also information about Lawrence Martin-Bittman, who the author met when she was a student at Boston University and who is a character in the novel, under a different name. Such attention to detail gives the author mastery of the narrative line and provides the reader with additional “clues” about the authenticity of events. To know that there was an agency in the business of disinformation makes us question our own reality, and it certainly keeps us wanting the second and third book on the Anastasia Phoenix series. As a teaser, the author includes the first chapter of the second book series titled, Lies that Bind.

TEACHING TIPS: This novel can be taught in comparison with male-centered characters like in the movie series Bourne Identity or Taken, but also in conjunction with the Hunger Games trilogy. Although the novel is much less bloody, these movies can provide an interesting point of comparison of male vs. female leading roles or male vs. female centered voices. Given that the author is Latina, this novel can also provide a needed conversation about authorship and the freedom to write what one wants—not confined by gender, ethnicity or age. Although Rodriguez Wallach has written novels with distinctly Latina characters, she is not bound by them.

WHERE TO GET IT: To find Proof of Lies, check your local public library, your local bookstore, or IndieBound. Also, check out Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

AuthorHeadshot_2015ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from her website): Diana Rodriguez Wallach is the author of the Anastasia Phoenix Series, three young adult spy thrillers (Entangled Publishing, 2017, ’18, ‘19). The first book in the trilogy, Proof of Lies, was named by Paste Magazine as one of the “Top 10 Best Young Adult Books for March 2017.” Bustle also listed her as one of the “Top Nine Latinx Authors to Read for Women’s History Month 2017.” Additionally, she is the author of three award-winning young adult novels: Amor and Summer Secrets, Amigas and School Scandals, and Adios to All The Drama (Kensington Books); as well as a YA short-story collection entitled Mirror, Mirror (Buzz Books, 2013).

In 2010, Diana was named one of the Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch by LatinoStories.com, and she placed second in the International Latino Book Awards. Diana is featured in the anthology, Latina Authors and Their Muses (Twilight Times Books, 2015), and she currently blogs for Quirk Books.

CLICK HERE to read Diana’s recent guest post: How I Broke Out of My Latina YA Box

 

headshot2016ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Elena Foulis has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of Arkansas. Her research and teaching interests include U.S. Latina/o literature, and Digital Oral History. Dr. Foulis is currently working on a digital oral history project about Latin@s in Ohio, which is being archived at the Center for Folklore Studies’ internet collection. Some of these narratives can be found in her iBook titled, Latin@ Stories Across Ohio.

Dec 11 2017

Guest Post by Author Diana Rodriguez Wallach: How I Broke Out of My Latina YA Box

 

By Diana Rodriguez Wallach

The main character of my new young adult spy thriller series, Anastasia Phoenix, is not Latina. Given how few books feature Latinx characters, you might not find this very surprising. But when your maiden name is Rodriguez and you’ve previously written a YA Latina trilogy, this fact is a little shocking to the publishing world.

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The first book in the series, Proof of Lies, went through a lot of rejections before it made it into print. At first, I stumbled into the wrong market—I was pitching a spy thriller when YA imprints were buying vampires, then werewolves, then dystopian. Eventually the publishing pendulum swung back toward contemporary, but I encountered a different issue. “I’m surprised the main character isn’t Latina,” was a common comment from editors who passed on the manuscript.

At one point, a prior agent who represented the novel suggested I consider the switch. Just make Anastasia Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican, anything. But that wasn’t the story I wanted to tell. While this book went through many, many significant edits during the years it took to find the right publishing house, Anastasia’s ethnicity remained the same. Frankly put, I couldn’t see her parents as Puerto Rican spies. Proof of Lies is set in Italy; the second book, Lies that Bind (March 2018), is set in England, France, and Brazil. The entire concept was to set each book in a different country, primarily European. I was aiming for a James Bond or Jason Bourne feel, only with a female in the lead.

I didn’t realize I was breaking a cardinal rule of marketing.

In 2008, I published my first YA trilogy, Amor and Summer Secrets. It’s a YA Latina romance, and it was the third novel my agent tried to sell on my behalf. My first two manuscripts, which are still unpublished, featured white teenagers in coming-of-age tales. After those failed attempts, my agent suggested I write a multicultural story, so I did. Mariana Ruiz is a non-Spanish-speaking half-Puerto Rican teen growing up in the Philly suburbs who feels disconnected to her Latina heritage, until she’s forced to spend the summer on the island. The book sold in two days.

Unbeknownst to me, that book put me in a box. Like any other author, my publisher’s sales and marketing team had to determine where to place my book and exactly which reader I should reach. For me, I wasn’t simply put in the YA Box, but the YA Latina Box. So when I followed up that series, which placed in the International Latino Book Awards, with a novel featuring a white girl with a double-black belt in karate and no mention of ethnic identity other than “American teenager,” I unwittingly broke their marketing rules.

I’m not the first author to face this; it’s why many writers choose pen names when switching genres (whether it be a YA author writing adult romance, or a thriller writer penning a literary tome). Like them, my prior agent asked if I’d consider a pseudonym, but I refused. It wasn’t for any political statement, but for the most honest reason of all—I worked really hard on this book for years, and I was going to see my name on it when it published. Even if that name was Rodriguez. Even if that name gave readers the wrong impression of what was inside.

Because ultimately, my last name doesn’t comprise the entirety of who I am. Yes, my father was born and raised in Puerto Rico, but my mother is Polish and she grew up in a Polish-speaking household, and went to a Polish-speaking church and Catholic school. I attended Christmas mass in Polish every year growing up, and my mom cooked pierogi and kielbasa right alongside Spanish rice and plantains on Christmas Eve. I’m positive a lot of teens have similar experiences, whether they be Latinx and Irish, Indian and African American, or Filipino and Jewish.

So Anastasia Phoenix is not my big fat Latina book. While there is some Spanish dialog in it—because her love interest, Marcus, is from Madrid—I stuck to my vision and kept the mystery at the center of the plot rather than her ethnicity. That’s not to say I won’t write another Latina novel. In fact, I’m working on a contemporary YA right now that will feature a multicultural character. But I hope to follow it up with another YA thriller about a female ghost hunter whose ethnic background may never be mentioned. If I’m lucky, I will publish them all under my real name, and I hope my readers will follow along. Whatever ethnicity they may be.

AuthorHeadshot_2015ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from her website): Diana Rodriguez Wallach is the author of the Anastasia Phoenix Series, three young adult spy thrillers (Entangled Publishing). The first book in the trilogy, Proof of Lies, was named by Paste Magazine as one of the “Top 10 Best Young Adult Books for March 2017.” Bustle also listed her as one of the “Top Nine Latinx Authors to Read for Women’s History Month 2017.” Additionally, she is the author of three award-winning young adult novels: Amor and Summer Secrets, Amigas and School Scandals, and Adios to All The Drama (Kensington Books); as well as a YA short-story collection based on the Narcissus myth, entitled Mirror, Mirror (Buzz Books, 2013).

In 2011, she published a highly regarded essay in Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories (HarperCollins). It was the only essay chosen from the anthology by Scholastic to be used in its classroom materials. Diana is featured in the anthology, Latina Authors and Their Muses (Twilight Times Books, 2015), and she is currently on staff as a featured blogger for Quirk Books.

In 2010, Diana was named one of the Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch by LatinoStories.com, and she placed second in the International Latino Book Awards. She is an advisory board member for the Philly Spells Writing Center, and is a Creative Writing instructor for Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth. She holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University, and currently lives in Philadelphia. For more about Diana, check out The Whole Story.