#labyrinth lost

“My life is like a…a…labyrinth!” I shouldn’t have said that…

Every time I try to hang out with my friends, they don’t have time.

Every time I want to buy something, I either don’t have the time or money.

I fail at everything I do.

I’m lost in the labyrinth.

A dead end.

I constantly find dead ends.

“Where’s the exit?!” I ask myself.

I need to leave.

I’m hungry.

There’s no food here.

I’m sleepy.

There are monsters everywhere.

“I can’t sleep with all these monsters” I thought.

Then I remembered…

Why did the king put me in this labyrinth.

Because I tried to give his daughter epilepsy with my magic.

There’s no escape from the labyrinth.

That is why it is so famous.

I’m gonna die here.

I may have wings…

But without my energy…

I can’t fly.

There’s also a spell that won’t let me leave.

They are probably going to erase my memories again anyways.

Instagram: mister_kitty_freedom

Welcome to the last post of the month. First of all, I’d like to thank all the amazing authors for taking time to be part of this series. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find enough authors to fill in the month. But we did more than that, and hopefully next year we will be back and better than ever. I hope you enjoyed discovering new voices. 

¡Qué bonita bandera! AKA what heritage(s) do you claim?

I was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador and I was raised in New York City. I am 100% Latina and 100% New Yorker. 

When was the first time you saw yourself represented?

To be honest, I still haven’t. Not in the sense that I’ve seen an Ecuadorian girl starring in a novel or movie. When I was a teen and found out Christina Aguilera was half Ecuadorian, I wished she could represent part of me that desperately wanted to be seen–dark haired, dark eyes. But I shouldn’t judge.

When I write, I put a little bit of my Ecuadorian self but my whole New York self. It’s like I’m afraid that people won’t relate. But that’s not true, is it? I have to be brave enough to write that character and let the audience decide. 

All of this to say that the closest representation to mine is the family dynamic in Jane the Virgin.

How do you connect to your heritage through your books (if at all)?

I’ve always included a Latinx character in my books. There’s Layla Santos in The VIcious Deep. Sky Lopez inLove on the Ledge. It hasn’t been until Labyrinth Lost and the Brooklyn Brujas series that I felt confident enough to write a completely Latinx cast.  

What do you hope for the future of Latinx books?

I’ve like to see Latinx authors to be able to write whatever they want. I think for a long time we were expected to write tragic immigrant or assimilation stories. I want us to be heroes. I want us to be everywhere from happy contemporaries to magical realms to the outer most reaches of the galaxy. 

What is the book that inspired you to write for kids/teens?

In the Forest of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. I wanted to be front and center in a fantastical story. 

What are you writing now?

I finished copyedits of book 2 in the Brooklyn Brujas series, which will feature the eldest Mortiz sister, Lula. I’m drafting Brooklyn Brujas 3. The first book in the series is in development with Paramount Studios. I recently sold a series to Disney-Hyperion called Hollow Crown which is slated for a Summer 2019 launch. I’m also working on a secret project that hasn’t been announced yet but is slated for 2019. 

Zoraida Córdova is the award-winning author of urban fantasies The Vicious Deep trilogy and the Brooklyn Brujas series, as well as the adult romance series On the Verge. Her short fiction is featured in the anthologies Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, and Toil & Trouble. Zoraida’s most recent release, Labyrinth Lost, was named a Best Book of 2016 by Paste Magazine and has been optioned by Paramount Pictures. She is also the author of the upcoming Hollow Crown, to be published by Disney Hyperion in 2019. 

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