Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with María Pilar Conn
My name is María Pilar Conn and I am an established writer of gothic mystery and poetry in the Spanish language. I live in Spain, in the region of Murcia in a small fishing town, Cabo de Palos. My mother was born here, in Sevilla, and I grew up between both countries, though I am still a US citizen. I have two published mystery novels, La Casa del Marqués, and my new novel, La Canción del Baladre, two poetry books, La Almendra y el Maíz and Paseando con Schopenhauer, plus a book on cake sculpture. I am translating at this time both of the novels to the English language and hope to have them published by the beginning of next year.
My novels and poetry have been reviewed in newspapers, radio and television favorably. It is an honor to be interviewed by the Horror Writers Association.
If you wish more info about me linktr.ee/mpconn has all of my social media and web page.
What inspired you to start writing?
First I was a reader; reading has always been part of my life ever since my mother, instead of reading me children´s stories at bed time, English was difficult for her to speak, started reading Spanish poetry to me at night. I became an author first with my poetry and further on I started writing gothic fiction as I was unable to find contemporary authors of this genre.
What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it?
Again, as a child I was fascinated by anything related to mystery, horror or the paranormal. I grew up in Indianapolis first, watching a show called Sammy Terry that pictured black and white horror films. When I moved to Spain for a short time during my childhood, there was another show on television that pictured one hour series of different horror genres that I found interesting but it wasn´t enough, I needed more.
We moved back to Indianapolis when I turned nine, and I had the habit of passing my time at the school library as I didn´t fit in with the other children. One day I could find nothing of interest and a wonderful librarian that worked there had the intuition to put into my hands Jane Eyre. After that the world of 18th and 19th century gothic fiction opened to me and there was no looking back.
Do you make a conscious effort to include LatinX characters and themes in your writing and if so, what do you want to portray?
I write and publish, so far, only in Spanish as I reside in Spain since I graduated from Los Gatos High school, California, in 1986. I am finishing the translations to English of both of my novels and hope to see them published by the first of next year, one of them will be illustrated. Even though I am American, my love for my mother’s country and heritage led me to start my adult life here. My characters are all Spanish, with the customs and beliefs typical of this country.
What has writing horror taught you about the world and yourself?
About the world I can say that it has opened a vast area of mythological and mystical knowledge that I wasn´t aware of as I like to incorporate archaeological sites and myths of the area in which I live to my writing. About myself I would have to say that I have a good imagination when I visit a new area to create a story or an idea of one, which can set my hair on end. I always find the darkness in that which surrounds me.
How have you seen the horror genre change over the years? And how do you think it will continue to evolve?
It has changed; I firmly believe that YA readers are the ones doing it. Books and film about vampires have reached new heights; even fantasy horror is extremely popular. Platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and HBO have seen that by incorporating this type of genre they will get a good following. The adaptation of Hill House by Netflix showed them that there is an avid audience looking for this type of genre. It will continue to evolve in this way in the future, more film and series adaptations of contemporary and classic horror novels. Though I do have to say that in Spain during the lockdown, sales of books have increased by 30%, so more people are reading, not only young adults. Personally I write gothic fiction because I still can´t find what I am looking for in contemporary writers. So since it´s not available, I write it for my own pleasure.
How do you feel the LatinX community has been represented thus far in the genre and what hopes do you have for representation in the genre going forward?
I think that we have very little representation as it is but every day I see new authors that publish horror, terror, gothic horror, etc… Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno Garcia, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez, is just two of them. I have high hopes that new horror writers will bring a new look and feel to the genre as we incorporate our cultures, customs and religious beliefs to our novels.
Who are some LatinX horror authors you recommend our audience check out?
Silvia Moreno García, Carlos Sisí, and Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a must. For me, he represented all of what a contemporary Spanish gothic horror should have.
What is one piece of advice you would give horror authors today?
Write for the pleasure of writing. It is very hard to get published, and even when a publisher wants to publish your novel it doesn’t mean that you will sell a great number of books. Don´t get discouraged if this happens, just keep writing and publishing, market through social media as much as you can as it is very hard to get people to go to book signings unless you are represented by a big publishing house. I always write about what I know most about, it makes writing, along with an imaginative mind, easier. As an illustrator, for those of you who can draw, I make extensive drawings of characters and situations as this helps me to go forward with the story.
And to the LatinX writers out there who are just getting started, what advice would you give them?
To keep writing, always looking forward, we are living in a time where we are more visible than ever. Almost 500 million people speak native Spanish in the world, that is a huge market that hasn´t been fully explored. More and more cultures wish to learn Spanish. Spanish writers through the centuries have written some of the best literature in the world, but hardly any horror as written in English, in abundance, during the 18th and 19th centuries. We have nothing to lose, a world awaits us to charm and horrify in our language and with our culture.
