Debra Castaneda

Debra Castaneda is an award-winning author of urban fantasy and dark fiction based on the central coast of California.

Her works include Barely Magic, the first book in the Maddy Madrigal Mysteries series of urban fantasy novels; The Spore Queen, The Devil’s Shallows, The Root Witch, The Copper Man, Circus at Devil’s Landing, and A Dark and Rising Tide, which comprise the Dark Earth Rising series of standalone novels, and The Monsters of Chavez Ravine, an International Latino Book Awards gold medal winner.

Debra loves writing character-driven stories about people who experience scary or magical things, and how they react when confronted with the unexpected. She’s committed to representing Latinas and Latinos in her books.

For inspiration, she draws from her experience as a TV and radio journalist, and as a third-generation Mexican American

Debra now lives on the central coast of California with her husband. She enjoys rediscovering the Mexican dishes of her childhood and texting her two daughters about her latest binge-watch.