I am beyond excited to share my latest ebook release! Weep, Woman, Weep, available for only $2.99, is the first of many stories set in the mythical town of Sueño, New Mexico, where magic is real and the desert holds more secrets and enchantments than anyone can imagine.

This gothic fairytale, based on the Legend of La Llorona, has a special place in my heart because it not only represents my full transition into writing fiction but also because it deals with the Weeping Woman, a figure who installs fear in the hearts of most Hispanic and Latinx children. (Don’t worry, I haven’t left non-fiction behind—I’m just now more established in fiction as well!) I grew up hearing frightening tales of the woman who drowned her children in a fit of rage and then threw herself into the Rio Grande after them once she realized what a terrible crime she committed. It is said that she now roams the riverbanks weeping and looking for her lost children. Of course, the danger is when she mistakes you for one of her children and takes you down to the bottom of the river with her. Needless to say, she inspired many a sleepless night when I was younger—okay, and sometimes now!

There are so many different versions of the Weeping Woman legend, some dating back to the Aztecs and early colonization of Mexico, which you can read more about here. These are stories about the trauma of colonization, toxic patriarchy, and toxic matriarchy. Some are even about reclaiming our pre-colonized identities by framing La Llorona as a victim trying to make things right in her own way.

As you’ll see in Weep, Woman, Weep, I’ve offered my own spin on the classic urban legend. In my story, La Llorona isn’t quite so sympathetic, even if we can understand the terrible circumstances that lead her to her doom. As Mercy, the heroine of the story says, you can’t always help what happens to you, but you can choose not to pass it on. It’s the passing on of trauma that makes La Llorona a dark archetype. In my experience, there’s a twisted part of this spirit that doesn’t want anyone moving on from the violence of our collective past. She has suffered terribly, so we must suffer, too.

All I’m saying is that the night before I made this book available for preorder, I had a terrible nightmare about La Llorona. She came out of a dark swamp in the middle of a haunted forest and tried to rip me to pieces. It was clear she didn’t want me telling this story and exposing her for the bitter spirit that she is. She clawed and raged and did everything she could to rid this manuscript from my hands. In all honesty, I’m used to dreams like this—she’s been haunting me for some time. And she gets particularly angry whenever I’m doing something that brings me joy and helps me heal my own complicated relationship with my mixed-cultural heritage.

I woke up in a cold sweat but felt strangely good. La Llorona didn’t like that I dragged this dark ancestral secret into the light, so…I must be on the right track. But that’s bruja life for you—so much happing in the dream world, so much of it affecting our day-in, day-out. Just another day of breaking the chains of ancestral trauma.

Weep, Woman, Weep is particularly unique because it centers on the New Mexican mestiza experience of ancestral hauntings and the working through of toxic cultural histories. In my experience, if we don’t directly confront the traumas of our ancestral past, then we end up perpetuating those same traumas on ourselves and our communities, sometimes in ways so subtle that we are barely even aware that we are doing it. But, since this is a gothic tale, these horrors aren't so subtle.

If you are interested in learning more about ancestral hauntings and breaking the chains of generational trauma, check out my conversation with That Witch Life. And if you’re wanting to know more about my other fiction, as well as my creative process when it comes to writing stories about the ordinary gothic, check out my interview with C.M. Rosens on the Eldritch Girl podcast earlier in the year.

In the meantime, pour yourself a cup of tea, snuggle under your favorite knit blanket, and get ready to enter a world of everyday magic and the ordinary gothic. Just make sure to keep the lights on.

Advance Praise

"This is a beautifully written, affirming and emotionally rich sort of story...There’s a lot of emotional truth here, and I think anyone who has ever struggled to find their place in the world will find it a resonant read."

~ Nimue Brown (read the full review here)

“If like me you’re a fan of the unusual or gothic and haunting reads this is one to try. With a strong voice, atmospheric creepiness and powerful storytelling, it’s one to enjoy as the nights draw in and we head towards my one of my favourite times of year, Halloween.”

~ Kate Kenzie Writes (read the full review here)

Read more reviews on Goodreads and Amazon!

From the Back Cover

A compelling gothic fairytale by bruja and award-winning writer Maria DeBlassie.

The women of Sueño, New Mexico don’t know how to live a life without sorrows. That’s La Llorona’s doing. She roams the waterways looking for the next generation of girls to baptize, filling them with more tears than any woman should have to hold. And there’s not much they can do about the Weeping Woman except to avoid walking along the riverbank at night and to try to keep their sadness in check. That’s what attracts her to them: the pain and heartache that gets passed down from one generation of women to the next.

Mercy knows this, probably better than anyone. She lost her best friend to La Llorona and almost found a watery grave herself. But she survived. Only she didn’t come back quite right and she knows La Llorona won’t be satisfied until she drags the one soul that got away back to the bottom of the river.

In a battle for her life, Mercy fights to break the chains of generational trauma and reclaim her soul free from ancestral hauntings by turning to the only things that she knows can save her: plant medicine, pulp books, and the promise of a love so strong not even La Llorona can stop it from happening. What unfolds is a stunning tale of one woman’s journey into magic, healing, and rebirth.

CW: assault, domestic violence, racism, colorism

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!