About the Book.
Set against the stark background of the Southwestern desert, Lena Valencia’s Mystery Lights glows with the promise—and fear—of the world we know and the worlds we don’t, following women and girls as they navigate dangers both supernatural and existential.
An influencer attempts to derail a viral TV marketing campaign with her violent cult following. A marriage between two ghost hunters is threatened when one of them loses her ability to see spirits. The lives of a famous painter in the twilight of her career and a teenage UFO enthusiast converge when a mysterious glowing orb appears in their small desert town. And a slasher-flick screenwriter looking for inspiration escapes a pack of wild dogs only to find herself locked in an SUV with a strange man beside her. Set primarily in deserts throughout the American Southwest, Lena Valencia’s Mystery Lights is a debut collection of stories about women and girls at the crossroads of mundane daily life and existential dread.
From the all-too-real horror of a sexual predator on a college campus to a lost sister transformed by cave-dwelling creatures, Mystery Lights grapples with terrors both familiar and fantastic, introducing an electrifying new voice in contemporary fiction while bringing to light the many faces of the forces that haunt us.
About the Author.
I'm a writer, editor, and writing teacher.
My debut short story collection Mystery Lights is forthcoming from Tin House Books in summer 2024. My work has appeared or is forthcoming in Ninth Letter, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, CRAFT, Epiphany, Joyland, Catapult's Tiny Nightmares anthology, and elsewhere. I have an MFA in fiction from The New School and have taught writing classes at Catapult, One Story, and Sackett Street. Currently the director of educational programming and managing editor of One Story, I have held positions at A Public Space and BOMB Magazine. I am the recipient of a 2019 Elizabeth George Foundation Grant. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, I now live in Brooklyn, New York.