Marta Acosta is the author of the hilarious Casa Dracula series. Her books so far: Happy Hour at Casa Dracula (Pocket, 2006), Midnight Brunch (Pocket, 2007) and The Bride of Casa Dracula (Pocket, 2008). Marta talks about the crazy world she created and answers questions about her life as a writer.

what Talk about Milagro De Los Santos, the heroine of your Casa Dracula series. And how much of you is in Milagro?

Martha I love Miracle! I created it with all my favorite characters and traits I loved in mind. She’s bright, funny, fearless, witty, heart-in-hand, and impetuous. She is gullible, not because she is stupid, but because she is young and optimistic with people.

I wish I had Milagro’s kindness and optimism. I’m pretty cynical. She is isolated in the world and I am very connected with my family. We share our love of books, love of fun, sarcastic sense of humor, and culture. After college he had no direction either, he was more interested in hanging out with friends than a career and he wanted a real relationship. But I think this is common to many people, that’s why they identify with Milagro.

She writes eccentric stories and no one takes her seriously. So make that what you want!

what There are some wonderful, quirky characters in her books: Edna, who doesn’t get along with Mil at first; the sexy brother/sister duo Cornelia and Ian; Nancy, Mil’s rich friend, and so many others. She discuss some of them please. Do you have favourites? Are any based on real people? Did any of them “pop” by themselves while you were typing?

Martha Thanks for the kind words about my supporting characters! Edna came to me complete. I could imagine how she looked and how she talked, and I find it very easy to write the parts of her. I think she’s the result of all the fabulous older women I’ve met: smart, sharp, sexy, and attractive. You want to be them.

I’ve always loved the sophisticated, troublesome brother and sister in Henry James’s The Europeans and the mischievous, morally compromised brother and sister in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. I wanted characters that would fly, wreak havoc, and be gone. Of course, they get more than they bargained for with Milagro.

Nancy reminds me of my good friends in college. She was deliciously silly, blonde, and cute, and she had many rules about the proper way to iron clothes, wear perfume, and eat soup.

One of my favorite characters is tabloid writer and high school English teacher Bernie Vines. He tells Milagro, “Everybody knows that writing isn’t work,” and he rips her off, but he’s also there to help her when he needs it.

what Your vampires are certainly not the traditional Dracula type. In fact, they don’t even like the term. Tell us about your vampire creations.

Martha I’ve never liked the vampire as a romantic hero. Because they are dead and cold and scary. So I came up with vampires who have an attitude and a genetic “condition”. After all, there are people with strange food cravings, those who are allergic to sunlight, and those with heightened immune systems. Many vampires in fiction are also rich, impressive, and worldly; it naturally follows that they would be terrible snobs and look down on an aimless, broke and sarcastic young woman.

what Humor is an essential part of the Casa Dracula series. Why do you use humor to communicate?

Martha I use humor to amuse myself. But it’s also a way to get messages across without boring or turning off your audience. There are real messages in my books, about exclusion, isolation, greed, bigotry, but I don’t want to preach to the choir. I want people who wouldn’t normally consider my ideas to have so much fun with the humor that they see things from a different perspective. Humor is all about perspective.

what Could you talk about your own background. Education? Writing problems? Being bilingual? Or anything else you want to mention.



Martha I am the second child of Mexican parents. I think my love of reading is partly because I was an only child and she didn’t really fit in. The books not only entertained me, but they taught me about the world in which I lived. I always wrote, simply because it seemed natural to me. I was a good student and studied literature, drama, and writing at Stanford. But he didn’t know how to get a writing job after that, and he didn’t have the kind of connections that attract young people. I needed to pay my rent, so I would take any job that came my way.

One of my biggest struggles is that I don’t write what people expect. If you write what is expected, you are rewarded. People expect Latinos to write about magical realism, but I’m not interested in writing about magical realism. My natural writing voice is dark and cynical, but editors, and most readers, want sympathetic characters. I’ve also always loved writing humor, but most people assume that humorous writing doesn’t require real skill.

Right now I am struggling with publicity for my books. Because I have a paranormal element, people assume my books are paranormal romances. True fans of paranormal romance are disappointed if they buy my books because they want romance conventions. People who don’t like romance won’t read my books because of the covers. My books are filed under general fiction, but even bookstore clerks don’t know they’re there. I wish there was a section of the bookstore for fun books written by women.

I am not bilingual, although I would like to be.

what What response, if any, has there been from Latino readers?

Martha The response from Latino readers has been really positive. Many of them write to tell me how much they identify with Milagro, who often feels like an outsider, but just as often she wants people to know that she is a normal human girl.

One of the most gratifying things for me has been the positive response from teen readers of all stripes. I think they connect to Milagro’s sense of alienation, her sarcastic humor, and her hope.

what Which writers have influenced you the most? Because?

Martha I was influenced by Mark Twain in my use of a first person colloquial voice for humor. I learned many lessons from Jane Austen and, like her heroines, Miracle deals with issues of social class, manipulative supporting characters and misunderstandings. But I’ve been influenced by many writers, from Laura Ingalls Wilder and hers Little House books to absurdist humor writers.

I’ve also always liked TV shows and movies that combine humor with paranormal elements. “The X-Files,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Dead Like Me,” “The Frighteners,” and “Supernatural” all have characters using humor to cope with the craziness of their lives.

what Describe your writing environment.

Martha I have a little alcove off my bedroom with a window that looks out on my back garden. There are piles of papers all over the long table that I use as a desk, and piles of papers and books on the floor. My dogs, Betty and Bosco, often keep me company while I work. I listen to music, look outside to see hummingbirds, butterflies, and squirrels, and work. I feel pretty damn lucky.

Q What are your current projects?

Martha I’m working on a romantic comedy tentatively titled Nancy’s Theory of Style. It features Nancy, Milagro’s wealthy and style-obsessed friend, and her effort to start an event planning business. Needless to say, chaos ensues. My editor isn’t sold on the title, but I like it.

I am also working on Casa Dracula Book Four. It’s still untitled, and I’m not going to reveal the plot, but Milagro matures a bit, faces danger, and finally comes to terms with his heart. Both Nancy and the CD Book Four will be out next year.