Spirits and Superstitions: Writing a Reality Steeped in the Supernatural, a guest post by Vanessa Montalban

Hereditary love curses, prophetic dreams, dire warnings from spirits—this is the magic I infused into my debut novel, A Tall Dark Trouble. A magic that’s steeped in Caribbean beliefs and practices, and a magic I grew up with.

In my story, all three of my main characters struggle to accept their inherent gifts, in large part because of the superstitions they grow up with. In contemporary Miami, twins Delfi and Ofelia Sanchez have a wary yet curious view of magic because their mother forbade them from using their powers, warning of unseen dangers and a family curse. In 1980s Cuba, Anita de Armas resents her abilities as she’s pressured to join her mother’s oppressive cult of brujos, or witches. Yet despite each character’s complicated relationship with their power, magic and superstitions are inherently woven into their everyday lives. They light candles to call forth spirits, and take spiritual baths to cleanse negative energies. They worry about being out too late because el sereno, the night air, causes sickness. The religion they’re most familiar with relies on the communing of spirits. Even if they wanted to cut out their gifts, magic will always be a part of who they are and where they came from.

Like my characters, I grew up in a Caribbean culture where magic was part of my day-to-day life. I was raised in a family of mediums, understanding that both malevolent and benevolent spirits exist. I knew to put a jet stone on my hem for protection from the evil eye, and that a glass of water placed on a high shelf by my bed would appease the spirits. I passed these practices and superstitions onto my children, and onto my Cuban American characters as well. They wouldn’t feel authentic otherwise. When building a fictional world, perhaps infused with your own culture, I believe it’s important to enrich the world with the long-standing traditions and cultural fears passed down through superstitions and beliefs.

Every culture has unique cautionary tales, a hope that we can control the supernatural and prevent disasters if we follow certain rules. Through a culture’s superstitions, you can reveal a lot about what that society values and fears, how they view the world around them and what teachings are passed down through generations. For example, in A Tall Dark Trouble, the twins wear their azabache necklaces for protection against danger. In Cuban culture, these jet stones are usually pinned to a baby’s clothes warding against the evil eye. Even as the twins witness a vision of a murder and are stalked by a possible killer, they find comfort in the shape of a tiny stone. This demonstrates how deeply these superstitions run in the twins’ lives. 

So how can we apply superstitions to our writing? When we’re worldbuilding, and when we’re developing a character, we often instinctually harness our own culture, fears, and biases into the story. In fiction, we have the opportunity as writers to pass on our individual and cultural experiences through a third party—our characters. For my story, I used specific Cuban-American superstitions I grew up with like the azabache necklaces, but there were other instances that I crafted superstitions specific to the fictional world I created. For example, back in Cuba, Anita doesn’t trust the birds circling near her home because she associated them with her mother’s cult. The freedom of building a your own world is that you can create new rules and superstitions. Let’s say you have a character that was born in a blistering city of ice, and is then transported to an adventure on a tropical island. This character should have fears and superstitions that apply to them from their ice world (like don’t walk on unknown frozen surfaces) that’ll travel with them to this new world despite their changed circumstances. Adding these details about a character’s past builds a level of realism that readers can intrinsically connect with because we all grew up with our own beliefs that were a product of our parents, our culture, and our surroundings.

The fun part is that you can not only create new rules, new cautionary tales, new superstitions for your characters, but you can also imagine dramatic consequences for breaking them. What makes a plot point so juicy is when a character pushes against their ingrained fears and goes off the expected path. Our characters are meant to break the rules, ignore the superstitions and caution drilled into them, and go after what they truly want. In A Tall Dark Trouble, my characters Delfi and Ofelia were born to fear their own inherent gifts because magic had only ever caused their family heartache thanks to a curse from a powerful Cuban bruja that targets the ones they fall in love with. As the twins work towards solving a murder and stopping murderous brujos, they’re also on a path of self-discovery where they need to continuously challenge their fears, embrace their own magic, and learn what it is to love freely.

Ultimately, superstitions are woven into our cultural and societal DNA, so they should be reflected in our stories as well. Superstitions can be a point of connection for readers as they recognize the universal fears and hopes that these beliefs represent, but not every reader will be able to relate. We may find similarities and a sense of connection with how others view the world, but the way our superstitions and beliefs shape us as people, and how we shape our characters is a wholly unique experience that’s culturally specific. There will be readers that can’t relate to your character’s irrational fears, or customs, or superstitions, and that’s okay. All we can hope for is to write authentically and acknowledge our truths even when they’re steeped in the “fictional” supernatural.

Meet the author

Fueled by the magic of espresso, Miami-born Vanessa Montalban channels her wanderlust for far-off worlds into writing speculative fiction for teens. She’s a first-gen graduate from the University of Central Florida where she received her Bachelor’s in Creative Writing with summa cum laude honors. 

About A Tall Dark Trouble

Practical Magic meets Erika L. Sanchez in this dazzling YA fantasy about a Cuban American family of brujas who get entangled in love, magic, and murder, alternating between 1980s Cuba and present-day Miami. 

Twin sisters Ofelia and Delfi know better than to get involved with magic. Their Mami has seen to that. After all, it was magic that cursed their family, turning love into a poison. Romance is off the table for the Sanchez women. They’ve seen the curse take hold enough times to know how that road ends. And yet. Sometimes a girl catches feelings and just can’t help herself. 

When Ofelia and Delfi begin having premonitions of a series of murders, the sisters know it is time to embrace their magical inheritance to get to the bottom of the mystery and save innocent lives. Teaming up with their best friend Ethan and with brooding detective-in-training Andres, the sisters set out to learn the truth. They just need to make sure Mami doesn’t find out what they’re up to.

Meanwhile, in 1980 Cuba, Anita struggles with a different magical conflict. Her mother, Mama Orti, is a bruja who belongs to a secret coven of elders and Anita knows she will be forced to join the coven herself one day. She sees no escape, though the thought of staying and letting this future claim her is terrifying. Ofelia, Delfi, and Anita’s stories collide as each woman steps into her power and embraces who she truly is, refusing to be subdued by any person, coven, or curse.

In this stunning YA contemporary fantasy, debut author Vanessa Montalban explores the interlocking struggles of three generations of women in one family. An unputdownable debut for anyone who roots for magic, sisterhood, and love. 

ISBN-13: 9781638930129
Publisher: Zando
Publication date: 08/29/2023
Age Range: 14 – 17 Years

Filed under: Guest Post