Cynthia Gómez: Love Your Work
In this interview, author Cynthia Gómez discusses the symmetry from having the initial idea to the publication of her new horror novel, Muñeca.
Cynthia Gómez is the author of the story collection The Nightmare Box and Other Stories, and a Tin House and VONA alumn whose short fiction has published in Fantasy Magazine, Strange Horizons, Pseudopod, Nightmare Magazine, and numerous anthologies. She lives in Oakland. Follow her on Bluesky.
In this interview, Cynthia discusses the symmetry from having the initial idea to the publication of her new horror novel, Muñeca, her hope for readers, and more.
Name: Cynthia Gómez
Literary agent: Lauren Bajek
Book title: Muñeca
Publisher: Penguin Random House/G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Release date: June 2, 2026
Genre/category: Horror
Previous titles: The Nightmare Box and Other Stories (Cursed Morsels Press, 2024)
Elevator pitch: A vivid, surreal Gothic about a queer, Latine, working class witch who sets out to rescue a bespelled heiress and loses control of her powers and her heart in the process.
What prompted you to write this book?
I started with the image of a woman trapped in her body through dark magic, completely unable to move or communicate. And then I wrestled with what it would take to try and break the spell and set her free, and what kinds of sacrifices might need to be made in the hopes of freeing her, and the incredible risk that this could involve. I realized that I had a sort of fairy tale story and a Gothic story on my hands. This was thrilling because I love the Gothic, and here I had a chance to create the kind of protagonist I never saw in Gothic stories growing up.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
There’s a lovely symmetry here: I started thinking about this in earnest during Stoker Con in June 2023, and it will be published in June 2026—two days before Stoker Con.
The idea didn’t change much at all: I always knew it was going to be about Violeta, a young woman trapped in her body by a mysterious spell, and the other young woman who comes in with the goal of setting her free, and the connection that flourishes between them. (I also knew Violeta’s name right away; if you’ve watched Bound, which you absolutely should, you’ll know why.) I always knew it was going to be about misogyny and class and the hideous morality of the landed gentry, and I always knew the ending.
One big change, though, was that it ended up being much more about parent-child relationships and generational trauma than I ever thought. Which shouldn’t have surprised me, I guess—it’s a Gothic book, after all. And while the answer to the question, “Who cursed Violeta, and why?” never changed, the most prominent antagonist is not the one that I originally envisioned. And that’s all I’ll say about that, so as not to spoil anything for you.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
I already knew how thorough copy editors are, but I was still supremely impressed by how much time and effort goes into all phases of producing this book, not just developmental edits but copy edits as well. They checked so many things, like how spiders breathe and what the track listings were for albums I referenced and the exact wording of a quote from The Lord of the Rings. And they found so many little bits in my writing itself that I was able to fix to make the book better. We love copy editors in this house.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Sequences that I thought would be difficult were actually quite easy (the intro, for example) and others were much harder than I thought they’d be. I had one sequence involving a ladies’ luncheon that gave me so much trouble I seriously considered dropping it. I’m so glad I didn’t, because it involved a scenario I’ve wanted to play with since I started writing: What if we could psychically connect to the human misery that was involved in making nearly everything around us? Could we even handle what we heard, or what we felt?
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
Oh wow… this is hard to answer because it’s going to be so different for every reader. But I think my biggest hope is that the story feels compelling and gripping. That’s what I love most about reading, and it’s what I hope happens to anyone who picks up Muñeca.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Love your work. When you love a sentence, a paragraph, a plot point, a character, a line of dialogue, tell yourself why it works and how you’re going to do that again. You should look over what you just wrote and say, “Damn, that’s good.” And try saying that out loud. Do you worry that that’s going to make you egotistical? First of all, it won’t. And second of all, that is also how you show love to your readers. Because when your work really sings for you, makes you choke up or cackle with joy or really think about something in a new way or any of the other million reasons why we read stories… then it’s also going to do the same for your ideal reader.
