 Today we celebrate the book birthday of THE WRATH OF THE RAIN GOD, the first book in the Legendarios Chapter Book series by Karla Arenas Valenti, illustrated by Vanessa Morales. We sat down with Musa Karla Arenas Valenti to learn more about the inspiration behind this series. Legendarios is an action-packed chapter book series inspired by Mexican mythology that follows twins, Emma and Martín, whose magical book of legends transports them to incredible places! It's a little bit of Magic Tree House meets Heroes in Training, with a very Mexican twist. In the first book, Emma and Martín are swept into a legend where they encounter Tlaloc, the god of rain. Tlaloc is wrathful because his lightning bolt has been stolen, and his rage is manifesting as a torrential downpour over the ancient city of Texcoco. The rain won’t stop until the lightning bolt has been returned, so Emma and Martín (and a new friend, Nelli) set out to recover it and save Nelli's village. Intrigued? Read more below... Where did you get the idea to write this particular series? I was living in Germany at the time and my parents had given me an old (very old!) book of Mexican legends. Even though the legends told of a time long gone, they still made me feel very connected to my home; they transported me back to Mexico through the stories. That was the seed of this storyline: a book of legends that transports the readers, though in this case, they get transported into the legends. In fact, that's what the word "Legendarios" refers to - legend-travels - and Emma and Martín are the last in a long line of descendants who have been traveling through those pages for generations. But, there's a twist! The twins can't just jump in and out of any adventure. First, the legend has to invite them into the story. Which means, they can only enter legends that have been "unlocked." Second, once inside a legend, it's not so easy to get out.... [insert dramatic drum roll] Throughout the series, Emma and Martín will journey into the tales of the rain god Tlaloc, the giant deity Ōmeteōtl, the child-king Ollin, and the princess Hapunda. Amid the exciting adventures, tense suspenseful moments, and tricky challenges to be solved by the twins, readers will also get to be immersed in some really great Mexican mythology and lore. What is the most important lesson you have learned as a writer until now? Don't give up on projects you love! The first book in this series is coming out in 2024, but I wrote the first draft in 2016. I ended up writing and publishing many other books before this series was accepted. Not only is that pretty common (i.e., the order in which you write your books is not necessarily the order in which they get acquired or published) but it also shows that sometimes we just have to wait for the right time or the right agent or the right editor to come along. The industry is in constant flux and readers' appetites are always changing. As long as you keep writing and writing, your work will always be available when the right opportunity comes along. That way, when someone asks, "do you have a chapter book series that we might be interested in seeing?" you can say, "funny you should ask..." What comes next for you as an author? This is a really big year for me with FIVE books coming out in 2024:
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