Marta Acosta is an American author of young adult, urban fantasy, and chick-lit fiction, known for her ''Casa Dracula'' series and for her 2013 book ''The She-Hulk Diaries''. Acosta has also written under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

of Grace Coopersmith for her 2010 book ''Nancy's Theory of Style'', which is based on a supporting character from her ''Casa Dracula'' series.

Background

Acosta has written for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' and ''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East ...

'' as a freelancer and attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. She met with some difficulty when trying to publish her work, as some publishers wanted her to write more in the

magical realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical rea ...

genre popularized by Isabelle Allende, and of comparisons to other Latino or Latina writers, Acosta has stated that "All these Latino writers come from a different background ... No matter what they write, it's going to get compared to Gabriel Marquez. But they're not comparing all Irish-Americans to

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

." In 2006 Acosta's ''Happy Hour at Casa Dracula'' was named one of ''Catalina'' magazine's "Top 5 Books by Latina Authors" for that year due to its characters and writing. In 2010 Acosta chose to publish her young adult novel ''The Shadow Girl Of Birch Grove'' for free online via ''

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''. Acosta and her agent had previously sent the work out to various publishers, who had not shown any true interest in the work. After the work was published online the book became the top ranked YA book on the site and Acosta received a book deal through

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

Awards

*''Top 5 Books by Latina Authors'' by ''Catalina'' magazine (2006, won for ''Happy Hour at Casa Dracula'') *''RT Reviewers' Choice Award'' for ''The Bride of Casa Dracula'' (2008, nominated) *''RT Reviewers' Choice Award'' for ''Haunted Honeymoon'' (2010, nominated)

Bibliography

Casa Dracula

#''Happy Hour at Casa Dracula'' (2006) #''Midnight Brunch'' (2007) #''The Bride of Casa Dracula'' (2008) #''Haunted Honeymoon'' (2010)

Young adult works

*''The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove'' (2010) *''Dark Companion'' (2012)

Other works

*''Nancy's Theory of Style'' (2010, as Grace Coopersmith) *''Wolfish in Sheep's Clothing'' (2011) *''The She-Hulk Diaries'' (2013) *''Make It Catchy: The Quintessential Guide to Writing Query Letters'' (2013) *''Girls Are Gone'' (2014)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Acosta, Marta 21st-century American novelists Hispanic and Latino American novelists Stanford University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women novelists American women science fiction and fantasy writers American women romantic fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American women writers of young adult literature American writers of young adult literature