By Charli Engelhorn Kali White VanBaale is the author of the novels The Space Between, The Good Divide, and The Monsters We Make, but at The Coachella Review she is also known as the author of the short story “Monkey Mountain,” published here in 2019. That story features in her debut story collection, Release of Information and Other Linked Stories, in…
By Kevin T. Morales Fantasy is a cooperative challenge. It requires of both author and reader equally strong imagination. In Megan Jauregui Eccles’s debut novel, Sing the Night, magic is invoked by singing, and an intense competition to be the King’s mage takes place in L’Opera du Magician. There’s an inherent challenge in describing music in prose. As The Lovin’…
By Sophie Ann Hinkson Some authors have a magnetic pull—you keep returning to them, as if by fate. Megan Milks is one such writer, first gaining attention with the body-horror short story “Slug,” from their eponymous collection. Milks is also the author of the novel Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body and the recently released Mega Milk, all published by Feminist Press. Their books explore…
By Jessica Ribera For decades, Rider Strong has been known for his role as Shawn Hunter on the TV series Boy Meets World, and the podcast he makes with his co-star friends, Pod Meets World, is one of the most popular in America. But Strong has always been more than just “that guy from TV.” His new fiction podcast, The…
By Angelo A. Williams Toni Ann Johnson is a writer The Coachella Review has championed since we published her short story “Daughtered Out” and nominated it for a Pushcart Prize. An award-winning television and film writer and the author of the Flannery O’Connor Prize–winning collection Light Skin Gone to Waste, Johnson has built a career exploring Black family life with…
By Dave Oei T.R. Moore is the debut author of The Gods Must Burn, a dark fantasy novel inspired by Korean myth. The story centers on Basuin, a disgraced war hero-turned-reluctant conqueror plagued with panic attacks and survivor’s guilt. Basuin wishes to follow his dead comrades to the heavenly Winter River instead of hell, known as the Blacksalt Sea, where…
By Geordie Stock Tim O’Leary’s work is a family affair: he and his husband, Robert Rice, have worked together to put their unique, modern stamp on episodic stories. The duo’s production company, Murder and Gay Stuff, has created streaming shows such as Demonhuntr (now on Amazon Prime and YouTube channel Here TV) and their latest effort, Laid Bare, which is…
Interviewed by Julie Colbrese With previous novels, award-winning author Jake Hinkson found success exploring the dark side of his home state of Arkansas—a far cry from the seedy Los Angeles depicted in the Raymond Chandler books he read in his youth. But with his eighth book, You Will Never See Me, Hinkson takes readers on another twisted tale of crime…
By C.E. McKenna Los Angeles writer Kate Maruyama has been widely published in the horror genre, including a supernatural piece TCR recommended for a Pushcart Prize. But her most recent book, Alterations, is more appropriately shelved next to intergenerational dramas like Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Jung Chang’s Wild Swans. It follows three women in the Morello family—Adriana, Lizzie, and…