Mosqueda publishes, releases first novel

By DAVID LOPEZ
Special to the NEWS

San Benito native and writer, Andrea Mosqueda recently published her first full-length novel entitled, “Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster,” which hit shelves this past Tuesday.

On the same night, Mosqueda had a book reading at Books of Wonder in New York City, where she currently resides.

The young adult novel follows 17-year-old Maggie, a high school junior in San Benito, who grapples with her romantic feelings for three different friends while deciding which one of them to take to her sister’s quinceñera.

“I wrote this story because I wanted to read it,” Mosqueda said. “I was trying to see if anyone had written about being bisexual, and no one had done so the way I had wanted to, so I realized I had to write it. If you have a story that doesn’t exist yet, that’s the one you have to write.”

According to Mosqueda, the first draft was written in about three rushed weeks, and over the time span of a year and a half, she completed over seven revised versions.

“That’s why it’s important to write a story you would like because you are going to be reading it over and over. You just have to buckle up because nothing good happens quickly,” she said.

When asked how similar she is to her story’s protagonist, Mosqueda said the only similarities between her and Maggie are that she is bisexual, Chicana, and from the Valley.

“People assume it’s going to be about you and that they can learn something about you by reading it like it’s a fictionalized autobiography of your life. But I didn’t want to tell my story about the Valley; I wanted to tell a story that could empower people from the Valley and other queer kids to write stories of their own,” she said.

Mosqueda graduated from San Benito High in 2014 and went on to graduate from Yale University in 2018.

“I wanted to write this sweet slice of life about the RGV,” she said. “I wanted to show people that it’s not some dangerous place as the media would suggest but that there is a thriving community there with moments full of love and warmth and their own stories to tell.”

Want the story in its entirety? Pick up a copy of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our e-Edition by clicking HERE!