>> YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT ELSE IS IN THE STATE BUDGET ON OUR WEBSITE.

>>> CHICAGO PROVIDES THE DARK SETTING FOR AN MOSH TO HORROR FILMS AND HISTORY AND A NEW NOVEL BY CYNTHIA PELAYO.

IN THE SHOEMAKER'S MAGICIAN, SHE BLENDS FILM HISTORY AND CHICAGO HISTORY INTO HER GENRE CROSSING JOURNEY INTO THE OCCULT THAT BEGINS WITH THE DISCOVERY OF A GRUESOME MURDER IN A DOWNTOWN THEATER.

SHE JOINS US NOW, THAT SOUNDS VERY SCARY.

YOUR NEW BOOK IS CALLED THE SHOEMAKER'S MAGICIAN.

GIVE US A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THIS ON WITHOUT GIVING AWAY TOO MUCH.

>> THE SHOEMAKER'S MAGICIAN FOLLOWS A SEBASTIAN RAMOS, WHO IS A HOMICIDE DETECTIVE, HE DISCOVERS A BODY ON STAGE AT THE CHICAGO THEATER ONE NIGHT WITH A POSTER OF AN OLD 1920s FILM AFFIXED TO THE BODY.

HIS WIFE IS A HORROR HOST ON YOUTUBE AND SHE IS AN EXPERT ON ALL THINGS HORROR.

BOTH OF THEM WORK TOGETHER TO SOLVE INCREASING BODY BODIES BEING FOUND THROUGHOUT VARIOUS HISTORIC CHICAGO THEATERS.

>> THIS BOOK OFFERS PERSPECTIVE FROM SEVERAL CHARACTERS, BUT AS YOU MENTIONED, ONE OF THE CENTRAL CHARACTERS, THE CENTRAL CHARACTER, IS PALOMA.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT PALOMA?

>> PALOMA IS OBSESSED AND IN LOVE WITH ALL THINGS HORROR FILM, ALL THINGS CHICAGO.

SHE IS A HORROR HOST, SHE WORKS FROM HOME AND SHE IS COMPLETELY DRAWN TO THE CITY AND THE MAGIC THAT THE CITY HAS TO OFFER AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO HER AND THAT HAS BEEN CENTRAL TO HER LIFE IS THE COMFORT THAT HORROR MOVIES HAVE GIVEN HER.

>> THE COMFORT THAT HORROR MOVIES HAVE GIVEN HER BUT ALSO THE COMFORT THAT THE CITY OF CHICAGO GIVES HER, BECAUSE CHICAGO IS VERY MUCH A CHARACTER IN YOUR BOOK.

HOW IS IT A CHARACTER?

WHAT ROLE DOES THE CITY PLAY?

>> CHICAGO IS CENTRAL TO ALL OF MY WORK AND I FEEL LIKE CHICAGO IS A BEAUTIFUL MIX OF LIGHT AND DARK AND ESPECIALLY IN THE "THE SHOEMAKER'S MAGICIAN."

A LOT OF PEOPLE DO NOT REALIZE THAT CHICAGO WAS HOLLYWOOD BEFORE THERE WAS HOLLYWOOD.

CHICAGO WAS THE SILENT FILM CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

CHARLIE CHAPLIN MARTER, HE FILMS NUMEROUS MOVIES HERE.

SO, CHICAGO TAKES CENTER STAGE, AGAIN, AS WE LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE SILENT FILM ERA IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO AND WE LEARN ABOUT THESE WONDERFUL THEATERS, THE LOGAN THEATER, THE CHICAGO THEATER, THE UPTOWN WHICH IS A BEAUTIFUL THEATER THAT HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR MANY YEARS.

IT FEATURES PROMINENTLY.

ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL THINGS.

>> YOU WERE BORN IN PUERTO RICO BUT YOU WERE RAISED IN CHICAGO.

YOU CAME TO CHICAGO WHEN YOU'RE TWO YEARS OLD, USED TO LIVED IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD YOU DID WHEN YOU WERE A GIRL.

IT IS WEST OF LOGAN SQUARE.

WHY DO YOU STILL LIVE THERE?

>> CHICAGO IS HOME.

I HAVE BEEN TO 20 COUNTRIES, I HAVE VISITED EVERY SINGLE STATE IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THERE IS SOMETHING THAT IS MAGICAL ABOUT THE CITY.

AND, I RECENTLY LOST MY FATHER.

HE CAME TO CHICAGO IN THE 1960s AND RODRIGUEZ LOVED THE CITY AND HE TAUGHT ME TO LOVE CHICAGO AS WELL.

I FEEL THE MAGIC HERE.

I LIVE A FEW BLOCKS AWAY FROM WALT DISNEY, FROM WHERE WALT DISNEY WAS BORN.

FRANK BAUM WROTE PARTS OF THE WONDERFUL WORDS OF NEVADA'S IN HUMBLED PARK WHEN MY FATHER WOULD TAKE ME.

THIS IS HOME.

I THINK IT IS ABSOLUTELY MAGICAL PLACE TO LIVE.

>> YOU MENTIONED YOUR FATHER, YOUR FATHER WOULD READ TO YOU WHEN YOU WERE A KID.

WHAT IMPACT DID THAT HAVE ON YOU?

>> MY FATHER READ ME FAIRYTALES IN PARTICULAR AND HE WOULD RECITE FAIRYTALES THAT HE REMEMBERED FROM WHEN HE WAS A YOUNG BOY AND THAT IS WHAT IS INCORPORATED INTO ALL OF MY FICTION TODAY.

I WRITE GENRE BLENDING FAIRYTALES BREAK THE SHOEMAKER'S MAGICIAN IS A FABLE , BOOK 1 IS A SERIES.

THE CHILDREN CHICAGO IS AN ADAPTATION OF THE PIED PIPER FAIRYTALE.

YOU CAN READ THEM AS A STAND ALONE BUT ALL OF THEM ARE FAIRYTALES ADAPTATIONS.

>> HOW DO YOU DEFINE HORROR?

WHAT IS HORROR?

>> WHAT IS HORROR?

I THINK FEAR IS A CENTRAL EMOTION THAT WE ALL EXPERIENCE AND HORROR IS THE UNKNOWN.

IT IS SOMETHING THAT SCARES US.

IT IS SOMETHING WE ARE ALSO TRYING TO PROCESS THESE AWFUL, SCARY THINGS.

SO FOR ME, HORROR IS THE UNKNOWN AND THESE THINGS THAT ARE THREATENING US.

AND, LIVING IN THE SHADOWS.

>> MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT YOU DRAW ON -- HOW HAVE YOU DONE ON EXPERIENCES IN YOUR OWN LIFE THAT MAKE THEIR WAY INTO YOUR BOOKS?

LAST QUESTION.

>> SURE, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE BOOK, "THE SHOEMAKER'S MAGICIAN.".

I AM THE MOTHER OF TWO CHILDREN'S ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM.

PALOMA LOVES ALL THINGS CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR, SO THOSE HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED INTO "THE SHOEMAKER'S MAGICIAN" AS WELL.

THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL BOOK IN A WAY.

PALOMA HAS MANY ELEMENTS OF WHO I AM.

WELL SHE IS NOT A WRITER, SHE IS STILL A CREATOR.

BEING A CREATIVE SOMETIMES, YOU ARE VERY ISOLATED.

HORROR WRITER, WE ARE VERY ISOLATED AS WELL BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO TAP INTO ELEMENTS AND PLACES OF OUR MIND IN ORDER TO CREATE.

>> YOUR CREATIONS HAVE BEEN MET WITH A LOT OF CRITICAL ACCLAIM, YOU ARE CLEARLY ON THE ASCENDANCY.

THANK YOU FOR SPENDING TIME