It started with a phone call. Heather Einhorn and Adam Staffaroni, the masterminds behind the entertainment creative house known as Einhorn's Epic Productions, wanted to chat. Cool, I thought. I'd known Adam and Heather for a long time – we'd worked together years before and remained friends. It'd be good to catch up, for sure.
But it was much more than that. Heather and Adam were always on the lookout to create new, diverse heroes, and they wanted to take that philosophy to the podcast platform. Would I be interested in co-creating a YA/crime fiction podcast starring a tough, smart latinx teen heroine?
I couldn't say "yes" fast enough.
As a kid, I read a lot of comics, crime novels and science fiction – from Spider-Man to Batman to Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie to Star Trek and back again. I loved mysteries and adventure stories. But as a Cuban-American kid growing up in Miami, I often wondered – where are the heroes like me?
When I created my own crime novels, starring my fictional private detective, Pete Fernandez, that was always front of mind. Getting the chance to do it again – in partnership with Heather and Adam's team, iHeart Media, and co-writer Monica Gallagher, has been nothing short of fantastic.
The end result will be in your earbuds on Oct. 29 and subsequent Mondays after that, in the form of Lethal Lit – a six-episode scripted podcast that presents listeners with a new, fictional "true crime" story, starring Tig Torres, a feisty NY teen who finds herself back in her hometown of Hollow Falls, where she must join forces with her new friends to face off against the perils of modern high school life, and a gruesome series of murders perpetrated by the Lit Killer – a serial murderer whose crimes echo stories ripped from the pages of English literature.
Lethal Lit is a suspenseful, chilling mystery that introduces listeners to a fun, engaging and memorable cast of characters on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth behind a decade-old case. You can check out the first teaser trailer below, and you can subscribe to the podcast here. Hope you enjoy.
