No one knows what  “El Cucuy” looks like.

What we do know is that El Cucuy is some sort of a gobbling goblin with an appetite for children who fail to obey authority. This goblin, ghost, monster, or whatever he may be, will eat you if you don’t listen to your parents.

I remember the first time I was issued a warning about El Cucuy. During a sleepover at a cousin’s house, decades ago, my cousin told me that I better get to sleep. If I didn’t, El Cucuy was going to get us. What was this El Cucuy? My cousin said it was a monster his mom told him about. He didn’t know what it looked like, but he did relay that it had big razor sharp teeth and liked to eat misbehaving children. Misbehaving, in our case, would be to not go to sleep as instructed by his mom.

The fright in his eyes relayed a certain urgency that made the story believable. The story was so believable that I was too scared to sleep. However, I did outsmart El Cucuy by faking that I was asleep until I finally passed out. From that day forward, I did go to sleep when I was told.

I was one of the many countless Mexican-American children frightened into obeying authority, due to the fear of this monster. At least the Tooth Fairy offered some sort of monetary reward if you went to sleep. Santa Claus would bring gifts, but only if you slumbered.

Not El Cucuy, he meant business. The only reward you would get would be the gift of life. Fair enough.

Around the time that I realized that there was no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy (around 7 years old), I also realized that there was no El Cucuy. El Cucuy is an effective threat, which has been used as a last resort by frustrated parents for many centuries. El Cucuy (known in different regions as Coco  Cuco, Coca, or Cuca) is the equivalent to the bogeyman. The bogeyman is thought to have originated in Scotland.

No matter where you come from, there’s some variant of this monster. Belgium’s version of the bogeyman is Oude Rode Ogen (Old Red Eyes). In Iceland, Grýla takes the form of a female troll who performs the same disciplinary function as all the others.

El Cucuy did his job during my formative years and did get me on a regular sleep cycle. For that, I am grateful to this horrid mythical creature.

This threat is still utilized by parents today, even if they won’t openly admit to it. At a recent outing to a movie, I passed by a small child who had just noticed a scary movie poster. His eyes became as wide as saucers. Pointing to the poster, he gasped two words to his friend: El Cucuy!

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Paranormal romance genre newcomer Stacey Kennedy enjoys interacting on a daily basis with a fan base of over 2,500 people on Facebook. Not bad for an author whose paranormal romance work has not yet been unleashed to the masses. It will be interesting to see how much that fan base will increase when her debut novel is released in July.

The Willow, Book 1 (Liquid Silver Books) is the first installment in Kennedy’s Magical Sword Series. The tagline for for The Willow reads: “A past of secrets, a life broken by death — awakens to a world of promise and love, but lurking danger threatens to destroy it all.”

The novel’s heroine Nexi comes from a mixed heritage: part witch, part guardian. The prominent males in the story are Kyden the guardian and Lazarus the vampire. For more on the synopsis, visit Kennedy’s website.

For those of us who had trouble keeping up with Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, it’s a little daunting to know that the Magical Sword Series is not the only series Kennedy currently has in the works. She has already penned installments for other serial sagas: The Watchers Series, The Blue Bloods Series, Special Agent Fang Series and The Lingering Soul Series.

Kennedy is serious about paranormal romance.

Some of her other completed works have been accepted by publishers and will be released in the coming months.

Kennedy was first introduced to paranormal romance through the Twilight saga. She immersed herself in the series, but found that she was not fulfilled. She shared, “I loved the series, but I needed more — something a little more adult in nature.”

Adult in nature is what Kennedy writes on a daily basis. No doubt about that. She releases steamy teasers via her Facebook newsfeed that might make you blush.

Stacey Kennedy, Author

Kennedy’s home life is simply normal. She lives in Kitchener, Ontario, where she enjoys a full time schedule filled with the duties of a wife and mother. However, that’s only on the surface. Her fans may question if Kennedy herself possesses paranormal powers, wondering if she ever sleeps. She continuously promotes her work via her website and blog. She interacts with fans by releasing an endless stream of of teasers and status updates via Facebook. She holds contests for fans to name her next book character. She is working on five paranormal romance sagas simultaneously. Whatever she does, she appears to do it with lightning-fast speed. She writes and she reads novels by other authors (also seemingly simultaneously).

Many authors inspire Kennedy’s imagination. She states, “The authors I will read no matter what they write include, Jeanine Frost, Charlene Harris, Keri Arthur and Katie MacAlister. I love books that are told from the woman’s perspective and I love danger. All these authors provide just that in the pages of their splendid novels.”

When asked how she sees her life changing if her novels transform into bestsellers, Kennedy responded, “I’m not sure it will change at all. I will still be a wife, a mom, who spends her days watching her children grow…and when time allows it, gets lost in new characters and their exciting lives.”

Kennedy has advice for aspiring authors who have not yet been published: “Believe in your work. If you have a story to tell then tell it. Stay true to your ideas and let the creative juices flow.”

With teasers like those that Stacey Kennedy issues via her news feed, it may inspire others to do just that.