Xequina is a storyteller, writer, artist and school librarian. Most recently, she is the author of The Mermaid Girl, a work of juvenile fiction published in 2016. The inspiration for The Mermaid Girl came from the very first dream she had about a mermaid when she was five years old. Xequina is also a cartoonist, and draws and paints mermaids as well as many other magical and spiritual themes. She authored a column on Mexican spirituality, “La Post Modern Curandera,” for The New Mission News in San Francisco. She is currently working on another children’s book, The Witch Tree, set in northern California. Xequina has degrees in Literature, Art, and Women’s Spirituality. She lives in Oakland, California with her partner and their two bad cats.