Meet The FicStack Team: Melina Chapa

Moderator turned Curator!

Who I am

I’m Melina—a Mexican psychologist trying to make sense of life through words and other worlds—a godin by day, a reader and writer by night.

Living in the north of my country, I’ve always been influenced by Mexican and American culture, which is why I try to find stories that show both.

Since a very young age, stories have always been my way of understanding what it means to be human. Through fiction, I explore emotions we often struggle to name—and, at the same time, learn to cope with them. Reading and writing are tools for reflection, healing, and transformation.

What I Love to Read

I’m drawn to stories that break me apart and put me back together—although never quite the same.

I read widely across genres, but I usually gravitate towards fantasy, horror, dystopian fiction, and romance. It’s within speculative fiction that I find haunting stories that resemble the reality I live in.

The books that linger, even years after reading them, are the ones that captivate me. Stories that invite analysis, reflection, and sometimes even release. The kind that makes you feel uncomfortable through the questions silently in our minds, opening new emotional doors and allowing both thinking and healing.

A Few Recommendations

One author with the superpower of turning real-life situations into haunting stories is Shirley Jackson. Her novel ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ is a quiet, unsettling exploration of isolation, family, and the ways society turns fear into violence. Through an unreliable but compelling narrator, the story blurs the line between protection and imprisonment, innocence and cruelty. The perfect read to question ourselves about the lengths we would go for our loved ones.

For a very different emotional setting, I also recommend ‘Divine Rivals’ by Rebecca Ross. In this story, born within a raging war between Gods, the reader will find romance, grief, and hope through letters exchanged by two rivals. This book opens the door to the unknown and shows how we always find what we need in very unexpected places—or persons—if we allow ourselves to.

What I’ll Be Curating

I look for stories with meaning—sometimes explicit, often hidden between the lines.

I’m especially drawn to dark narratives that invite introspection and discomfort, stories that make the reader question their world and existence, balanced by cozy and romantic ‘cleanser palettes’ that provide relief and comfort.

Another self-mission is to find more Latin authors who can expand our cultural knowledge through their stories, fostering a sense of community and shared cultural appreciation among readers and curators alike.

---