Writing works of Upmarket Fiction on themes of Mexican Culture & Magical Realism
OFRENDA
Completed Manuscript:
OFRENDA (96,000 words) is book club fiction. As the Day of the Dead approaches, only in a final encounter with the most terrifying of evil spirits does Alicia understand how the lessons from her Mexican migrant father’s journey can help her stand up for what—and who—she truly wants.
It combines the paranormal mystery solved across generations of Emilia Hart’s WEYWARD with the sensuality and culture-infused magical realism of Isabel Cañas’ novels.
Seeking representation 2026.
Contact: js@jessicasanchezwrites.com
Co-Author Bios
Armando Sanchez
Armando is a businessman and writer based in Edmonton, Alberta, who migrated from his birthplace of Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. He specializes in international business development and soccer training at an elite and semi-pro level. He is an avid teller of ghost stories and of tales of growing up in central Mexico.
Jessica Wegmann-Sanchez
Jessica is a writer and business person based in Edmonton, Alberta, originally from Boston, MA, U.S.A. She has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, taught university-level literature and composition for twenty years, and has published academic articles in critical race theory. In 2022, she transitioned to studying creative writing and has since had one story longlisted for the 2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize and another for the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize.
Longlisted for 2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize ( Click Here )
Longlisted for 2025 CBC Short Story Prize ( Click Here )
Next Project
Our next novel in progress tells the story of Pedro Vásquez, who leaves Mexico in search of money to send home after his father is injured at work and the family unable to pay their mortgage or treatment for his sister’s life-threatening cancer. Pedro works evenings under the radar at a Chicago restaurant and night shifts at a plastic cup factory, and he connects with a community of undocumented migrants, each with their own hard-luck border-crossing story. Pedro finds a home in Chicago’s vibrant and magical La Villita (Little Village), known as the cultural Mexico of the Midwest. But then he recognizes Gerald Goodman—a right-wing American pundit whose rants against illegal immigrants as criminals are putting the community at risk—as the gangster he accidentally overheard at the border orchestrating illegal drug operations. Pedro must decide how much he is willing to risk to do the right thing. And what is the right thing when you’re pitting the well being of your family against that of your friends and of helping to convict a vile criminal?
Photo credit: Author Vlad Litvinov, Callejón del Beso (The Alley of the Kiss), Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. September 1 2006. ( Details: Click Here )
Our Mission
Armando and Jessica have partnered in a number of business ventures, including projects of social entrepreneurism. In the early 2000s, we brought more than five hundred economically disadvantaged Mexicans to Canada legally as temporary foreign workers for Alberta companies, including many of our own family members. Their stories also inspired OFRENDA and our next novel about undocumented migrants in the U.S.
Photo credit: Coppyright Cecilia Sanchez-Wegmann. LUCK IS AT YOUR FEET. Acrylic on Canvas. 2023.