Many grew up with stories of La Llorona and other folklore. Those tales have been a part of border life for decades.

One Rio Grande Valley native has been writing and publishing stories about the region for years, hoping people get to read about the rich culture of South Texas.

"My whole life, my father, my grandfather, my grandmother, they were storytellers, and I tell people growing up, we heard all these cuentos," author Xavier Garza said.

Garza was born in McAllen and raised in Rio Grande City. He talks about the beautiful culture of the Valley and the many cuentos, or stories, we were told as kids, especially living along the border.

"I wanted my stories to first be authentic, because I tell people if you grew up in el Valle, you know when someone is talking about the Valley and they know what they're saying. Like, I tell people there are things in el Valle that are unique to el Valle," Garza said.

Garza's first book, Creepy Creatures and Other Cucuys, was published in 2004.

The book is a collection of scary stories with influences of the Valley and some of the stories we've heard about in the past.

"It took me almost 10 years to get my first book published, and I tell people I was trying to get published for a long time," Garza said. "I always loved the story telling and I always loved to write, and I said, 'I'm going to try and combine it all — my writing, with my storytelling together with my art.'"

Garza has also published several children's books throughout his years. Some of them include Lucha Libre: The Man In The Silver Mask, Charro Clause and the Tejas Kid, among many others.

"Anybody can write a book, and the reason why we can all write books es porque todos tenemos cuentos. We all have stories, we all have things that happened to us or somebody that we know."

He talked about accomplished authors who come from the Valley, such as Gloria Anzaldua and David Bowles, just to name a few.

"The Valley has a rich history of literature; the first Latino scholar, Americo Paredes, is from Brownsville," Garza said. "To me, it just shows the Valley has literature, the Valley has talent, and other things, our culture we take for granted and other people read it and they're fascinated by it."

While Garza now lives in San Antonio, he says, the Valley will always be home, and visits often.

"I moved to San Antonio because, logistically, I had to go to the big cities," Garza said. "But you never leave the Valley; the Valley stays with you. Como dice, we all drink water from the same well and it stays with you."

Garza added that no matter your career or profession, never forget where you came from.

Xavier Garza is made in the 956.

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