José Antonio Cotrina

José Antonio Cotrina (born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, July 8, 1972) is a Spanish writer, focused mainly on the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. He is best known for his novels set in the Between the Lines Universe and for his trilogy, The Cycle of the Red Moon.

Biography José Antonio Cotrina graduated with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations, but quickly found a passion for fantasy writing, in all its variations. He started publishing his works in the early 1990s, mostly short stories, and then wrote the novel The Lost Sources in 2003. This was the first of his novels set in the Between the Lines Universe. Since then, he oriented his writing toward young adult literature, with books such as The House on the Black Hill, the trilogy The Cycle of the Red Moon, The Secret Song of the World, and The End of Dreams (written with Gabriella Campbell.) He received various awards, such as the UPC Short Novel Award for Out of Phase, the Alberto Magno Fantasy Award, which he won on various occasions., and the Kelvin Award for Best Young Adult Fantasy Novel for The Gates to Infinity, written with Victor Conde.

His stories are characterized by a mixture of different genres, mostly fantasy and horror, which makes him a premier example of the Spanish dark fantasy writer. His most known books are the Between the Lines Universe novels, in which a secret and magical world, hidden to most people, co-exists with our real, ordinary world; and his trilogy of novels known as The Cycle of the Red Moon, about a group of teenagers seduced by a demigod of a kingdom called Rocavarancolia, who leads them through a magical portal. Once there, the chosen twelve discover a terrifying truth: they must survive on this horrifying and devastated world until the Red Moon comes out again.

The main characteristics of Cotrina's books are his unusual settings, the surprising plot twists, the depth of the characters, and a taste for the dark and macabre.

His most recent novel is Fractal (2020).

His work has been translated into English, Polish, Czech, Italian and Chinese.

In September 2020, The Harvest of Samhein, the first volume of his trilogy The Red Moon Cycle, was published in the United States of America and in Canada, both in English and Spanish. The second and third volumes will follow shortly.

Together with Gabriella Campbell, he writes and coordinates a bi-weekly newsletter called “The Strange and the Amazing,” where they both review the latest news related to Fantasy writing.