Q&A with Faith A. Rice-Mills, author of Identified: The Maya Price Story

It's my pleasure today to welcome Faith A. Rice Mills, author of Identified: The Maya Price Story. I reviewed Identified here. Go check it out, but first, say hi to Faith!

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Faith A. Rice-Mills is the author of Identified: The Maya Price Story and a handful of short stories. She moonlights as a Spanish teacher, but has wanted to be a writer since she wrote the poem “The Jackowhipp’s Wail” as an eight-year-old. Her writer’s spirit resides somewhere between Narnia and Mount Doom, but her physical body lives in Texas with her family. Besides writing, she loves reading (and will take recommendations!), yoga, coloring with her daughter, and watching Parks and Recreation with her husband. She dislikes snakes, the word “literally,” and teaching double object pronouns in Spanish. She is currently working on Burdened, the second book in The Maya Price Story series and is writing whatever short story she has to get out of her brain.

What or who inspired you to begin writing in first place?

I have always had stories, floating around in my brain. They come and go but, sometimes, I am able to get them down on paper. As a kid, I wrote a lot of stories and poems. I have a poem that I wrote as an eight-year-old on the way back from the doctor’s office. It’s called “The Jackowhipp’s Wail.”

I actually had the idea for Identified in 2004, but never really sat down to write it. Then, after I gave birth to my daughter in 2010, I told myself, “You better write this freaking book or you’ll never do it. I mean, you already have one kid, what’s going to happen after two? ” So, I guess you could say I’ve had always ideas for stories, but having a child (as well as the prospect of turning 30) inspired me to write Identified.

Of course, I have the most amazing family and friends in the world.  The have always believed I could write a book, have inspired me, and have been with me every step of the way. (How cheesy does that sound?  But it’s true).  

What is the most important thing that you learned on your way to publication?

I am a self-published writer, so my experience is a little different than those who are traditionally published. When you are a self-published writer, you kind of have to be a jack-of-all-trades. You have to know a little bit about not only writing, but editing, formatting books, cover art, distribution, copyright laws, public relations, marketing, etc. etc. But! The most important person for an indie author to know is a good editor. Here is an example of why you need a good editor:  my main characters,who are half-human and half-onyx, are called shifters.  If I happen to leave out the “f” in the word shifter, it sounds like the most superhuman ability they have is a talent for diarrhea. Sometimes I don’t catch stuff like that, but a good editor will.    

Who are your favorite writers/books?

Ok, so get ready for the craziest mash-up of favorite books you’ve ever seen. (I studied Spanish and Latin American literature for both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, so some of the titles/authors may be unfamiliar. But, they are amazing! Everyone should read them!)

So here’s the list: San Manuel Bueno, Mártir (Saint Manuel the Martyr) by Miguel de Unamuno, Crónica de Muerte Anunciada(Chronicle of a Death Foretold) by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Aura by Carlos Fuentes,  Pedro Páramo  by Juan Rulfo ,The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by  Judith Viorst, Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald,Holes by Louis Sachar, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, 1984 by George Orwell, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares The Handmaiden’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and, for a few non-fiction favorites, Freakonomics by Stephen Levitt, Gang Leader for a Day  by Genome by Matt Ridley, Sudir Alladi Venkatesh and Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenriech 

(I don’t even think that’s all of them.)

Can I also include Paul Simon (Simon and Garfunkel) as one of my favorite writers?   What about Wesley Shultz (The Lumineers) ? 

What are you currently working on?

I am working on the second book in The Maya Price Story series, Burdened: The Maya Price Story. I also will write short stories as they come to me. Sometimes, I write them for contests, sometimes I write them for funsies. Two of them, “Gus” and “Stay,” are on my blog writesofwoman.wordpress.org under “Short Stories.” 

If you could one of your characters' abilities, which one would it be and why? (I thought that collecting sounds was so cool!)

Oh  man, I don’t even know. I don’t think I would want the psychic powers that Selima has, or the ability to manipulate physical pain or feeling, like Paige. I could probably use the whole sense of smell thing. My husband accuses me of smelling odors that are nonexistent. I smell freaking everything. Seriously.  I wish I could make some of those odors disappear. Also, I’d really like to have Leonas’ power of speaking to animals. I really want to ask my dog Simon (named for Paul Simon) why he insists on pooping on the kitchen floor every time it rains outside.  

Spoiler alert!:  There will be other abilities revealed in Burdened: The Maya Price Story,    

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Maya Price is a typical eighteen-year-old girl without many worries. Her biggest problems include getting ready to leave her hometown for college, figuring out how to avoid her ever-so-strange stepmother and trying to muddle though her feelings for her best friend, Pete. Yet, one of her last nights in her hometown, she and Pete are in a car accident. A stranger pulls Maya from the accident, leaving Pete behind, and takes her out of this world and into another dimension. Maya soon discovers that she has been taken to a dimension called Leets by a group of people that call themselves shifters. Shifters are of mixed human and onyx blood and have various abilities. These shifters are able to travel between dimensions, control the four elements (fire, earth, wind, water) and the five senses (sight, sound, smell, touch and taste). Their leader, Victoria, informs Maya that she, too, is a shifter and that she must choose to join them or risk being sought out by their greatest enemy, a shifter named Leonas. Maya joins Victoria and her ragtag group of rebel shifters at a training camp called Level One. he is teamed up with a group of seven other shifters, including a streetsmart girl named Luz, who is especially adept at controlling fire, her twin sister Espy, and a nervous boy named Lamar, who can manipulate sound better than any other shifter. Together, Maya’s team trains for the battles that will soon be inevitable. However, Maya soon learns that her purpose is not to just move the earth or send water flying into the air. There are rumors of a hidden prophecy and that the prophecy mentions Maya by name. Supposedly, the prophecy says that Maya will one day have to choose a side and will be essential in bringing her chosen ally to power...

Book Blitz & Giveaway: The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard

The Forgotten Ones

The Danaan Trilogy

Book One

is now available exclusively on Amazon!

And until May 19 it's only 99 cents!

Allison O'Malley's plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she's been in love with for as long as she can remember.
What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison's mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn't trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother's sanity.

About Laura Howard

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.

Connect with Laura:

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YA Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Published April 6th 2010 by HarperTeen (first published August 28th 2006)
Source: Kindle purchase
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads summary: Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn't a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all.

In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future. 

All the stars in the world-and then some.

I don't think there is anything else I can say about this book that you haven't heard already, nor do I think that the beauty of this book can be captured in words. Jellicoe Road tore me apart and then reassembled the pieces of my heart in the same way The Perks of Being A Wallflower did (and which I haven't reviewed for the same reasons why I find it hard to review Jellicoe Road).

You also probably know that you cannot judge this book by the first 135 pages. I admit that I had no clue what was going on, but the writing itself kept me glued to it. The first half gives you the unparalleled pleasure of discovery, of getting to know a world filled with adventures. You get to know Jellicoe (and fall in love with it) on your own accord. Marchetta doesn't spell things out, but makes you work for it. And what comes after the first part is one of the most rewarding experiences ever.

As for the second half, prepare a lot of tissues. The blows come bit by bit, unpretentiously, devastatingly. Genuinely and heartfelt. By the end I was not reading the same book, and I most definitely was not the same person.

YA Review: Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon

Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon
Published May 7th 2013 by Strange Chemistry
Source: review copy from publisher via NetGalley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads summary: When you're studying to be exoveterinarian specializing in exotic, alien life forms, school... is a different kind of animal. 

Best-selling author Mike Mullin (Ashfall) calls Zenn Scarlett "...delightful, bizarre, and occasionally terrifying." Melissa West (Gravity) says it’s “Utterly imaginative… sci-fi at its best. Fantastic world-building. Deep characters... I couldn’t put it down!” And Temple Grandin (Animals in Translation) says "All future vets will want to read Zenn Scarlett and her adventures with veterinary medicine on alien animals."
The Story
Zenn Scarlett is a resourceful, determined 17-year-old girl working hard to make it through her novice year of exovet training. That means she's learning to care for alien creatures that are mostly large, generally dangerous and profoundly fascinating. Zenn’s all-important end-of-term tests at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic on Mars are coming up, and, she's feeling confident of acing the exams. But when a series of inexplicable animal escapes and other disturbing events hit the school, Zenn finds herself being blamed for the problems. As if this isn't enough to deal with, her absent father has abruptly stopped communicating with her; Liam Tucker, a local towner boy, is acting unusually, annoyingly friendly; and, strangest of all: Zenn is worried she's started sharing the thoughts of the creatures around her. Which is impossible, of course. Nonetheless, she can't deny what she's feeling.
Now, with the help of Liam and Hamish, an eight-foot sentient insectoid also training at the clinic, Zenn must learn what's happened to her father, solve the mystery of who, if anyone, is sabotaging the cloister, and determine if she's actually sensing the consciousness of her alien patients... or just losing her mind. All without failing her novice year.... 

 When I was a kid, I wanted to be a vet. (I gave up on that idea the moment I saw our local vet spaying a dog. I don't have the guts for that.) Add to it my love for sci-fi, and there was no way this book could go wrong for me. I knew I'd love this book the moment I saw the cover and read the blurb. I didn't love it. I adore it.

As far as Zenn goes-you may be cool, but you'll never be I-cure-alien-animal-forms cool. I felt that Christian Schoon captured the voice of a teenage girl better than many female authors did. Zenn is dedicated to her studies and is passionate about helping animals, but she is just as passionate about shattering prejudice and narrow-mindedness of fellow human inhabitants on Mars whose ignorance often leads to hatred of everything "alien".

Zenn is a character that grows and learns in the course of the novel. It's a minor spoiler to say that Zenn has a special connection to animals, as a result of an incident that happens on the first few pages. Even though it is not fully explained, we have enough info to make some conclusions. It was therefore all the more interesting watching Zenn defend her scientific beliefs that I believe will be challenged in the sequel.

The scientific aspect captured me as well. I think I recall a documentary where someone mentioned an experimental theory similar to the one that Christian Schoon describes, about the theory of how Indra are used for interstellar transportation. Sometimes it sounds scientific, sometimes metaphysical, to some people it's a matter of religion. A clash of faith vs science, something that I assume will keep Zenn occupied in the sequel as well.

The only reason why this isn't a shining five star review is that I found the plot twist slightly predictable. I could smell the rat quite quickly.

Of all the creatures that Schoon brings to life, my favorite were Katie, Zenn's adorable and intelligent marsupial pet, and Hamish, a bug-like sexton who finds humans just as puzzling as they find him.

Treat yourself to Zenn Scarlett. It's a delight for fans of YA, sci-fi and animal lovers.

YA Review: Imaginable by J. Meyers

Imaginable by J. Meyers
Published April 16th 2013
Source: review copy from the author
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads summary: Twins Sera and Luke Raine’s unusual abilities are growing. Sera is healing vampires now, making them human again. And, at times, Luke can actually change the future he Sees.
But Sera’s healing has dangerous consequences, and though Luke is altering the outcome of more visions, he can’t control them yet.
Now Sera is in danger as the dark creatures of the Realm seek to use her. As Luke struggles to master his gift in order to save his sister, he discovers even more about his powers. 
And what he learns just may put him in greater danger than Sera has ever been.

Reading Imaginable exactly a year after Intangible felt like returning to school after a long summer during which you missed your friends. And boy, did I miss Sera, Luke and the rest of the gang.

Somewhere around page two I remembered why exactly (and how much) I enjoyed the first book. J. Meyers writes amazing characters, most of whom you'd really love to be friends with. There were a few new characters introduced at the end of Intangible, and I'm glad to say they didn't disappoint.

And don't even get me started on the connection between Sera and Luke. They manage to be the typical finish-each-others'-sentences twins without being cliche. Their connection is the highlight of this series for me.

While the plot didn't really keep me at the edge of the seat, there were sufficient sub-plots and twists to keep my interest. Also, there are things changing for the characters (in Luke's case, developing) and given my love for Meyer's characters, that was more than enough to satisfy me.

I wish I had time to reread the first book in the series though. There were some details concerning Marc that I was a bit fuzzy about. By the end of the novel I remembered what the deal was, and why I was rooting for Jonas anyway, not Marc.

Imaginable is a very good sequel to Intangible. With Luke's abilities growing, and Sera already reaping the consequences for her healing, I've no doubts that the third book will be just as great.