Children
of Mariposa
Book
One
Kim
Wells
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Magic
Realism
Publisher: Daydreams Dandelions
Publications
Date of Publication: December 24, 2014
ASIN: B00O9DCRDC
Number of pages: 293 pages
Word Count: 106,993
Cover Artist: Lawrence Mann
Book Description:
What if the best night of your
life was also your last?
On the eve of a much-anticipated
proposal, Meg is happier than she could have ever imagined. The future she sees
for herself on that magical night is bright, one that’s full of love and
laughter and dreams finally realized.
That is, until one random act of
violence changes everything…
Consumed by fate and forces she
can’t comprehend, Meg finds herself at the center of a spectral conflict that
transcends life and death.
Her very soul is up for grabs in
this war, and what’s worse… she’s not the only one.
Now, she’s fighting not just for
the love she lost, but the daughter she would have called her own. She must
fight the battle of her life, for the sake of her friends and family, and find
out for herself if love can indeed be stronger than death.
Intertwined
with true-ghost stories, some heart-warming, some heart-breaking, this
love-note to San Antonio combines history, myth, and vivid description.
This
is the full story of Meg & Amelinda's quest-journey, what author Laura
Metzger calls "A beautifully written story with compelling characters that
reach between the universe of the living and the dead to embrace their mutual
destiny" and author Elena E. Giorgi calls "A beautiful tale of love
and redemption."
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/u8wWa70P7ck
Excerpt:
Meg: Vanilla and
Lavender
On the day I
died, I was wearing a great outfit. This is important to know because it turns
out that your default look for eternity as a ghost is what you’re wearing when
you die. I mean, seriously. Who knew? If I’d have known that, I wouldn’t have
risked any days in mediocre clothes. In that respect, I was lucky I was on a
date when I was killed, but of course, if I hadn’t been on a date, on that
date, maybe things would have turned out differently.
Not everyone
gets to be a ghost. In fact, some people disappear immediately, and I don’t
know what happens. But they just wink right out of existence, only out of their
bodies for a few seconds. Maybe it has something to do with intent, or their
last actions, or their own belief systems. I hope the good people go somewhere
good, no matter what they did in the last moments of life, that there is a way
for them to make up for those Big Mistakes.
Some people,
people who haven’t Figured Things Out, people like me, linger for a while. We
hang around those we love and sometimes try to influence their choices, trying
to keep loved ones from making Big Mistakes.
My grandmother
had been my ghost–I was not surprised when it came right down to it. Back when
I was alive, I used to smell her perfume in the apartment we shared, vanilla
and lavender. I could never figure out what actual perfume brand she wore to
get that scent, and believe me, I tried. I loved it and wanted that for my
signature perfume. I haunted the local drugstores, especially the old ones, and
vintage stores, looking for an old- fashioned perfume that featured those
fragrance notes, but never found anything that smelled even remotely like hers.
I guess it was
just her individual magic that combined the scents that way. It seemed to
linger in our apartment, long after she had been gone. Especially at certain
important moments. I wouldn’t know those moments were important ‘til later, but
looking back, it’s obvious.
I’m getting
ahead of myself, moving way too fast for normal people. First, you probably
want to know more about me, right? You can’t just start in the middle of the
story; you have to work up to these big deals. I made it 23 years on the planet
before checking out. I guess you’d say I was pretty, although I was never very
stylish or together. I thought that would come with maturity, but I never got
to find that out. When I died, I had shoulder length wavy copper colored hair,
cut in a bob that was always tickling my chin and sometimes made me want to cut
it all off. I certainly never had the patience to grow it all out. It was “in
between” hair, lack of decision hair. My eyes were basic gray, nothing
exciting, although I desperately wanted the “limpid blue” or “decisive green”
eyes of a romance heroine. A light plague of freckles scattered across the
bridge of my nose showed my Irish- Scottish mutt background, and I had fair
redhead’s skin that burned, rather than tanned, which kept me indoors most of
the time or slathered in sunscreen. 5’8’, skinny without being too skinny. I
did have my family’s big butt, which we will not discuss.
Why I have to go
through eternity with that butt is beyond me. I tended to prefer jeans and a comfortable
cotton shirt, paired with flat old- fashioned Converse tennis shoes as my daily
outfit, but I could clean up pretty nice when I had to.
About
the Author:
Kim wrote her first critically
acclaimed (if you call her fourth grade teacher a critic, and she does) short
story when she was 9 years old. It was about Christmas in a Cave, and it
featured such topical, ground-breaking subjects as homelessness & cave
dwelling. She's been writing ever since.
The state of publication depends on who you ask.
She has a Ph.D. in Literature,
with specialties in American Lit, Women Writers, Feminism, Sci-Fi/Fantasy &
Film Studies but please don't hold any of that against her. She teaches
academic writing and how to read literature at a university in her hometown and
tries to convince college students that it really is cool to like poetry.
She lives in the South, has twin
children (one girl, one boy) and a husband who is the model for all her best
romantic heroes. She also has two cats-- one black and sassy, one stripey and
fat, and also kinda sassy.
Interview
Where are you from?
I live now in Shreveport, LA, but consider my home
San Antonio, TX (which is where Mariposa is set.) Other than that—I’m not
really “from” anywhere. My family moved around a ton when I was a kid, so I’ve
lived all over the country. Illinios, Kentucky, Mississippi, Florida,
Louisiana, Texas, and just for a difference, Washington state.
Tell us your latest news?
I’ve been in a couple of super fun anthologies
lately, and am curating one myself which is scheduled to be released on
International Women’s Day in March. The submissions are about to start rolling
in, and I can’t wait for that.
When and why did you begin writing?
I actually say that I started writing when I was in
fourth grade, which would make me nine? I guess? My very first story was about
a family that had become homeless at Christmas time, and had to live,
therefore, in a cave. The dad manages to scare up a Christmas tree, then a
Christmas miracle happens and he gets a job! I’ve been writing ever since. The
why is probably more complex—I have always read voraciously, and I think most
full time readers harbor a secret desire to also write, to participate in that
conversation.
When did you first consider yourself a writer? Gosh,
I think I’ve always considered myself a writer. Since I’m also an academic,
much of my writing has been scholarly in nature, but I’ve written regularly
since I was a kid. I just can’t NOT write.
What inspired you to write your first book?
The first like just popped into my head one day.
That happens to me a lot. Then I start to imagine what that character looks
like, what they’re up to. I talked it over with my hubs—at first I envisioned
it a little more “star-crossed lovers”—and we came up with some of the general
ideas. Then I moved from San Antonio where it’s set and I kind of got a big
crush on the city, and that inspired me to keep going.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I think I’m a “pantster” with heavy research. I
don’t really outline that much formally, but I always have a general idea where
the story is going. But I think about it constantly, then sit down to write,
and sometimes the story surprises me. I dream about my stories too, and
sometimes get the best ideas from there!
How did you come up with the title?
Because the book is set in San Antonio, which is a
very Hispanic-pride kind of city, and because there is a good deal of
Mexican-American mythology in the story, it seemed perfect to tie together one
very crucial plot element with the Spanish name for said plot element. I got
some flak from people about it because Mariposa can mean a negative slang term,
but I decided anyone looking at the cover and looking for the book would get
it.
Is there a message in your novel that you want
readers to grasp?
One of the underlying themes to the story is the
horrible tragedy of domestic abuse. I mean, when you’re writing primarily about
ghosts, you can expect their deaths to be tragic, and horrible, and these
ghosts are trapped in their worst moments. But Meg, the main character, learns
through her quest how to cope with and finally overcome the pain of that theme.
With a little help from some tough chick friends.
How much of the book is realistic?
It’s pretty realistic, in a way. I call it magic
realism with a southern slipstream flair—it depicts San Antonio as it really,
truly is. I describe real places, know exactly where every moment of the story
takes place. Most of the ghost stories in the book are my imagination of
real-rumored ghosts in San Antonio, and how those ghost stories might have come
to pass.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events
in your own life?
None of the actual events are real, other than that
I base a lot of the ghosts on real-ghost stories. But the descriptions of San
Antonio are based on my real life. The restaurant that they are at before the
“big event” is one I used to go to all the time! And will again when we get to
move back home!
What books have most influenced your life most?
Since I’m an English major, pretty much ALL THE
BOOKS. I was that kid who haunted the library, so much so that the librarians
all knew me and had me be the kid who kept track of the reading contest. I had
my own little desk and everything. I love Charles DeLint, Alice Hoffman, Seanan
McGuire, Margaret Atwood, Tad Williams, Tanya Huff, Chitra Divakaruni, Sean
Stewart, Nalo Hopkinson. I wrote my Master’s Thesis on Louisa May Alcott and
read Little Women about 100 times, so I’m sure she needs to be on the list,
too.
If you had to choose, which writer would you
consider a mentor?
Pavarti Tyler & I have recently developed a very
good friendly beta/helper/reader editor relationship. She is a powerhouse, and
I think we try to mentor each other.
What book are you reading now?
I’m reading UnCommon Bodies, the fairly dark &
twisted anthology that I was just in, as well as Carniepunk and the Seanan
McGuire series called Indexing. I’m also listening to J.C. Nelson’s Armageddon
Rules on Audible every time I drive my car. I love audiobooks!
Because I’m in the indie pub world, I’m constantly
meeting new authors, and they’re all driven, exciting writers. I think if I
have to choose, I’ll say Jason Anspach and Eamon Ambrose. They’ve both just
recently dropped their first books and they’re just great.
What are your current projects?
I’m finishing up the sequel/companion book to
Mariposa, which is called Orpheus & the Butterfly, and tells the story of
the men from the Mariposa world. I’m also working on a tri-story collection
related to my Undead Cyborg Assassin Girl. There’s also a book in progress
which is a follow up to my short story Mrs. Johnson’s Blues that’s about ¾
done. I have a short story coming out in the Shapeshifter Chronicles early next
year that I need to get finished, and I am curating the Indie Women Anthology,
which will be a charity anthology. I want to write a story for that one, too. I
can’t sit still, so I flit about sometimes.
What would you like my readers to know?
That I’d love to meet them! I love hearing from
readers and I hope they find something fun to connect with in my stories!
Website: http://www.kimwells.net/
Find her on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/kimwellswrites
Twitter here: https://twitter.com/dandeliondreams
Pinterest here: http://www.pinterest.com/daydreamsdandel/
Tour
giveaway
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Mariposa
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Mariposa Cover Custom Kindle or
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I would love to have a kindle for my son to take to the hospital with him to use after his back surgery. I think he would love it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for informing me about this book.
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt, thank you.
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