Author
Bio:
Marcia
Mickelson was born in Guatemala and moved to the U.S. as an infant. She began
writing her first novel her senior year of high school and finished it more
than ten years later. Marcia graduated from Brigham Young University with a
Bachelors Degree in American Studies. She is the author of Star Shining
Brightly, Reasonable Doubt, and Pickup Games. Marcia's YA novel, The Huaca, was
released in May 2013. Marcia currently resides in Texas with her husband and
three sons.
Today,
my author interview is with Marcia Mickelson whose new book The Huaca, a YA
novel, was just released last month.
Thank you for stopping by my blog today and let’s get you introduced to
my readers.
Book
Info:
Seventeen-year-old
Ellie Cummings just wants to be a regular teenager, but after her mother’s
mysterious murder, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever be normal again. Her mother’s
death has left Ellie and her father worlds apart. And when her best friend
abandons her, Ellie has no one else to turn to—except for the strange boy who
says he can help.
1.
First, being someone who has their name screwed up 99% of the time, could you
please tell us how to pronounce your first name? Is it mar-cee-uh or is it mar-sha?
Ha,
ha. It’s pronounced Mar-sha. It’s always mispronounced and misspelled. I’m used
to it by now. I do take some pride in knowing that Marcia Brady spelled it the
same way as I do!
2.
Now that everyone can pronounce your name, thank you for agreeing to talk with
me. I am sure that my readers and your
fans will love learning more about you.
Are you ready to get started?
Yes,
I’m all ready. Thanks so much for having me on your blog.
3.
Your new book The Huaca is a YA book.
Why did you change to a YA audience?
I
hadn’t been interested in YA since I was a teenager, and I had only been
interested in reading and writing adult fiction. About four years ago, I began
reading more and more YA, and I fell in love with it. They didn’t have YA like
this when I was a teenager. For the past few years, I have read only YA. Now,
it is very rare that I pick up a book that is not YA. It’s all I want to write
now. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, and this is my way of holding onto
youth. Ha, ha. I don’t know!
4.
Where did you get your inspiration for your story?
I was
watching the trailer for the movie, The Lovely Bones, and I was really taken
with the idea of depicting a character that had passed away, but could observe
her family as they lived next door to the man who killed her. Immediately, I
began thinking what if… What if a character that had passed away could somehow
communicate with her family to let them know? If only there was a way. This
line of thinking coincided with a comment my mother said to me shortly after.
She said, “why don’t you write something about Mayan myths?” Her comment
collided with my ‘what if’s’ from The Lovely Bones, and then idea of The Huaca
came to me.
5. Do
you always find your inspiration from the same source?
I
find inspiration from many different sources—books, movies, news stories,
people I meet, strangers I see in public, songs. Inspiration can come from
anywhere. In fact, here is a blog post where I talk about inspiration coming
from anywhere. http://marciamickelson.blogspot.com/2012/11/inspiration-can-come-from-anywhere-or.html
6. I
see you went to BYU and earned a BA in American Studies. Have those studies helped you in your
writing? Has it helped with time,
history, inventions, or in any other way?
I
love American history and literature. I don’t write historical fiction, but
only contemporary fiction, so it hasn’t necessarily helped me in that sense.
Having studied the American experience has helped shape my current work in
progress. The search for the American Dream has always been a point of interest
for me. My current work in progress, tentatively titled “You Don’t Belong
Here,” explores one young girl’s search for that dream that draws people to the
U.S. every day.
7.
Did you meet your husband at BYU?
Yes,
I did! We saw each other at a men’s volleyball game at BYU. He kept looking at
me; I kept looking at him. My friend and I had met his friend the night before.
Well, they didn’t come to talk to us at the end of the game, but we saw them at
a dance on campus later that night. During the final song, they finally came to
talk to us. We hit it off right away!
8. Is
he supportive of your writing career?
He is
absolutely supportive of my writing! He carries my business cards around with
him and gives them to anyone who will take one. He talks to people about my
books all of the time.
9.
Are your children old enough to understand what you do?
My
boys are 13, 11, and 7. They are old enough to understand that I write books.
They’re very excited about my writing and wanted to come to my last book
signing. They wanted to be there the whole time. They also like to tell others
about my books.
10.
Does your husband help you with editing or plotting or anything else with your
writing?
He
doesn’t do too much of that. I’m a very closed person when I write which means
that I do not talk to anyone about my books until they are almost complete. I
don’t like to let anyone read any of my manuscript until it’s way over halfway
done. I’m very afraid that talking about it will ruin the process for me. If I
talk about it too early, I fear that I will not finish writing it. He is,
however, excellent at answering questions. So, I can ask him specific questions
about things I’m not sure about, such as changing tires or golf.
11.
Where do you like to write? What is your
special spot?
I
don’t have a specific writing spot. I write on the couch, at the kitchen table,
at a desk, in the car—wherever I get a chance!
12.
Where can my readers and your fans find your books for sale?
My
books can be purchased here:
13.
Where can my readers and your fans find you on the internet?
You
can find me here:
14.
Will you be having a launch party for your book? If so; when and where?
I had a book signing in Corpus Christi, Texas last month. I have another one coming up in July in San Antonio, TX, and I’m hoping to schedule one for Utah in July.
15.
Is there anything else you would like to tell my readers?
I
hope you enjoy The Huaca. I loved writing it, and I hope readers will like
reading it. Thanks so much for having me
on your blog, Brenda.
Thank
you for stopping by and good look with your new novel.
The strange boy and a murdered mother sounds interesting. I like reading about your inspiration for the story. Thanks for the post.
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