Mariposa
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.
So the only reason there isn't a review here is because of my lack of time lately, but since the author graciously sent over a review copy, I'm thinking I will be reading this one as it sounds too fun to pass up!!
Author interview
First, tell me a little about your book ….
Mariposa is urban fantasy/magic realism set in San Antonio, TX. The main character, Meg, is a ghost, and the story is her figuring out why she’s still here, and what she needs to do to fix the problems she must have had in order to remain a ghost. There’s a secondary lead who is the girl who would have been Meg’s stepmom, and she’s sort of stunted by the tragedy—she hasn’t moved on with her life and is kind of immature, even though she’s a businesswoman. Things are missing, and she doesn’t know how to fix it. Then, this evil threat starts stalking her, and Meg has to find a way to help.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated or did you always just know?
I think I’ve been a writer since the day I first learned to read. I’ve studied literature my whole life—having gotten a PhD in it and everything—so it’s just been central to my core existence. I remember my mom reading Winnie the Pooh to me, and I had an imaginary friend as a child who was basically a ripoff of Curious George. So yeah—books, writing, reading—all of this soothes my soul and always has.
What inspired you to write your first book and what was it?
The first line to Mariposa just popped into my head one day. This happens to me pretty frequently, actually. I think my muse likes tossing one liners at me. Then I had to figure out what her story was.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
The ghost stories in Mariposa are almost all based on true-life ghost stories of San Antonio. I researched the heck out of them and when I’d find a really creepy story, I knew I had to put that character in my book. The cityscape—that’s my life. San Antonio is the city of my heart—I love that place—and the city sort of became a character in the novel itself.
How do you choose when/which characters die in your books?
Well, I kill of Meg pretty much in line one, so that was a given. As far as other characters I’ve killed off—sometimes they were there specifically as a sacrifice of some kind, so they came there to die. Poor things. But other times I’ll write a character and know that they are such an important, crucial part of the story, and then later I’ll think “Oh boy. They have to die. That’ll really upset people!” Writers are kinda mean sometimes.
Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
I have this big crowd of indie authors circulating around me all the time, so there are always new writers there. I think the two newbies that have most caught my attention lately are Jason Anspach and Eamon Ambrose. Those dudes got some SKILLZ.
Who do you look up to as a writer?
I love anything magical realism. My PhD dissertation is actually about this genre, because I couldn’t imagine spending all that energy and time on anything else. So writers like Alice Hoffman, Charles DeLint, Margaret Atwood, Sean Stewart, Tad Williams, Nalo Hopkinson, Seanan McGuire—they just fill my Kindle right up. And I love the way they write, and would love to have their gifts.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your book?
Mariposa felt super fast paced to me when I started it because I read so fast. I think I probably should have scooted the crucial death scene a few pages sooner, skipped some of the character development. Brought that in later, maybe. But I still really love the story, and that’s just Meg’s voice.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Focus! I tend to flit about like a literary fruitfly. I market one day, chat the other, write furiously so long that I get a crick in my neck, and then back again. I wish I could be one of those dedicated “1000 words a day before lunch” kind of writers.
What book are you reading now? Or what genre?
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! I read a lot of Urban Fantasy/Magic Realism. Sci-Fi, too, but not lately, I guess.
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! I read a lot of Urban Fantasy/Magic Realism. Sci-Fi, too, but not lately, I guess.
Who designed the cover? And do you help with them?
The amazing cover for Mariposa was designed by Lawrence Mann, from England. He’s so super cool. I did give him direction—I have a detailed Pinterest file and a very specific mental image for Meg, and the cover depicts an important element of the story, too, that will come to play a huge role in the upcoming series. But he rocked the direction so hard all on his own, too. His website is here: http://www.lawrencemann.co.uk/ in case you want to go see more of his cool art.
Did you learn anything from writing your books and what was it?
I’ve learned that I can really do it. I used to imagine what it would feel like to finally have that book written, if I would feel like I had accomplished that major life goal and I could settle down. Now I know that yes, I can do that, but I have to keep going. One book is not enough for me. I want hundreds.
If you could be one of your characters, who would you choose?
Marie French, who is the protagonist in Hoodoopocalypse, is kind of a bad chica. I’d like her powers, for sure. Plus, she lives in New Orleans and makes a living reading Tarot cards in Jackson Square, eating beignets from the Café du Monde every day!! Swoon.
Are there any books you think some of us should read, just because?
::Puts on teacher hat:: Of course! Everyone should read “the great literary canon.” We should all read Shakespeare, and Chaucer, and Beowulf, and Willa Cather, Mary Shelley, and Virginia Woolf. Because those texts are the foundation of everything we do now. If you’re reading a sexy, barechested vampire book where the heroine is conflicted because she also likes a hairy werewolf alpha male—you’re reading something that has its roots in the genres that were created hundreds of years ago. And sometimes, you’ll get the jokes better when you know those texts, which I guarantee you most, if not all, of your favorite writers have read.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you for reading! And please, come for more parties! We have cookies!
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.
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
5 Coupons for Audible audio of Mariposa
2 paperbacks of Mariposa, signed
Mariposa Cover Custom Kindle or I-Pad Skin
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