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Following Your Gut
Between the Living and the Dead follows a teen girl whose friends die in a hit-and-run accident, causing her to discover she has the ability to interact with ghosts and leading her to uncover long-buried secrets about her heritage. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
There were multiple inspirations for this story. When I was a teenager for some reason I was convinced my bathroom hallway had magical potential. I had recurring nightmares and dreams about magical events happening in there. When I was a kid, I was curious and often volunteered to investigate “mysteries” for friends at school. Most of the time it was trivial stuff, but in my imagination, I dreamed of solving Sherlock Holmesian-like mysteries. As I grew older I fell on some Hercule Poirot books and I devoured them. I am also an adoptee from Venezuela and the search to find my origins has been a major part of my life in recent years; I chose to incorporate that into my main character’s journey. I have always loved ghost stories, (even though I was thoroughly spooked about the idea of ghosts for a while in my teens). I thought it would be cool for an average teenager who had nothing but curiosity, observation, and gumption going for her to suddenly have magical powers and being able to see things in the “In Between” having just enough of a different lens of the world to see what others cannot.
The supporting characters in this novel were intriguing and well-developed. Who was your favorite character to write for?
This is a hard question; probably Cavilla; she is heavily modeled on me, and she is what an alternate version of me would have been (minus the magic powers of course!)
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The most important themes for me were: cultural heritage and identity. Growing up in a white family that didn’t acknowledge my ethnic origins was a challenge. Having my birth family and adoption papers withheld also added a layer of complexity and grief. I think others can relate to this experience. As I did research on Peruvian lore and mythology as well, I found it was almost impossible to find authentic source material and primary resources about it. So much has been erased by colonialist retellings. So I took the liberty to adapt and add to the original lore. I am a 90s baby, so I incorporated that 90s feel in the story; a generation that is often teased now for being “old” but there were many cool things despite there being less tech for example. Most importantly the themes of friendship, solidarity, and following your gut were key to this book. Encouraging kids to explore, to keep digging, and care for their friends and family is vital.
Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?
Yes, it is the first book in the series. I have no idea when the next book is coming out. The sequel(s) will expand more into the different pachas, Cavilla’s powers, more cases for her to explore as she gets older, and more into her birth family.
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Cavilla Ramirez is an average Peruvian teen, tethered to the 1990s rhythm of clarinet rehearsals, dog-eared Agatha Christie novels, and low-stakes schoolyard mysteries. But when a hit-and-run claims her two best friends, her world implodes—and then restructures itself in a seemingly impossible and unnerving way. Her friends aren’t gone. Their ghosts linger, needing her help in solving their murder so that they can cross over. And it’s not just them. Ghosts are everywhere, and somehow, she’s the only one who can see them.
With a protector in the form of a god-turned-cat, Cavilla becomes a reluctant guide between Peru’s realms of the living and the dead. Solving murders and helping the dead find closure becomes her new normal. But every answer she uncovers tugs loose something else: long-buried secrets about her own heritage, secrets her aunt Tia Luz would rather keep six feet under.
And as Cavilla finds out, not all ghosts need guidance. One presence stands apart, watching her… waiting.
And he isn’t asking for help. He wants her – or something she has.
Tales From An Odd Mind
Tales From an Odd Mind is a collection of somewhat strange short stories and poems that may seem to have little in common at a glance. Still, on deeper examination, they explore the same overarching theme of death and present an emotional portrait of humanity in all its effervescent diversity. The author chooses to write anonymously, under the name of ‘Nom D Plume,’ literally meaning pseudonym or pen name, but is known to firmly deny their works from having any autobiographical elements. So, it is interesting to note how personal and intimate each character appears to be, with detailed habits and traits established well within the short stories despite their brevity.
The most attractive feature of these stories is their unpredictability. Every dialogue or plot detail gives the illusion of leading us somewhere, only to surprise us with a sudden turn of events that is totally unanticipated by the reader. In the first story, for instance, we never expect the introduction of a new character towards the end of the story, but what makes it even more intriguing is how the ultimate effect of the story is never compromised. This deliberate way of an absence of foreshadowing gives the pieces their distinctive mysterious, and enigmatic nature.
However, as a reader, we are often left wanting more. Each story begins with a lot of promise and then collapses in on itself. Although deliberate on the author’s part, one must admit that the stories seem a little incomplete, given their abrupt endings. Are they written only as a means to an end, experimentation with the form of writing, with no interest whatsoever in the several different character developments that take place? Do they simply follow a preordained series of steps that build up with no goal to reach and no message to be delivered?
Perhaps, that is where the beauty lies, in trying to find meaning where there might not be any. Particularly poignant to this context is the back-and-forth dialogue between origin and dandelion; we struggle to understand the depth of their conversation, which is peculiarly reminiscent of pre-programmed responses of a chatbot or AI entity. Dabbling with various genres, this collection has some really powerful and compelling narratives. Recommended for all those who like reading fantasy, science fiction, or tales of reunion beyond death.
Pages: 148 | ASIN : B08CZSX412
Meshkwadoon: Book 1
Alex Tilley has crafted a world where people in the melting pot of Ontario, Canada, come face to face with the spirits of the lands they call home. Blending beliefs and personalities from India and Japan with the indigenous Anishinabek traditions and mythologies forges a new map to follow through these forests and small towns. Meshkwadoon translates as a bargain, trading or exchange. As the novel unfolds, readers discover many other words found in Ojibwe, and some Japanese and Hindi peppered in. Within the context of the story, many terms get defined while reading, and using other languages helps the reader step into the unknown a little less sure-footed, but with a sense of wonder.
The story opens with the dreamy Natasha, who we soon find out appears to be having delusions or hallucinations in the forest, if not visitations from powerful old spirits. Begging for help or direction home, she is told in few and broken words that they don’t want her to leave. Her hazelnut eyes drink in the trees and waterways as she tries to escape. Seasons seem to flash forward as we discover all is not what it seems in the woods.
We follow mild-mannered teacher Arjun on a class trip into Algonquin park from Huntsville Ontario when his hiking group finds Natasha covered in mud, nude, and unable to explain where she had come from, or otherwise who she is. One student, Yutta, assists Arjun with the exhausted and injured girl and soon becomes inexplicably enraptured with her.
After handing the strange girl over to the authorities, Arjun, the teacher, is visited by a mysterious reporter named Chloe who is digging for clues about what may have happened to Yutta’s grandparents. Arjun, certain the strange girl and his student’s tragedy must be connected, goes to the hospital and visit the enigmatic Natasha. Much like Yutta, he can’t get her out of his mind and proves oddly compelled to seek her out. Natasha, now missing from the hospital, has this unlikely duo– man and boy– seeking her out. Visions, apparitions, spirits, and tricksters fade in and out as the men travel together, then separately, unraveling as best they can what happened to Natasha before they found her and uncovering clues to the journey she is on now. Many of the people they meet sometimes help or otherwise hinder their quest to find the striking girl who seems to call from them through miles of the surrounding forest.
Chloe’s father, Ogi, is a medicine-man of sorts and has some answers and guidance but warns them all is not what it seems in terms of the meshkwadoon between Natasha and the earth. Peppered with moments of nightmarish visions, and the terror of being alone in the forest, the book has only a few main characters but many short scenes with unnamed apparitions, spirits, and strangers they meet along the way, perhaps many guises of the trickster spirit Nanabush or the greater spirits of the earth itself. From modern hospitals to the most ancient groves, the story paints a picture of Ontario that is recognizable when Arjun and Yutta are interacting with the familiar, yet a murky mystical world lurks under all of this as they take guidance from the various monsters, guides, and spirits.
Some of these characters may be familiar to readers of fantasy or folklore, and certainly to those who are acquainted with indigenous legends. From the stoic brother bear that lends Arjun clarity and wisdom to the mischievous Puk-wudgie, a tiny woodland troll-creature that accompanies Yutta; there are extremes of delightful whimsy and cold reckoning worked into each chapter as they encounter clues to Natasha’s true nature. The very human elements of exhaustion, pain, nudity, confusion, and dread weave through the story, making this sit very close to the realm of horror without being overly graphic. This is despite the beautiful descriptions of the landscapes these creatures and our cast travel through. The woods are dense between the towns and cities we discover, Huntsville to Sudbury, and it soon becomes clear people can be very close to one another, yet be lost and alone at the same time.
Meshkwadoon spans the genres of dark fantasy, thriller, horror, and magic realism, creating a complex storyline with many twists. Readers will find themselves on a journey questioning what is real as they follow the characters through this chilling novel.
Pages: 242 | ASIN : B09PBKYBBP
LITERARY TITAN 