Let’s give a big welcome to Estelle Laure as she celebrates the release of her latest YA novel MAYHEM and answers some questions about the book and writing.
Was there something in particular about 1987 that compelled you to set MAYHEM in that year?
Originally it had to do with the book being inspired by The Lost Boys which came out in 1987. That is also a summer I happen to remember really well. It was the peak of big hair and leather jackets and soft focus. It felt like a time with so much potentially entertaining material.
What one book do you wish you had written?
Firestarter. That’s my favorite Stephen King and I think it’s brilliant. Little girl sets things on fire with mind and takes down huge company run by terrifying men? Yes, please.
What is the single best piece of advice you have for aspiring authors?
Don’t write to the market. Write to your heart. But while you do that, make sure you educate yourself about what’s happening in publishing. Like, don’t write a jock bully or a blonde mean girl and if you’re white try to get clear with yourself about your blind spots. Also read everything you can get your hands on. Stay in it. Dig in. That’s my advice. Play the long game.
What is something funny/weird/exceptional about yourself that you don’t normally share with others in an interview?
My friends all know that when I’m embarrassed by something someone else is doing, tears pour down my face. This happens pretty much every time I see politicians speak, bad performances, bad concerts, people exhibiting a wild amount of hubris or overconfidence, and when very bad dancing happens. It’s a totally subconscious response and cannot be controlled, so sometimes I have to leave a place to deal with it. My friends say, “Oh no, she’s tearing up. She’s tearing up!” it’s like my mirror neurons have gone all sideways or something. Oh, this also happens when I embarrass myself. It’s totally cool.
MAYHEM blurb:
The Lost Boys meets Wilder Girls in this supernatural feminist YA novel.
It’s 1987 and unfortunately it’s not all Madonna and cherry lip balm. Mayhem Brayburn has always known there was something off about her and her mother, Roxy. Maybe it has to do with Roxy’s constant physical pain, or maybe with Mayhem’s own irresistible pull to water. Either way, she knows they aren’t like everyone else.
But when May’s stepfather finally goes too far, Roxy and Mayhem flee to Santa Maria, California, the coastal beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem’s questions about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. There she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and it opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage in her family, the very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit and which will change her life for good.
But when she gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she is forced to face the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost.
From the acclaimed author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back, Estelle Laure offers a riveting and complex story with magical elements about a family of women contending with what appears to be an irreversible destiny, taking control and saying when enough is enough.
Link to a buy-this-book: https://wednesdaybooks.com/galaxies-and-kingdom/mayhem/
About the Author:
Estelle Laure, the author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world.
Find the author on Twitter @starlaure and Instagram @estellelaurebooks.
