Interview with Elizabeth Maria Naranjo
Answering this question and oh so much more!
“Do You Consider Yourself an Adolescent Author?"
Elizabeth Maria Naranjo is a delightful author I have had the pleasure of working with many times. I was working on a class project and had to write about an adolescent author and fired off the following question to Elizabeth: " Do you consider yourself an adolescent author? I need to find an adolescent author for a class project." She replied with: "Hi!!! Sure, you can use me for the project. The Fourth Wall is definitely YA, and so are a lot of my short stories."
It was a joy to catch up with Elizabeth and I just know our WOW! readers will enjoy our conversation. If you haven't heard of Elizabeth before, let me start with a brief introduction: Some of her books have a bit of a dark side to them so they may not necessarily appeal to all young readers, but those who like murder mysteries will delight in her writing.
I met Elizabeth with the launch of her first novel, The Fourth Wall, and for the purpose of today’s chat, I’ll tell you more about it! The Fourth Wall is a fabulously written first novel. When Marin was little and monsters chased her through nightmares, she learned to weave her own dreams. Her mother called the lucid dreaming a gift, and when an accident takes her mother and leaves her baby brother an empty shell, Marin uses this gift to spin a new reality for herself. One without time or sorrow. A world without memory.
But just when Marin thinks she’s safe in her make-believe fantasy world, the monsters come back and her dream turns to a nightmare. Something in the dream doesn’t want Marin to wake up. In order to heal herself and her family, Marin must face the truth she’s forgotten and conquer what lies behind the fourth wall.
Paperback: 235 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction
Publisher: WiDo Publishing (June 10, 2014)
ISBN-10: 193717851X ISBN-13: 978-1-937178-51-2
At the launch of this book in 2014, Elizabeth and I had a candid interview (https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2014/07/elizabeth-maria-naranjo-launches-her.html). Be sure to check out her answer to the last question in that original interview - especially if you know a young aspiring author!
Since our initial time together, Elizabeth has gone on to write several more books and short stories, has won multiple writing contests, and I’ve worked with her multiple times through the years with her many publications.
Her current bio looks like this: Elizabeth Maria Naranjo is the author of The Fourth Wall, The House on Linden Way, and the Sweet Dreams series. Her work has been published in Brevity Magazine, Superstition Review, Reservoir Road, Fractured Lit, Literary Mama, Hospital Drive, The Portland Review, and a few other places. Her stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best American Essay, and Best of the Net, and her short story "Windows" was selected for Best Microfiction 2023.
I caught up with Elizabeth over coffee this morning (virtually of course) and she said it was fine for me to share our conversation:
Crystal: It’s so nice to catch up with you; thanks as always for the trust you place in me. I can’t wait to share your work with readers. Elizabeth, what are you working on now? Readers can't wait to get their hands on another book - tell us where we should be looking!
Elizabeth: Absolutely! Right now I’m working on the third book in my young adult cozy mystery series, Sweet Dreams Mysteries. I dreamed up this series while searching for young adult novels that were short, light-hearted, and fun. Not only was there a shortage of those at the time, I also realized there were no young adult cozy mysteries. I decided to write one, and then one became two, and so on. The first two books in the series, Murder by Milkshake and Pralines and Creamed, can be found on Amazon. The third, Double-Dip Demise, will be published mid-July. If you like quirky characters, amateur sleuths, small-town charm, and lots of descriptions of sugary treats, Sweet Dreams is for you!
Crystal: Who doesn’t love small-town charm and sugary treats? I mean really! What advice do you have about writing YA novels?
Elizabeth: My advice to anyone writing a YA novel is to not only know your audience but to respect them. Kids and adolescents are smart, and they know when they’re being talked down to. A YA novel told from the point of view of a seventeen-year-old girl should be in the voice of a seventeen-year-old girl, not her teacher or her mother; her unique struggles and joys and challenges and triumphs and anxieties should be relatable to other teens.
Crystal: I love that you pointed that out – young people hear enough of those authoritative voices and it deepens the connection for the story to be told in their voice. It makes sense, but I guess I hadn’t thought about that before. Thank you! What would you like to say to students and teachers when it comes to writing and reading for adolescents? What do you wish you knew when you were in middle school?
Elizabeth: One of the most important and powerful ways to teach others is by modeling, so to teachers I would say make sure you’re setting the example: read books, talk about books, get to know the books your students love. Encourage your students to read outside their comfort zone without judging the books within it. To students I would say keep reading! There’s nothing like the magic of a good story. And if you’re interested in writing stories, that’s another kind of magic altogether. All you need is something to write with and your imagination.
Crystal: Thanks again for your time and this candid conversation! I’m sure we will be working together soon!
Elizabeth can be found at http://www.elizabethmarianaranjo.com/. You can also connect with Elizabeth on her social networks:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/elizabethmarianaranjo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.m.naranjo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/emarianaranjo
Crystal Casavant writes.
Everything.
If you follow her blog you have likely laid eyes on every thought she has ever had.
Her debut novel, It Was Never About Me, Was It? is still a work in progress and shall be fully worthy sometime in her lifetime as she switched gears and is seven chapters in on a psychological thriller that has captured her heart. She has written for WOW! Women on Writing, Bring on Lemons, and has been featured in several magazines and ezines relating to credit and collections as well as religious collections for confessional Lutherans.
She runs a busy household (from her parent’s basement) full of intelligent, recalcitrant, and delightful humans who give her breath and keep her heart beating day after day.
Crystal wears many hats (and not just the one in this photo) including college student, mom, musician, singer, administrator, writer, teacher, and friend. She fully believes in being in the moment and doing everything she can to improve the lives of those around her! She recently moved into her parent’s basement and is enjoying the challenge, recently posting some delicious meals titled: Culinary Adventures in My Parent’s Basement.
The world may never know her name, but she prays that because of her, someone may smile a little brighter. She prides herself on doing nice things - yes, even for strangers. She is always up for a challenge whether it’s living in the basement, living on a boat, or buying a dairy farm! You never know where she’ll turn up next or what she’ll be doing, but it’s guaranteed she’ll be having fun!
Check out the latest Contests:
www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php
0 comments:
Post a Comment