Terra Nova Book 1 by MtG - Young Adult Fantasy - Everybody dies but only few of us manage to live
Interview with MtG
Welcome to JB’s Bookworms with Brandy Mulder
Tell us about your newest book.
Terra
Nova is the first book in the Terra Nova series. I love it because not only is
it a different take on the vampirism condition, it also plays with the concept
of parallel worlds. I’ve travelled and worked in various countries extensively
so creating a new universe was just so much fun. I could see in my mind all
these various architectural concepts and how I could tie them together to
create this rich, new world.
The
protagonist in Terra Nova is Evangeline, a teenager with a genetic, blood
mutation. I’ll be honest. She reminds me a bit of Anne of Green Gables. You
know, someone quirky and proud. Full of joy and creativity. I think I was
really starting to miss those types of heroines. So many heroines seem to be
very dreary and overly serious these days. It feels like you can either be
feminine or tough as a heroine. I wanted someone who could do both, and who
loved both sides of herself. Evangeline can kick ass but she also loves to put
on a cute dress and have a girl’s night out.
Evangeline
is diagnosed with a genetic blood disorder in her senior year of high school.
Her health suddenly becomes strangely interesting to the authorities and what
Evangeline’s family doesn’t realize is that Evangeline’s blood, while
deteriorating her health, is also a powerful weapon and a doorway to a place
she really shouldn’t go to…
While her friends and family try to find her, Evangeline has to learn to survive in a world where vampires are the new humans.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently on the final draft of the second book in the Terra Nova series – just going back and forth with the editor on final details. The title of the second book will be Terra Destra .
Is there a release date planned?
It should be released by the end of January 2023.
Who is your favorite character from your own stories, and
why?
I love different characters for different reasons. In terms of the Terra Nova series I love Val because she is actually based on a childhood best friend I had, Valerie, when our family spent a year in Germany. I was too young to care about letters or keeping in touch so I honestly don’t know where Valerie is now or even what her last name was (somehow that just wasn’t important in grade 1. Lol) But she’s one of those special childhood memories.
Most writers were readers as children. What was your
favorite book in grade school?
I loved The Princess Bride. I read that book over and over again and then watched the movie over and over again. And then, when I started dating my husband I forced him to watch the movie with me over and over again. Lol. We now know most of the lines by heart.
What are your plans for future projects?
I’ve
recently started writing an adult fantasy. I love the Terra Nova series but
with writing young adult fiction come certain restrictions. For example, you
need to watch the language you use, always making sure there isn’t too much
swearing etc... And even the vocabulary you use is at a slightly different
level.
I’ve
noticed how much more free I feel when writing for adults. I’m particularly
excited about being able to add some extra steamy scenes here and there. Lol
Excerpt:
Evangeline stood up and sighed. She started to walk down the street in the direction of the Duke’s house, done her trailing for the night, when she heard a voice behind her, “Did you expect to track someone who is already tracking you?”
She turned to see Josepina standing in the middle of the road in a blue gown with blue and gold embroidery along its hemlines and birds of all sizes and shapes embroidered into every spot and space on it. Looking at the dress Evangeline wondered how Josepina stalked her so inconspicuously. Did she go around town hiding in holes?“Yeah, I guess I was a little optimistic in my skills,” Evangeline said.
“Not a little,” Josepina said, “You must know something about me now. I could lead his highness in eternal circles, Evangeline. You would have more chances tracking him, actually. So why is it that you hoped to find me?”
“Well, I guess I was just practising tracking...” Josepina was looking at her with an amused smile. Evangeline knew that Josepina could sense if she was full of shit. Obviously Evangeline could have practised on anyone. She changed approaches,
“Well, I guess I’ve never known a lady of...pleasure?”
Josepina’s smile grew broader, “And what do you hope to learn from me?”
Evangeline’s face turned red, “Nothing, actually. I guess I was just curious about you because you have so much more life in you than most people here. You still talk about everything and seem to think about everything. It’s…. rare. And your clothes...how do you do it?”
“That is a much more interesting question than I thought you had,” Josepina said, “the dress...well, I create them out of hunger during the day with whatever materials I find. Crocheting and embroidering is time consuming. A perfect activity. Dressing up is also time consuming. Another perfect activity. Though I think most find the contrast of the bright clothing and their own ugliness something of a depressing reality.”
Josepina looked up at the night sky and then at Evangeline, “I will walk with you to the Duke’s” She began to walk and Evangeline stepped up beside her.
“The way we are now,” Josepina continued, “vampires as you like to call us, is a stagnant way. We cannot change, on the outside or the inside. You have seen that Ehvan can memorize facts, but his mind will always be that of a child. The inner maturation of his brain is related to the physical changes that happen within it. Something that cannot happen in this state. Someone whose mind was not very...developed...before, will not develop much now. They will know more facts. Learn skills. But they will not grow inside as humans.”
“And you?”
“I suppose my goal was always to understand other humans and through that to understand and know myself. I never considered that it was anything unusual, but looking around me now, I see that it is a rare goal.”
“I wonder what I would be like as one of you,” Evangeline said offhandedly.
“An odd thing to wonder after seeing us,” Josepina said, “though the fact that you actually thought to ponder this means that you would do better than most. You have almost no sixth sense ability but you have more depth than most pretty, young girls.
“Thank you. You know, I didn’t think you liked me much, to be honest.”
“I’m still deciding,” Josepina smiled a little shrewdly, “However, you stood in front of a city of beings that could rip you apart and you were able to look at us and speak to us as if we were still people. I respect that. Respect is more important than like.”
Evangeline let a couple minutes pass in silence before she asked the next question,“So, is it really true about the physical intimacy? I mean, is it impossible for you now?”
Josepina looked at her with that half-curious, half-knowing look and Evangeline quickly added, “I’m just wondering since there are some married couples that I have seen...”
Evangeline was doing her utmost to convince her face not to turn red. Of course she wasn’t just curious out of the blue. She was in an unspoken, apparently platonic, bed-sharing arrangement with a male whom she wanted to kick in the head for the majority of each night while at the same time looking forward to each morning in his room. Every day, when she put down her book and climbed under the covers she lay stiff and anxious, wondering if he would lie down beside her, knowing that he occasionally did, but never being awake when it happened.
Josepina’s lips curled into a wide, knowing smile and killed any chance Evangeline had of keeping the colour on her face normal.
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