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One of the best elements of the digital publishing frontier is that now readers can find stories that the major publishers would never have risked publishing back when print was king. The genre mash-up, my favorite type of story, has thrived.
Like, say, with stories featuring other-dimensional pirates. One of who happens to be female, over forty, and manages to keep hold of her iPod.
This pirate, Emily Pawes, is the main character in The Kraken's Mirror and the brainchild of Maureen Betita. Maureen is a friend of a friend who speaks geek. She talked to me about what led to her unusual heroine, the origin of her love of science fiction and fantasy, and how almost dying inspired her to not only get writing but get published.
GeekMom: So, why pirates?
Maureen Betita: We should all get to be pirates, especially when we’re old enough to know how much fun it can be. In The Kraken's Mirror, that lucky woman is Emily Pawes. Widowed, feeling invisible and left behind by life, she goes to the Pirate Festival, falls through a mirror and finds herself in an Wonderland world of piratitude. And pursued by a cursed pirate captain who certainly sees her, lusts after her, seduces her, and brings her to life!
GM: What was inspired you to write the story?
MB: I've always loved pirates, and I'm a member of a group blog with a pirate theme called The Romance Writers Revenge. Now, these ladies write everything, from historical to contemporary, paranormal to urban fantasy. I posed a question about why can’t a heroine be mature? Experienced? And the same for the hero? I don’t know about you, but I prefer men of my generation. I like a common language and history!
Well, none of my fellow bloggers thought it would work. No one would buy a hero and heroine over forty. Or fifty. HA! So, I had to prove them wrong and created Emily and Alan.
After all, I’m a baby boomer and we aren't ready to retire to those rocking chairs, we have seas to sail! Toss in pirates, a matchmaking kraken, iPods, blenders, and people from any and all time and space...and my book was born!
GM: How did you end up writing such a genre mash-up?
MB: I was raised on science fiction and fantasy, from Isaac Asimov to Edgar Rice Burroughs, from Land of the Giants to Star Trek. When I began writing, all of those different genres just rose up with a clamor. "Write me! Write me!" So...I wrote them all! Why not, I mean, really? I’ve worked in bookstores, and watched the great cross pollination and loved it. (Granted, it didn't always make it easy to shelf a book…)
With The Kraken's Mirror, I didn’t want–okay, I admit–I'm lazy. I can't write a historical! If I were sailing about on a pirate ship, during the golden age of piracy, I'd still want hot showers, plenty of drinking water, clean sheets...and my iPod. So...that is what I wrote. A Tortuga where I could order a mojito and listen to a loud music. Must have magic, must have sanitation, must have a great fancy ball with dancing. Oh, and vampires, werewolves, zombies...time travelers... Was there anything I didn't toss in?
GM: What other books do you have?
MB: Well, there are three books set in the Kraken's Caribbean. The Kraken's Mirror, The Chameleon Goggles (steampunk invades!), and The Pirate Circus (evil admiral with ambitions!). Each features a different couple, but the same world.
I've also written two scifi/erotica short stories, The Ship's Mistress and The Sister's Story, and a sweet contemporary romance, Something Different.
GM: Have you always been a writer or is this new to you?
MB: I always wanted to write. I thought about writing and penned some awful sword and sorcery stuff when very young. (Yup, very young. The nuns were not happy...) Then I was going to be the next Leon Uris or James Michener. Then I really grew up and wrote poetry. Before pirates, which I wrote for years. Over 2.9 million words. (Obsessed much?)
One day, I nearly died. In 2007, sudden cardiac death surprised me. I came out of the experience determined to take all those words and make it work. The thought of rejection was scary, but hell, I'd nearly died...after that, being rejected by publishers was no big deal.
I put my mind to it. Went to conventions, took classes, revised, pitched, submitted...finally, was published! Whoop!
GM: What's the most fun part of being a writer to you? Least fun?
MB: The most fun? To paraphrase Mel Brooks, "It's good to be the writer." I love breaking the rules and creating the worlds. Love it, love it, love it! I even enjoy editing, revising...selling. Love to pitch.
What is the least fun? Waiting. Waiting to be read, waiting to hear from readers, waiting to hear from editors...Not a big fan of waiting.
GM: What books would you recommend (besides your own) that GeekMom readers haven't heard of but should be reading?
MB: Just read a great book called Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer. It was wonderfully inspirational. And fascinating. How the creative mind makes intuitive leaps, how the right brain finds the connections the left brain can't. Absolutely riveting, from how 3M created post-its, to how did Bob Dylan write "Rolling Stone." The human capacity to find answers is incredibly interesting! And he made it understandable.
Fiction wise? I love Simon R. Green and his Nightside series. Where it's always 3 a.m. in London, and everything is for sale.
I like to think my books are the direct opposite of Nightside. For me, it’s always 11 a.m. in the Caribbean and everything is free.
