Ask the Author: Mindy Mejia
Answered Questions (13)
Mindy Mejia
Hi Loretta! I'm so happy you enjoyed LEAVE NO TRACE! I do tend to write about places I've visited, because I want the settings and environment to feel as real as possible for my readers. I visit Duluth often and took a research trip to the Boundary Waters for LEAVE NO TRACE. My next book is set in Minneapolis, which is where I'm from, but I still devoted a lot of time to walking the streets and skyways to see the city as my characters would. Thanks so much for reading and reaching out!!
Mindy Mejia
Laura, I'm glad you're enjoying it!! I feel the same way about so many books. (How did I let this amazing story sit on the shelf for so long, unread??) I like your theory that maybe we pick up a book right at the point when we are ready for it in our lives.
Happy reading!
Happy reading!
Mindy Mejia
For the I'm-not-doing-anything-until-this-book-is-done days:
INTO THE WATER, by Paula Hawkins
For research days:
GHOST SHIPS OF THE GREAT LAKES, by Dwight Boyer.
For long summer nights:
IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME, by Marcel Proust
For the dog days:
EVERY LAST LIE, by Mary Kubica
For the whole family:
LOVE RHYMES WITH EVERYTHING, By Dana Feagin & Kat von Cupcake
INTO THE WATER, by Paula Hawkins
For research days:
GHOST SHIPS OF THE GREAT LAKES, by Dwight Boyer.
For long summer nights:
IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME, by Marcel Proust
For the dog days:
EVERY LAST LIE, by Mary Kubica
For the whole family:
LOVE RHYMES WITH EVERYTHING, By Dana Feagin & Kat von Cupcake
Mindy Mejia
I've known a few couples whose relationships began despite preexisting taboos and they made it work. Why judge their happiness? As for Hattie and Peter, it's hard to say because Hattie was dead when I met her. I never imagined her future because I knew she didn't have one. It's fun to think about an alternate reality where she and Peter have a tiny Manhattan apartment crammed with books and dirty dishes and maybe a Siamese cat named Macbee.
Mindy Mejia
Hi Angie,
So happy you loved EVERYTHING and Hattie! I just gave Anna (last answered question) a teaser for my next book, which will also be published by Emily Bestler Books. It's slated for Summer 2018.
So happy you loved EVERYTHING and Hattie! I just gave Anna (last answered question) a teaser for my next book, which will also be published by Emily Bestler Books. It's slated for Summer 2018.
Mindy Mejia
Hi Anna! Thanks for coming out to the event at Prairie Lights! I am working on my next book. Here's a preview:
There's a place in Minnesota along the northern edge of the state, hundreds of miles of glacial lakes and untouched forests called the Boundary Waters. Ten years ago a man and his son voyaged into this wilderness and never returned. Search teams found their campsite ravaged by what looked like a bear. They were placed on the missing persons list and presumed dead until a decade later, when the son emerged. Discovered while ransacking an outfitter store, he was violent and uncommunicative. Authorities brought him to Mayfair Mental Institution in Duluth, Minnesota, a port town on the western edge of Lake Superior. Maya Stark, the assistant language therapist, is charged with making a connection with this boy who came back from the dead, their celebrity patient who tries to escape and refuses to answer any questions about his father or the last ten years of his life. But Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who's disappeared from the known world.
There's a place in Minnesota along the northern edge of the state, hundreds of miles of glacial lakes and untouched forests called the Boundary Waters. Ten years ago a man and his son voyaged into this wilderness and never returned. Search teams found their campsite ravaged by what looked like a bear. They were placed on the missing persons list and presumed dead until a decade later, when the son emerged. Discovered while ransacking an outfitter store, he was violent and uncommunicative. Authorities brought him to Mayfair Mental Institution in Duluth, Minnesota, a port town on the western edge of Lake Superior. Maya Stark, the assistant language therapist, is charged with making a connection with this boy who came back from the dead, their celebrity patient who tries to escape and refuses to answer any questions about his father or the last ten years of his life. But Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who's disappeared from the known world.
Mindy Mejia
Hi Lisa,
That is a great question. One of the main themes of the book was identity and how we come to realize who we are in relation to the world. Hattie does hide in her acting roles. She becomes all things to all people, and it's not an altruistic impulse. As someone who is naturally displaced and unable to identify with her environment, she must define herself by what she is not, and her only real comfort is knowing she can get away with it. Her epiphany in the ditch is the realization that she can't hide in those anti-selves any longer.
Peter hid in his books, just like you mentioned. Literature had been his escape ever since his parents divorced. Even Del hid in his role of sheriff to an extent, and had to reconcile what he owed the badge against his place as a friend.
So glad you enjoyed this theme! It's something we all have to deal with continuously as our lives evolve and unfold.
That is a great question. One of the main themes of the book was identity and how we come to realize who we are in relation to the world. Hattie does hide in her acting roles. She becomes all things to all people, and it's not an altruistic impulse. As someone who is naturally displaced and unable to identify with her environment, she must define herself by what she is not, and her only real comfort is knowing she can get away with it. Her epiphany in the ditch is the realization that she can't hide in those anti-selves any longer.
Peter hid in his books, just like you mentioned. Literature had been his escape ever since his parents divorced. Even Del hid in his role of sheriff to an extent, and had to reconcile what he owed the badge against his place as a friend.
So glad you enjoyed this theme! It's something we all have to deal with continuously as our lives evolve and unfold.
Mindy Mejia
Calvin and Susie Derkins
Mindy Mejia
Find a book you love and give it an autopsy. Dissect your favorite paragraph and figure out why it works so well. Don't be afraid to emulate the masters as you discover your own voice.
Required reading: The Elements of Style. On Writing. Maps of the Imagination; The Writer as Cartographer.
Good luck and keep writing!!
Required reading: The Elements of Style. On Writing. Maps of the Imagination; The Writer as Cartographer.
Good luck and keep writing!!
Mindy Mejia
The Dragon Keeper is an adult book, not for kids. My favorite books when I was 8 were Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, and anything with sharks in it. Give those a shot.
Mindy Mejia
So sorry, I'm not her. Here is your fav author: https://carolewilkinson.com.au
Mindy Mejia
I agree, the Atria team did a fabulous job with this cover! We had another cover originally, but decided to go back to the drawing board for something that really popped. I love it because it captures Hattie's character perfectly, how the girl is both magnified and obscured at the same time. You can't miss her, but who is she?
Mindy Mejia
I remember it doesn't exist and get on with my day. ;-)
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