Your debut novel THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE is out today! Can you tell us what it is about?

It’s about a girl named Rhonda who runs away and crosses the border into Mexico to find her best friend Jesús, who has been deported to his home state of Oaxaca. In order to travel more safely across Mexico, Rhonda pretends she is a Mexican boy named Angel.

The novel explores the idea of borders—between the U.S. and Mexico, male and female, adolescence and adulthood, English and Spanish. It’s also about what it means to be a girl and have adventures.

What was your road to publication like?

The road to publication has been wild. I wrote another novel first called THE GODS OF FIRE that’s based on my experiences as a forest firefighter. That novel didn’t sell, so I flew to Hollywood and convinced a major producer to option the book for film. I then wrote the screenplay. I’m waiting to publish THE GODS OF FIRE until the movie is closer to being made.

So I decided to go ahead and put out THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE first. Working towards being published has taught me a lot about determination and believing in my work.

What is the best part about being an author?

The best part about being an author is reading a finished novel and realizing that it works and is really good.

And the worst?

The worst is being halfway through a novel and not having any idea if it’s going to be good or not.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Write first thing in the morning when you get up, everyday, even if it’s only for 15 minutes.

What is your writing process like?

I drink a lot of coffee and write at home in my pajamas, or at coffee shops in my neighborhood. I write very viscerally without a lot of planning. Then once I have the story on the page, I go back and edit and edit and rewrite and rewrite.

Have any of your characters demanded more page space than you had originally planned?

With THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE the opposite happened. In the first draft Rhonda’s two best friends in the U.S. took up way more space. Once the novel was finished I realized it was mostly just about Rhonda so I cut about 100 pages.

Has researching for a novel ever got you into any funny situations?

I try to have amazing, adventurous life experiences and then write about them later. Is that research? If so, I “researched” THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE by running away from home when I was 15. I made it all the way to Matamoros, Mexico. I would NOT recommend that other young people try this themselves. But it was fun for me.

As a writer, who are your main influences?

Francesca Lia Block has always been one of my main influences. She incorporates fantastical elements and bits of magical realism into novels that are mostly realistic.

What have you read recently and loved?

The Sisters Brothers blew my mind. It’s a Western written about two outlaw brothers whose last name is Sisters. It’s darkly comic and fantastic.

Can you tell us a bit about what you are working on just now?

Right now I’m working on revisions for the screenplay based on my work as a forest firefighter. Learning how to write scripts is really a blast.

Where can our readers find out more about you?

There’s lots of info about me on my website www.marypaulinelowry.com