Please help me welcome today’s guest, Mitra De Souza
Thank you for joining me, Mitra. Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
I grew up in San Diego County and currently live there with my husband, two kids and two big fluff ball rescue dogs. We lived in Trinidad and Tobago for 16 years (my husband is from there) and moved back to Southern California in 2018. In addition to being an author, I work full time at a local community college.
Where did you get the idea for THE FRAGILE?
I woke up one morning with the idea and knew I had to write it. The concept really spoke to me as a highly sensitive and empathic person. I wanted to reframe sensitivity as a strength and let young people know that who they are is more than okay. I really like how the main character learns to embrace her own inner strength.
Why did you choose this genre?
I love reading and writing speculative fiction. Growing up, I enjoyed watching The Twilight Zone and reading Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. With respect to writing speculative fiction, I love the freedom to imagine “what if’s” and to think outside the box. Most of what I write has at least some speculative element. I gravitate to YA fiction because I’ve spent the last 25 years working with young adults as an educator.
What do you dislike that most people wouldn’t understand?
I really dislike soda/soft drinks (especially Coke/Pepsi).
Do you collect anything?
I have a collection of keychains from various countries and states that people have given me. It started when I worked at The University of the West Indies, and students would go home over break and want to bring me back something from their islands. Key chains are relatively cheap and easy to find so I’d usually request one of those. So, my collection started with islands from throughout the Caribbean, but has grown to keychains from all over the world. It’s cool because the collection represents all the places that people I care about have been.
What was your first job?
Serving frozen yogurt at TCBY for $4 an hour.
What’s the main thing that you could get rid of in your life that would give you more writing time?
My full-time job, but I need that to live. Despite enjoying my job, I look forward to when I can retire and spend my days writing.
What do you want readers to come away with after they read THE FRAGILE?
I hope readers feel seen and inspired to fully embrace their unique selves. I’d also love to spark conversations about how we can make the world a better place.
Would you rather have a bad review or no review?
It depends on why the review is “bad.” If they simply say they hate the book or give it a 1 star without any reason, I would definitely prefer no review. However, if the review contains constructive feedback that would be more helpful than no review.
What is your favorite quote?
“Justice is what love looks like in public.”- Cornell West
How did you come up with the title?
The title came to me one morning along with the idea for the book. In the book, children are called “Fragiles” because they are highly sensitive. Society often equates sensitivity with being weak and fragile, and the books seeks to reframe this.
Your favorite…
Movie – The Shawshank Redemption and Free Guy
Music – We Close our Eyes by Oingo Boingo
Place you’ve visited – Cuba
Place you’d like to visit – Barcelona
Food – grapes and fries (but not at the same time)
Thank you for the interesting interview…you’re right, I don’t understand how you don’t like soda, Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke are my jam 🙂 Now, please tell us about your book…
TAG LINE: An institutionalized teen with debilitating empathy and the secret ability to transfer feelings into people with her hands must choose between her longing to be cured and her will to fight back against a man bent on destroying everyone like her.
BLURB
Seventeen-year-old Maya is a Fragile—someone deemed too weak to function in society —and has spent the last decade institutionalized at the Academy for the Rehabilitation of Children. Maya wants nothing more than to be cured of her neurotic hypersensitivity which causes her to experience the pain and emotions of others. Instead, she begins to have vivid nightmares where she connects with a young girl’s trauma, leading her to uncover a plot to destroy the empathy centers in children’s brains.
Desperate to escape the girl’s pain, Maya learns she has the ability to transfer feelings into people with her hands when she accidentally hurts her best friend, Jacob. Lacking faith in her new ability, Maya must choose between fighting a man bent on destroying everyone like her, and finally being free from the burden of empathy.
In doing so, she might discover that she’s not so fragile after all…
Excerpt:
One summer evening about a year before her assessment, [Maya] watched the neighborhood boys catch fireflies. The jars lit up like lanterns as the sky faded into darkness. To her horror, the tallest boy with messy blond hair took a firefly between his fingers and smashed it until his fingers glowed with the firefly’s light. As the other boys gathered around to try, she screamed at them to stop. But they just laughed and continued to crush the fireflies. She lunged at the blond boy who shoved her to the ground. While the other boys laughed, one spat at her and mumbled “stupid Fragile” under his breath. Her bruises healed, but the words left a permanent scar.
Buy link: https://a.co/d/dYGf0lJ
About the Author:
Mitra has loved to write for as long as she can remember. In elementary school, she used to tape her short stories to the back of her chair for her classmates to read. She is drawn to stories that encourage people to view the world from a new perspective. When she lived in Trinidad and Tobago, she authored a series of children’s books published by a local NGO to foster empathy and promote animal welfare. She currently resides in San Diego with her husband, two kids and two big rescue dogs who think they’re still puppies. When she isn’t writing, she loves walking on the beach, laughing uncontrollably with her kids, and continuing her quest to find the perfect mango.
You can read more about Mitra at https://mitradesouza.com/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mitradesouza
Author Alicia Dean 