An Interview with Maria Beta: Author of The Girl from the Moon

Maria Beta as a child asked her mother to change her name to Rainbow Brite. Lucky for her, her mother didn’t agree with it. Many times she tried to prove if the Force really existed, but despite pens and mugs not moving, she realized that even if they don’t, it was fun to think they could.

After her mother brought home, by mistake, Flash Gordon instead of the My Little Pony movie, that was the final jump to imagination beyond Earth. With a math and economics background, passion for history, and a ‘bit’ of imagination, she is creating The Elemental Tides. She loves to write listening to indie music… and to Queen.

Tell us about your book.

I would love to say that the book/series is about two sisters, or about two aliens, or about humans meeting aliens and they all share an incredible superpower, but it’s actually about the importance of all of them being together. Kanio and Nnox, the aliens or Phelaries, emphasize the importance of ‘the pairs’ which is key for the fortunate ones that can become ‘ALLIAFIED.’ In relationships, either sisterhood or friendship, we share bonds by blood or interests, experiences, etc., it’s important to be open to live them and embrace the possibility of becoming closer to one another through them.

Along the series, my characters are separated or pushed away, though they will tend to come back together, or look/find for a different person. It’s the tides. In this book, the first tide, both Cate and Victoria are rejected and turned down in different ways because they possess this unusual-characteristic called ‘Alliafied,’ and that fact of course tightens their relationship, as they believe they are the only ones that can experience this (at least Cate believes that)… and that is how the saga begins. Relationships in life are elastic, sometimes they stretch far enough out sight, and sometimes they come back glued under our eyelids. The main point of the story is that it’s important to trust and know that we can count with others…and of course, that they are all ‘Alliafied,’ unbeatable and incorruptible, all unique in different ways, but they are all the same.

Why did you choose to self-publish?

Mainly two reasons: (1) Because I wanted the first book to be out there ASAP. (2) English is not my first language, and even when I speak/write in my first one, I have my own particular voice. I believe because of those reasons, a publisher would had push me into changing or avoiding my own ‘unusual characteristic.’

What tools or companies did you use, and what experience did you have?

First, I worked with Amy Bennet. I have a math background, and putting together a novel was something new and surreal for me. Amy helped me turning a draft into a proper story with a world, characters, and purposes. After that, I worked with Kevin Anderson & Associates, and they babysit me in the whole process until I pressed (I can’t remember what key) and the book was out there in Amazon. And Bookhive, SPR and Entrada for Beta-Readers. They were all amazing.

Would you self-publish again?

I guess so, this is the DIY era. But I’m aware that having a publisher will take things into a different level in terms of reach and speed.

How do you deal with writer’s block?

I read history, or watch Sci-Fi movies. There was a moment when I couldn’t focus and couldn’t write nothing relevant to the story, and then I watched this movie, and at the middle I said to myself ‘this is Nnox’s voice!’ and the next day the paragraphs moved fluidly. I tend to watch a few episodes of Robotech from time to time, the Zentraedi were my first inspiration for the Phelaries.

Tell us about the genre you wrote in, and why you chose to write this sort of book.

“I’m your father.”

Who are your biggest writing inspirations and why?

Brave New World. I think my eyes pop-out when I read it, and that is one of the reasons behind my name, and because alpha doesn’t exist. Foundation and the Khaleesi.

What is the Alliafied characteristic?

Alliafied is a noun and a verb, so I know it could be a bit confusing. The Alliafied are special beings that can turn their outer-layer or skin in a strong crust composed of different elements, metals, gems or alike, and they will have a color according to their components. Also, an Alliafied can be from four different levels or Leeve, which indicates the strength of these elements together, and they move along with the states of matter. An Alliafied Leeve 1 will only turn into metal or metalloid etc, just solid. Leeve 2 can recreate a layer of superliquid above it, Leeve 3 can add gas.. and of course Leeve 4 plasma. When a person transforms that is called ‘alliafy’, and when returns to its normal state, that is ‘unalliafy’. Besides that, an Alliafied can be from 4 Genyis: Thendor, Lario, Balio and Phima… and each has its own different tricks and surprises.

The world divided in Alliances, the North American Alliance and the New Houses, where do they come from?

When I see how the world is standing right now, I don’t think it’s impossible to think that we will become closer to our immediate neighbors and forget about the ones far beyond an ocean-or on the other coast. If we continue in this path, we may end up in isolation… hopefully not with a submarine fortress in the middle of the Gulf. It’s an immediate future that is not hard to visualize, but that we can still prevent.

Will we see more Alliafied in the future?

Many more, this has just begun.