Interview with Nadia Scrieva, author of Drowning Mermaids

Indie Book Promo is happy to welcome Nadia Scrieva to the blog!  She is the author of several books including Drowning Mermaids.  If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please use the buy links at the bottom to pick up a copy.

 

Nadia – A mysterious love story entangled with science and mythology; Nadia Scrieva uses a unique Darwinian approach to explain the ancestry of her mermaids.

 

 

IBP – Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?

Nadia – I would rotate between two places: above the Arctic circle in the northern winter months, and below the Antarctic circle in the southern winter months. That way, I would always be in complete darkness—I write best when it’s dark!

 

IBP -  If you wouldn’t be a writer, what you would be?

Nadia – An assassin.

 

IBP -  Who are your cheerleaders?

Nadia – Many of my readers have contacted me through Facebook and we have become close. It really encourages me to know that people are excited to read my next installment! My number one cheerleader is Melody Bernal; originally a reader of my fanfiction, she has been beside me every step of the way since Drowning Mermaids.

 

IBP –   Did you have support at the beginning and/or during your writing?

Nadia – Heck, no! The beginning was extremely hard, because it was something I had to do only for myself. I didn’t even have anyone who would allow me to bounce ideas off them. My boyfriend at the time laughed at my mermaid idea and my family and friends constantly encouraged me to get a “real job.” Things became easier once people had read the first book, and much easier once people had read the second! Then they knew I was serious.

 

IBP –   Do you read reviews written about your book?

Nadia – They are only my reason for existence! =)

 

 

IBP -  Which scenes were the hardest to write?

Nadia – Any scene where a character goes through something emotionally taxing can be very difficult to endure.

 

IBP –   Who is your favorite character in your new release?

Nadia – I believe that Visola is my favorite character in my whole series. She is the only character I’ve ever written who I wish I could be more like.

 

IBP -  Did you do any research before start or during of the writing of the books?

Nadia – Plenty of research! Mostly on the feasibility of humans being able to breathe underwater. I initially considered having the mermaids be similar to dolphins who can only hold their breath for long periods of time, but since there are certain liquids from which humans can extract oxygen, I decided that this was not too farfetched and far more exciting.

 

IBP -  Your favorite books and author?

Nadia – Too many to list, but one of my all-time favorites is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I also love The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, and could read them all over and over!

 

IBP –   How important do you find the communication between you and your readers? Do you reply to their messages or read their reviews?

 

Nadia – Communication with readers is absolutely essential to me. I reply to all of their messages. If it weren’t for the fans, I would be tossing tennis balls into a black hole. The readers are the wall that bounce the tennis ball back at me… and sometimes they can be an outfielder chucking that ball right back to home plate from whence it was struck.

IBP –   If I give you a time machine, what time period and in what place would you travel to?

Nadia – I’m sure this is a common answer, but I would travel back to my own youth and correct my own mistakes.

 

 

IBP –   What is in the works for you next?

Nadia – I am currently editing three novels I have already written. It will be a series about two girls from a background of black magic and witchcraft who employ a powerful spell to exact vengeance on their lovers.

 

Book Blurb: Deep under Arctic waters lies an ice kingdom carved into a glacier. Those who dwell within it possess magnificent biological secrets. Due to the dangers of impending war, the Princess of Adlivun is forced to flee her undersea utopia and regroup with her sisters in Alaska.

Captain Trevain Murphy is a successful king crab fisherman who has spent his life building his empire above the sea, and knows nothing of the empire beneath it. When he meets a mysterious dancer whose father has recently died, he extends kindness towards her, unaware of her unique genetics and royal lineage.

Trevain’s attraction to the enigmatic Aazuria Vellamo will involve him in dangerous designs that will forever change his life, and his perspective on himself and his world. He embarks on perilous journeys in which he will need to release all of his insecurities and inhibitions in order to survive.

Excerpt: “Why are we here, Brynne?” Trevain asked, leaning against the wall angrily.

“I wanted a snack,” she said, rummaging through the cupboards.

“I didn’t.”

“Well, you need to eat dinner,” she said with her mouth full. “We’ve been fishing all day.”

“I’m not hungry. Look Brynne, is there a reason you haven’t left my side this whole trip? Do you think that I’m emotionally vulnerable because Aazuria left me and I’m going to fall into your arms or something?”

“Here, just relax and let me cook something good for you.”

“I appreciate your concern for my health, but I already told you that I’m not hungry…”

“Why is there sound coming from this bag of rice?” Brynne asked, putting her ear to the bag. “That’s weird. It sounds like a clock.”

Trevain frowned and moved over to the bag of rice to listen to it.

“Reminds me of that story about the captain and the crocodile—he could always tell the crocodile was near because it had swallowed a clock, and he could hear the ticking…”

“Shut up, Brynne.” Trevain said, pulling a knife out of a drawer and slitting the bag open, causing rice to spill out all over the floor.

“Hey, you’re making a mess!” Brynne scolded.

“Where the hell did you get this?” Trevain yelled, staring at the strange homemade bomb which was nestled in the rice.

“A blond woman on the docks gave it to me…”

“Dammit!” he cursed. “There’s no time.”

“No time?” Brynne asked in confusion. Trevain grabbed her hand and was pulling her into the next room. “What are you doing?”

“Get in the bathtub, Brynne!”

“What? Why? I’m not into kinky…”

“Down, now!” Trevain grabbed Brynne and dived with her into the bathtub, covering her body with his and waiting for the sound.

The next second, all that they heard was—nothing. The sound of the explosion was so deafening that there was a moment of intense pain in their ears before they lost the ability to hear. They felt, however. They felt the pressure of the bomb exploding. They felt the heat of the explosion burning their skin and singeing their hair. They felt the bathtub being ripped from the ship, and pieces of debris colliding with their bodies. Trevain felt large objects colliding with his head and back, before he was aware that they were surrounded by water.

It was several seconds before the heat subsided to the cooling water, and he was able to open his eyes. He could barely make out the scared expression on Brynne’s face in the darkness. There was debris everywhere; pieces of the broken ship. Trevain was completely disoriented. It was difficult to figure out where they needed to swim. He could tell that pieces of the ship near the surface were burning. He looked around for the other members of his crew, trying to get his bearings.

The flames were growing stronger. The ship’s diesel was leaking from the ruptured gas tank. They could not swim to the surface, or they would be burned. Brynne’s face was lit by the flickering firelight as she panicked and tried to communicate with him, but they could not understand each other. He appreciated the need for sign language more than ever at that moment. Brynne was freaking out and she began swimming off in one direction. He was sure that was not where they needed to go. He tried to reach for her, but he was feeling dizzy from the lack of oxygen flowing to his brain. He looked around, trying to figure out where to go and what to do. He was panicking too.

Trevain tried to swim away from the flames, but he could not get very far. He needed air badly. He realized he was going to drown. He could not breathe underwater; he did not have the ability. He did not know how. What Aazuria and his mother were talking about—he wished it was all true, but it was not. Not for him.

He knew that he was about to die. His lungs painfully begged him to take a breath, but he knew that the moment he did, he would drown. Although he had almost wanted something exactly like this to happen to him when he had set sail earlier, he now realized that he had been fooling himself. As demented as he had been feeling, as self-destructive as his intentions, it had all been just a farce. He did not really want to die.

He tried as hard as he could to hold onto his last few moments of life.

A flash of white caught his eye, and he saw that an exquisite creature was suddenly before him. Long white hair fanned out around her face, and the purest sapphire blue eyes stared at him. The lovely phantasm was smiling, and reaching out to take his hands; he knew it was an angel.

It was his angel. He knew her, although she looked nothing like before. She was his Aazuria, his mythical heroine. In the dancing glow of the oil blaze, she was simply too dazzling to be real and he knew that he must be dying. As she hovered in suspension before him, her skin and hair were almost luminous in the dark water, almost phosphorescent. Perhaps she never had been real. It did not matter—she was firmly grasping his hands, and it sent a feeling of comfort and tranquility through him. He knew that she loved him.

He could see forgiveness and acceptance in her expression. None of the turmoil between them mattered any longer in this pacific moment. In her benevolent gaze, he could finally forgive himself. He smiled at her, although his vision was fading, and the world was disappearing. He tightly gripped her hands to thank her for coming back for him. He could not bear the thought of letting go; he did not want to be robbed of her touch. He tried to keep his eyes open for as long as possible, to keep looking into her unfamiliar ultramarine orbs. So this was what she really looked like, in her element. He wished he could have known her true form. It was mystical.

Trevain could imagine no better way to die. No better sight to see the last time he closed his eyes. A peaceful smile descended on his face, and the captain’s tired eyes closed for what he knew to be the last time ever.

Author Bio: Nadia Scrieva was born in 1988 in Toronto, Canada. She studied English and Anthropology, graduating with an Honors B.A. from the University of Toronto in 2011. She was employed as a model for several years.   Due to a deficient social life, Nadia spent her childhood reading and her preteen years writing fanfiction. After briefly experimenting with being a normal, productive member of society, she decided it wasn’t for her, and chose to return to literature.   Nadia Scrieva firmly believes that if she were the owner of a punching bag, or if she could afford relatively frequent deep-tissue massages, the volume of her writing would sharply decrease. She writes best when she is tense, furious, or restless, and perhaps with slight inebriation.

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