My time with Estelle Laure...

Estelle Laure lives in Taos, New Mexico with her children. She is a renowned author of Young adult books. She has a BA in Theater Arts from New Mexico State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

I first heard about Estelle when I saw her novel This Race Line, published by Puck in spanish, a few years ago in the bookstore. But it's not until 2020 that I have the opportunity to read Mayhem, her new novel, by ARC thanks to the Netgalley team.

This book shows the story of Mayhem, a teenager who escapes with his mother from a violent home to discover the place where she was born. There, many secrets are revealed about her nature and that of the female lineage of his family. It talks about youth, supernatural abilities, and feminism, among other topics.

I was able to talk to her and here is the result of that fantastic conversation...

What has changed in your writing from her first novel to this one? What was it like to finish writing this book?

I like to think I get better at storytelling with each book and less afraid of criticism. It’s been thirteen years since I started writing in earnest and my understanding of what it takes to be a working writer is much more developed, as well as my comprehension of story elements. I will never be done learning, but I feel much more at home in my writing than I used to. Finishing this book, which only happened as copyedits were completed, felt amazing. It was much like how I imagine it feels to successfully complete a marathon. I was exhausted, but it was a happy kind of exhausted. Whatever happens now, I love this book and am proud of it.

Mayhem is a novel that deals with very difficult and present problems in the daily life of the world, such as domestic violence or sexual abuse. But within all this, it is also a novel about friendship, fraternity, and relationships. What do your loved ones represent in your life?

My loved ones are everything to me, and because I’m a teacher I have many. I basically feel that outside of my work as a writer, my days are spent trying to savor every moment I can with people I love. Most of my friendships are very long-standing and I have a big family as well. There’s lots of love to go around. Part of what I was trying to do with this story was to show that whether it’s a chosen family or the one you were born into, close relationships can save you. I know they saved me.

Last year in Colombia we experienced a situation as we did not live long ago. People took to the streets to ask their rulers to respect them, to demonstrate before the corruption that eats up our country, and to demand respect for the lives of women, social leaders, and students. Something similar is happening in the United States, Brazil, and other territories, and people are taking to the streets to speak out because those who should protect them are killing them. People are raising their voices to fight for their rights. About this, I was very struck by the way justice is reflected in Mayhem. Could we talk about this?

What is happening now all over is so important and devastating, like the pain of the whole world is surfacing and can’t go back underground again, and frankly, I think it’s time. I hope we can be as peaceful about it as possible, but I don’t think we should allow things to quietly descend back into silence. I am 100% behind the Black Lives Matter movement and support the LGBTQIAP+ community any way I can. Mostly, I feel it’s my place to listen, to educate myself, and help when possible and don’t want to insert myself into that conversation because as a white author it’s not my voice that needs to be front and center.

The question of justice is so complicated as you know, and as you can tell I wrestle with it myself. I don’t think people should have to stand down and take abuse, and I also think delivering vigilante justice comes at a price and not without moral quandaries. Sometimes I ask questions in my stories and don’t really answer them because I don’t know how, but they are still questions worth asking. This seems to be a topic the whole world is grappling with now.

“When I dare to be powerful... It becomes less and less important whether I am afraid". This is a phrase from the writer and activist Audre Lorde who is present in Mayhem. On this subject, I would love to know how you understand feminism.

Oh wow, that’s a question we could spend days unpacking. The simple answer is that I’m clearly a feminist and my intention is to tell stories that are empowering and interesting to girls. That said, the answer actually isn’t simple at all. I’ve been studying for years and still feel I’ve only scratched the surface. I’m interested in intersectional feminism, and I’m also passionate about trans rights and being present as an ally to the LGBTQIAP+ community, as I mentioned above. It’s not just about the binary experience anymore. There is so much to learn and it’s an ever-changing landscape right now, which is exciting. In the end, I want to make sure that everything I’m doing and everything I stand for is contributing in some small way to the expansion of rights and more equality for every human on the planet. I do have an unfortunate history with some men and the way they can dominate physically and create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. That is something I hope we are making strong moves to combat because the patriarchy as it currently exists is a huge fail.

Mayhem and the women of her family have a special power that is very important in the development of the story. What skill would you like to have?

That one would be good. I think I would feel a lot more secure in the world if I knew the skeletons in people’s closets. Or maybe that would make it worse. Either way, I would take it!

You can find more information about Estelle by clicking here