Winterviews Spotlight: Raquel Miotto E.

To celebrate 13 weeks of winter, Hàlön Chronicles is conducting one interview a week for 13 weeks. We’re also partnering with other sites and artists to bring a fuller, richer experience to our readers.

Join us on the hashtag #13Winterviews, or check out this season’s articles:
Welcome to the Season | Winterviews Partners | 2019 Blog Hop | Book Pairings | Winterviews & Solstice Eve

This week on Winterviews takes us into the heart of Brazil as we say hello to Raquel Miotto E.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m Raquel Miotto E., born and raised in Brazil. I played sports all my life and moved to North Carolina on a scholarship to play volleyball at age 19. I have a degree in Art and a minor in Marketing. I can’t have children (I’ve tried and treated), but I was blessed with three wonderful stepchildren I love to the moon and beyond. My parents and brother all still live in Brazil. I get to see them once a year if I’m lucky, and I just came back from spending the holidays with them!

What types of books do you write, and why?
I write young adult historical fantasy with strong female leads because I want to make a difference‐I want to inspire women to push through the barriers stipulated by a flawed system. I write magic because it gives the characters alternate tools to develop their own inherent power, and I write historical because readers shouldn’t forget how far we’ve come, how hard we’ve had to fight to be where we are today.

What were your early influences, and how does this manifest in your work today?
I’ve always liked to read everything, from middle grade to adult. Three Sisters Islands by Nora Roberts was one of the first magical realism novels I fell in love with as a young adult. Of course, before that I had a Harry Potter phase (still living it to the fullest), as well as Twilight (this one, not so much), even though I have very little of the latter in my work. But the mix between real and magical is what has always attracted me, what made me want to write it. I added the historical aspect to it because it was also something I fell in love with in A Discovery of Witches. The second book in the series really immerses the reader and makes it difficult to separate what is history and what is fantasy, and I just loved all of it and the way Deborah Harkness makes you feel like you could actually run into vampires on the street.

Are there aspects of the craft that excite you more than others?
Writing the first draft is definitely my favorite part. Seeing a story from your head take shape on the computer screen, form itself from individual keys on a keyboard, is mind blowing. Typing THE END—regardless of the hot mess my first drafts end up—gives me a sense of accomplishment I assume can only be made better by selling the actual manuscript and holding the printed hardcover in my (at the moment tan and peeling) arms.

What books or websites are your go-to places while editing?
Craft Quest – These ladies are incredible, I’m so glad I get to work closely with them.
Rewrite Wednesday – This is an amazing “overused words checklist” to really help during the polishing process.

But my number one go-to person—and I’m sorry not everyone gets to have her—is freelance editor and co creator of #RevPit Jeni Chappelle @jenichappelle.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, that I won RevPit because Jeni is my friend. I’d like to point out I didn’t know Jeni before the contest. She chose my story and we worked on it, when we were done and she tried to send me on my merry way, I just told her she was stuck with me and I wasn’t going anywhere. She tried to fight it but couldn’t resist the Brazilian charm and over the top extrovert here, so we’ve became great friends. 🙂

Tell us about your writing space (music/snacks/interruptions/etc).
My writing space is my screened-porch-turned-office-of-my-dreams. My husband and I built it together, and although it has no central heating or cooling, my husband installed a wood stove which I love having, especially during the winter. I also have a view of the pool and back yard. It is absolutely amazing when it rains.

As far as snacks go, I’d rather not eat and type—it’s messy—but give me a hard cider, hard seltzer, or any alcoholic beverage (with the exception of beer) and you’ll have yourself a new best friend.

The only person allowed to interrupt is my husband when he comes in to give me kisses, and anyone bringing me another drink. Otherwise, STAY AWAY.

Tell us about your current WIP or your latest book release.

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I’m currently on submission with a manuscript titled Sun of the New Word. It is about a 17-year-old Afro-Brazilian girl born in the 1600s, with absolutely nothing to her name, no family, no home, in a land recently invaded by cruel foreigners who’d successfully enslaved her people. But instead of blood, in her veins runs gold—real, liquid gold. This makes her a target for Exu, the African god of mystery, magic, and transformation.

In order to trust the people fighting next to her, Sashien must embrace her past. In order to discover the true power of her golden blood, she must stay a step ahead of Exu and his underlings.

This story was picked by #RevPit editor Jeni Chappelle whose incredible vision helped me acquire my agent Kelly Peterson @LitAgentKelly in 2018. The manuscript is largely based on my mother’s hard childhood and how she found her place in a world that did nothing but try to beat her down (you can read a little more in this thread). I wanted to honor her hard work and the pain of her ancestors—my ancestors. Everything they went through to survive, to leave the word a better place for their children, for me.

Own question: On being a writer of color.
It can be difficult for people of color to find a place in the publishing industry with our convictions, cultures, and beliefs. When I moved to the US years ago, I left behind my family and friends to follow my dreams. As I did, I felt lost without knowing the language, the people, or the culture. But I also felt a sense of deeper displacement because I’m not only white, only black, or only native Brazilian. My father is light-skinned, my mother’s father was Afro-Brazilian, and my great-grandmother was native Brazilian. So I’m all of them wrapped into one—and so is my main character. This realization has weighed on me to the point of making it my responsibility to share this story. But although I’m in love with the way it turned out, the uniqueness of this manuscript is paving an extremely difficult road to navigate.

I’ve completed two manuscripts at this point, and I’m working on my third. My first manuscript was rewarding and challenging, but still not what I needed from writing. I wanted to tell a story that had never been told, a story that nobody else could tell, so my second manuscript has become the story of my heart. It’s the harsh story of my people told through the eyes of fantasy and love.
Stories like mine are becoming more and more popular. The Hate You Give, Love Hate and Other Filters, Refugee, Children of Blood and Bone, and The Serpent’s Secret are all great examples of insights into diverse cultures that need to be explored through fiction and non-fiction. It’s time for beautiful, passionate, Brazilian tales to share a place in the heart of the world next to these amazing titles.

Acquiring a mentorship from #RevPit, and an agent has helped me narrow my focus and concentrate on details of my story I’ve missed; it pushed me to improve my writing skills. Having the chance to share my culture is an opportunity that few Brazilians get. I’m extremely excited to take it. I have and hope to continue to garner exposure to all sides of the publishing industry, absorb everything I can, create bonds, and even gain friends in the process, all while working toward becoming a better writer and sharing my story.

“She who didn’t know it was impossible, she went and did it.”
My dad always said that to me, and I kept it in my heart all these years. I’ve wanted, and have accomplished, many things in my life; but this time, while I was writing, his saying was what kept me going chapter after chapter.

I started writing a book shortly after I got married in 2011. I can’t claim it was Faeth (my first ms), though since the story has changed so much from when I started. But I started writing for my wonderful stepchildren, who share the same love for fantasy that I do. They have brought a joy to my life I never thought I would have. Months into writing I realized I didn’t have what it takes to be an author, so I shelved it. But my passion for reading had me try one more time. Four years later I opened the original Word file and revisited my ideas. I not only finished that ms, but I edited, revised, polished, and queried it.

While waiting to hear back from agents regarding Faeth, I decided to write another story Sun of a New World, but this time I wrote for me. I wrote about my country of origin, about things I thought other people should know. I quickly fell in love with it and the book wrote itself quicker than I ever thought I’d be able to write. In four months (compared to the six years I spent on the first ms,) I had a new draft I was head over heels with.

My wonderful husband was instantly on board with the second ms. I can honestly say two things: first, if it wasn’t for him, Faeth would never have been; and second, he is as much part of any of my books, as I am.

Connect with Raquel: Twitter | Website | Facebook | Instagram