M A Levi
Author.....................Poet
Interviews
Interview with the Birch Run Herald by Amy Krump
M. A. Levi, 24, is a new up and coming author who not only resides in the B. R. area today, but also spent time growing up in the area as well.
Her first book Beast Blood is part of a trilogy that is called The Beast Trilogy. Although this is her first book publication she has had some poems published previously, but had never thought about writing a book until the idea for Beast Blood came to her one night while watching T.V.
Levi said that while growing up her mom would watch a lot of supernatural shows and at the time they got old, but she appreciates the influence now since without it her book wouldn’t be here. One day during her fourth year of college studying business she found herself watching a show about a family who believed they were being attacked by werewolves, and Levi said in that in that instant she had an idea, and it consumed her.
That idea that consumed her four nearly nine months would turn out to be her first published novel Beast Blood. Levi said the idea was all she could think about and wrote the first draft in nine months then went back to edit for about five months before seeking a publisher. Levi is published through Archway Publishing in Indiana which is a branch off of Simon and Schuster.
At first Beast Blood was supposed to be a standalone novel, but the more Levi thought about it the more she questioned why certain things had happened in her story and decided she needed to write a prequel to her story, Flames of the Beast. Then afterwards went on and is still working towards finishing the third in the series, Rise of the Beast. She did say she is taking her time with this one so that she can wrap it up very nicely and there aren’t any loose ends.
Levi explains that her story is complex with two story lines that play off of each other to create the main story.
“It’s a collaboration of angels, demons, and werewolves but is targeted towards adults,” Levi said while describing her book.
When talking about the story Levi said it starts in Scotland with a character Alexandria running away from her husband Francis because she had fallen in love with his enemy. Then the next scene takes place in modern day mid-Michigan.
Levi has had no formal training when it comes to writing but has learned through association by reading a lot of today’s modern authors. She said that Johanna Lindsey is one that comes to mind that brought her into the love of reading. Her mom had just finished a novel by Lindsey and told Levi to try and read it and she reluctantly read the romance and ended up falling in love with the book.
She hopes to continue writing after she completes Beast Blood as she has found this to be what she was meant to do. “I’m a big advocate for people to do what they love,” Levi explained. She said while in business school she thought of opening her own flower and pottery shop until Beast Blood took over, and now she knows that this is what she was meant to do.
While further discussing her book Levi stated that there are spiritual factors such as angels and demons, but that she also adds characters from the Bible. But she wants people to understand that it’s all fiction and that she took things from life and turned it into the story she wrote. “I want people to just enjoy it for what it is. It’s entertainment,” she added.
Levi is very proud of her accomplishment and knew early on that she was onto a good idea. She remembers writing it and she felt as though the story was revealing itself to her and she couldn’t believe the connections it was making before her eyes.
She did advise readers that there is some sex, violence, and gore so would suggest an approximate 16 and up reading level. However Levi wants her readers to, “Experience a life that is impossible to live.”