Written by Jayse Smith
When Maria Lewis walks into a room, heads turn. She is the colourful haired, pop-culture loving, crime and fantasy writing, all-rounder who has worked in film, television, and print as both a journalist and now as an author.
Maria Lewis is the best-selling author of Who’s Afraid? and Who’s Afraid Too?, which are currently being adapted for television. Then there’s fan favourite, It Came From The Deep, which was first released as an eBook, but due to huge demand, it was released as a physical book and it’s killing it in the Australian YA scene.
Our writer Jayse took some time out with her and got the juicy info on her upcoming work, her life, and loves.
For someone who doesn’t know Maria Lewis, what are the four things they should know about you…
My hair changes colour a lot, I relate to people only in pop culture references, I write some things—movies, books, TV shows, articles, and comics—and will likely pet your dog for upwards of ten minutes.
Where were you when you found out Who’s Afraid and Who’s Afraid Too were bestsellers and what was your reaction?
It’s funny, cos it doesn’t exactly happen like that: it’s not as if you get a phone call and someone tells you the result down the other end of the line. I never heard the news from my Aussie publishers, it was Aussie booksellers who reached out to me to say congratulations and kept me updated on how the books were going, as well as my publishers in London, when they started sending out marketing materials. So it was a slow roll, where I received pockets of information over the course of about two years and just kept hoping the response I was receiving in person at pop culture conventions and writers festivals was indicative of how the books were doing.
Publishing is a funny industry, especially for me coming from the world of film and television where a movie can live and die depending on opening weekend box-office results. Books are a little more gradual, with some finding their audience years after the fact rather than overnight.
Tommi Grayson is a kick-ass lead character in the Who’s Afraid? series, how important is it for you to write strong female leads and why?
It’s basically the reason I do this. I grew up on a diet of strong, interesting, prickly women and so that’s always what I expected to see in the pop culture I consumed. It’s what I sought out as a reader, viewer, whatever, so when it came to the point that I was creating my own work I wanted to write the kind of heroines and anti-heroines I have always been obsessed with: women like She-Hulk, Clarice Starling, Dana Scully, Wonder Woman, Ardelia Mapp, Faith, Huntress, Willow, Xena, Lt Ripley, Buffy, Vasquez, Storm, Sidney Bristow, Barbara Gordon, and basically every Final Girl in existence.
Your house is described as having too many posters, but the right amount of people, but what’s your workspace like…where do you write?
I work from home in a small but sufficient office, which is plastered in movie posters, art that readers have drawn me, story notes, fairy lights, reference books, geek toys—the whole thing. If you’ve ever watched any of my YouTube videos, that’s my office you see behind me. Coming from a journalism background though, I do crave the bustle of a newsroom sometimes as that’s my natural working environment so if I’m going nusto in the house there’s a café called 212 Blu which is one of my favourite places to write and edit especially.
Your fans say that you are the most awesome, down to earth and just a lovely person. What’s the weirdest thing a fan has done or given to you?
Do they say that though? That definitely sounds like something my mum would have paid you to say that they said, but alright man. I realised this pretty early on in the game, but basically any food I write into a book, fans will bring that food and give it to you just because they’re awesome. There’s a whole scene in Who’s Afraid Too? that revolves around lemon meringue pie—which is one of my favourite things in the world—and I wrote it into the book because I was really craving it during the rewrite process. When the novel came out, people started bringing me slices at book events or even making it from scratch, which was literally a dream come true. I’m also super blessed the people who read my books engage with them visually, as I get a lot of fan art or merch readers have made with the characters. I keep it all—some of it is framed and hanging on my walls, others are stuck up there with Blu-tac.
In terms of weirdest thing, a reader once recognised my partner on the street and followed them home to try to find out where I lived, which was probably less weird and more just super uncool from top to bottom.
The Who’s Afraid series is being adapted for television, how’s that going? How hands on have you been?
They say for every fifty projects that go into development, you’re lucky if ten come out so I’m taking the whole television series thing with a grain of salt as it’s really tough to get a show made and especially one like Who’s Afraid?, where because of what goes down in the book, the budget would need to be significant per episode to get it done. But I’ve got to have a lot of meetings with some incredible people here in Australia, New Zealand and London about the show —some who are IRL heroes of mine—and it has opened a lot of doors for other television projects I’ve been working on.
How important is it that characters of colour are portrayed by actors of colour in adaptations?
It was a deal breaker for me. Two production companies literally walked away in the negotiation process of selling the option for Who’s Afraid? because I had a diversity clause written into the contracts. It stated that not only would Tommi and the other characters of colour be played by actors from those backgrounds, but that inclusivity would be reflected off camera with women, people of colour, LBGTQI+ folks and disabled professionals hired in technical roles within the crew. No production company has been keen to have that included and there was a lot of attempting to wriggle out of it, but my whole point is no one is insisting you buy the rights to this story and attempt to make this tale. If you do, however, the bare minimum is making sure we have diversity and inclusivity reflected on camera, but also off camera as well. Truthfully it’s not that hard, it’s just when straight, white men begin to see they don’t have a monopoly on the industry they’ve run for the past 100 years they try to buckle down wherever they can.
You self-published It Came from the Deep, why did you choose this method and how did it eventuate?
The book was sitting with a bunch of publishers, a lot of them who liked It Came From The Deep but questioned whether a merman story could sell in the market. It was in that state of stasis for years until I was like, fuck this. I knew there was an audience for it and if publishers didn’t believe that, fine, I didn’t need them to. With The Shape Of Water, Sirens, Tidelands, The Lure and countless other mer-stuff making inroads, I didn’t want to be left behind. It was originally only supposed to exist as an e-book, but the demand has been so strong and readers so insistent that It Came From The Deep is now a physical book as well, which is rad because I’m really proud of that novel.
When beginning a new writing project what’s your process?
To be perfectly honest, it really depends on what that project is because my process varies from whether I’m starting work on a novel, short story, feature article, film review, documentary script, television bible, treatment or film script.
It was just announced that your new book The Witch Who Courted Death (TWWCD), is going to be released in October, any secrets you can spill about the book?
I’m going to be posting a YouTube video in the coming weeks answering questions people have sent me on social media about the novel, which will cover a lot of stuff but in the meantime … it’s a Who’s Afraid? spin-off, with the main character Corvossier von Klitzing (aka Casper) a medium who was first introduced briefly in Who’s Afraid Too?. She’s a character I love and I’ve have been wanting to tell her origins story for a long time, so very grateful I’m getting the opportunity to do that.
What has been the reaction to TWWCD so far?
No one has read it yet outside of Little Brown in London, so I have no idea! But anecdotally people seem pretty excited about the witch elements and inclusion of ghosts.
Did you have to do any research into witchcraft? If so, what did you find most interesting?
To be honest, witchcraft is something I have been fascinated with my whole life so much of my research came from years of practise on and off. I’m also a member of a few different covens locally and a massive consumer of every kind of witch pop culture: whether that be The Love Witch or Nicola Scott and Greg Rucka’s amazing Black Magick. For The Witch Who Courted Death I also travelled to Boscastle, where a bulk of the story is set, and spent time at the Museum Of Witchcraft And Magic.
Who was the more interesting character to write Tommi or Casper?
I don’t like to pit other women against each other, even fictional ones. They were both interesting for different reasons.
What inspires you to write about the supernatural?
I’ve always found it fascinating, largely because of the different histories and mythologies but also because of the types of stories you can tell and themes you can examine through the vessel of the supernatural.
You’ve been described as a lover of all things pop culture, can you tell us about your favourite comics? Anime?
I mean, I don’t know what you want me to say besides rattling them off? There are legitimately thousands that I love. Comics were my entry point to reading and the first place I got to see kick-ass women, particularly those within the DC universe (Birds Of Prey and Batgirl especially) and the X-Men arcs of the late 90s. As I’ve gotten older, I still love the superhero stories but also some of indies like Drowntown, Green River Killer, Lumberjanes, My Friend Dahmer, Jem and the Holograms, 30 Days Of Night and Saga etc.
Your hair and style are freaking amazing, I adore your playfulness and fearlessness! What inspires your style?
Ha, thank you! My basic rule is I like to look in the mirror and see at least one thing that amuses me: whether that’s stupid earrings or novelty shoes. I like a lot of colour and bold prints, but generally speaking I take my fashion tips from comic strips.
Any writing idols?
Honestly, too many to name so let’s just say anyone who gives it a crack and sticks with it: whether that means late nights, early mornings, or working a job that sucks just so you can keep the dream alive.
2018 has been a year for you, appearances at Supanova across the country, discussing audiobooks on The Mix on ABC and more. What’s next for Maz?
Well, I’ve got the Supanova Sydney and Perth shows coming up next and then I’m heading to Melbourne to conduct preliminary interviews for a film project. The Witch Who Courted Death drops in October, so it’s in the final stages then off to promote it.
Quick Fire Round
Marvel or DC? Considering I have tattoos of both on my body, I guess I’m gonna have to remain neutral on this.
Pizza or Pasta? Pizza
TV Show or Movie? Movie
Harry or Ron? Bellatrix
Coffee or Tea? White Chocolate Mocha
Sunny or Rainy? Rainy
Tattoos or Piercings? Again, I have both so *shrugs*
Pants or Dress? Dress
X-Men or Justice League? X-Men
Jurassic Park or Jurassic World? Please, Jurassic Park
Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Wars
Which Chris is the better one? Everyone knows the definitive ranking of Chris’s goes:
- Christopher Lee
- Chris Evans
- Chris Hemsworth
- Christine Baranski
- Chris Tucker
- Chris Pratt
- Chris Pine
A big thank you to Maria for taking the time to speak with us! We are so excited to watch your journey and to see what happens next!
Maria will be appearing at Supanova Pop-Culture in Sydney from June 15-17 and Perth from June 22-24.
The Witch Who Courted Death will be available on October 31st 2018 and with reviews like “reinventing witches and ghosts with a much-needed feminist twist, this is a gripping, unmissable new read from one of the most exciting voices in fantasy—EVERYONE’S talking about Maria Lewis”, you should get your pre-order in ASAP!
Find Maria’s books on Goodreads, and her books are available for purchase on Book Depository, Amazon, and at other good book retailers!
Are you planning on writing another Tommi Grayson novel?