Author C. M. Leyva - The Writer Story

Meet C. M. Leyva - Author of the upcoming, The Legacies of Traitors, a New Adult dystopian about rebellion and fighting for hope.

I am absolutely thrilled about this Writer Story interview with C. M. Leyva as we talk about her debut New Adult dystopian novel, The Legacies of Traitors, releasing this August and her writing process of organized chaos and ‘zero’ drafting.

Before we start, here is Christine’s official bio.

C. M. “Christine” Leyva is a speculative fiction author and registered nurse who enjoys writing character-driven fiction in multiple genres. Her passion for science and medicine is often seen in her stories while exploring the what-ifs around them. You can find her short fiction in anthologies with Outland Entertainment and FlowerSong Press, and her new adult dystopian novel The Legacies of Traitors releasing in August 2024.

When she’s not working on her next short story or manuscript, you can find her attempting home improvement projects, losing herself in a good book, or working on a puzzle with a glass of wine.

1. Christine, welcome to The Writer Story. So to start with, tell us a little bit about your book, The Legacies of Traitors.

First, I wanted to say thank you for this opportunity and platform to talk about my author journey and upcoming release, The Legacies of Traitors.

Legacies is a New Adult dystopian novel that follows the daughter of a fallen rebel leader, Maia, who risks her life infiltrating the enemy to destroy them from within. But once inside, she’s pulled into a dangerous game of lies, manipulation, and betrayal, making her question if she’s fighting on the right side of history.

If you’re a fan of the morally gray found family in Six of Crows, a nature-reborn post-apocalyptic world of The 100, and the gritty rebellion of Andor, then welcome to the rebellion.

2. Ah, how intriguing. I love myself a good rebellion story. Now I have to ask this question about the book’s tagline. “Some stories are meant to be written in prose. Hers will be written in blood.” That’s a killer tagline. How did you come up with this idea and what connected you to it?

Thank you, it’s one of the few lines that survived since draft one. Legacies is a dark story that blurs the lines of morality while fighting for hope, and one thing I wanted to make clear is that Maia isn’t the same person we meet at the beginning of the story. I think that’s what makes this story different from other dystopian novels where, as readers, we’re given clear villains to destroy and heroes to trust.

3. What do you want your readers to take away from the story of the Legacies?

At its core, Legacies is a story about rebellion, not just in the literal sense, but reflected in each of the flawed characters we meet along the way. Through them, we see that rebellion is being the light and fire, even in the darkest times.

Fighting to be better than the person you were yesterday, and accepting the broken pieces of yourself to forge something so much stronger.

4. That is absolute gospel. Now, tell us a bit about your writer origin story. How you started? And your publishing journey so far?

I started writing at 10 years old, and that first novel is now tucked away in a binder with all my other half-written story ideas from high school and college. I took a hiatus during nursing school when my family experienced a devastating loss and put pen to paper again to draft Legacies to help process my grief.

Here we are eight years, four rewrites, and twenty beta readers later. It’s nothing like the original draft, but I’m also not the person I was when I started, and that’s for the best. I’ve been fortunate in my publishing journey to have three published short stories with another coming soon, and I’m excited to have Legacies coming out this August!

5. How exciting! You know there’s always this discussion between trad vs self-publishing. Could you shed some light into it based on your experience?

I can’t speak much on trad publishing since my only experience is with short story anthologies, but I can say that my experience in the query trenches and writing short stories helped prepare me for self-publishing.

Writing query letters and pitching live and on socials taught me how to market my book, and short story word count limits and professional editorial feedback helped me hone my writing craft. I’m still early in the self-publishing process. But to be completely transparent, I spent six months researching the self-pub process, talking with indie authors who were kind enough to share advice, crafting a full business plan, and saving money. Even with all that, I wasn’t prepared for the amount of work that goes into it, and I’m still learning to juggle it with all my other responsibilities.

6. Tell us a bit about your process as you write and edit. And any writing quirks you might have?

It’s the definition of organized chaos.

My outlines are usually about 40-60 pages of random scenes, research, character descriptions, inspo images, and anything else I can prep, which I’ve heard is called a “zero draft.”

Once I have a solid starting point, I organize it to make sure I’m hitting the story beats and start piecing things together. My critique partners read as I draft to help root out any major issues before I get too far along. After betas, I do a reverse outline so I have a plan for edits and at least one more round of betas before the story goes to the query trenches or a professional editor. A writing quirk of mine is anytime I get stuck on a chapter or scene, I’ll listen to music and when I find the right song to capture the vibe I want, the words start to flow again.

7. Do you have any advice for writers starting out?

Regardless if you choose trad or self-publishing, both routes take an army to succeed. With trad you have the expertise of publishing house behind you, but it’s the people you meet swapping drafts and query letters that help you when the rejections and imposter syndrome hit. With indie there’s an unbelievably supportive community of authors and readers that are genuinely excited to help writers succeed. I’ve been really fortunate to find people who will gladly share advice and provide opportunities, like this interview, to spread the word on my stories. Honestly, I can’t tell you how full my heart has been since deciding to go indie. Publishing is a lot of work with some incredible highs and crushing lows, but all of it has been worth it because of the amazing people I’ve met along the way.

8. Finally, where do we find you online?

All my details are in my website www.cmleyvaauthor.com where you can find more information on Legacies, including a special Chapter 1 sneak peek for newsletter subscribers. You can also find me on IG @cmleyvaauthor where I’m always happy to meet new writers and readers!

A big thanks to Christine for spending the time with us for The Writer Story interview. Make sure to Preorder THE LEGACIES OF TRAITORS now and support her writing adventures.

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~Toodle-oo~