The Hot Author Report

Interview with Maria Andrade – Author of Heart Magic: Keeping Love Alive and Well

Maria J. Andrade, M.F.T., is a bilingual, licensed therapist author and poet. Her eco-social book for children with CD, Youngen Finds Her Song, was published last year. It inspires children in the areas of compassion and their global inheritance. She is founder of the “Heart Magic” workshops based on her book Heart Magic, Keeping Love Alive & Well. This book focuses on important “Select Principles” found in lasting marriages and “Do’s and Don’t” of communication for building trust and getting along with the person you love. She lives in California with her husband.

Contact Maria at: www.magicunion.com, Twitter-birdchat or Facebook

***

Q: It’s rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a ‘real’ job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life? Have they influenced/inspired your writing?

My two loves are writing and psychology and I have a degree in both literature and counseling psychology. So I do wear two hats. I am a licensed, Marriage, Family, Child Counselor and an author.

Q: What compelled you to write your first book?

My first book was, Singing My Self Home, a book of poems which focuses on the world of dreams, transformation, love and the shadow. I had written poems since childhood and I wanted to honor the landscape of dreams which can have a profound impact on the psyche and on shaping major life decisions.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I didn’t think of being a writer when I wrote poetry and plays as a kid. I just did this easily like some kids have a knack at sports.

Q: Tell us briefly about your book.

Heart Magic, Keeping Love Alive & Well, is about how to live happily with someone you love. Fairytales speak about people living, “happily ever after” but as a people who want to succeed in love we need to overcome our tendency at being a throw away society with relationship. One out of two ends in divorce. I believe we can do better than that. After all, if we sincerely want world peace, we must begin with it under our roof. We merely have to be better prepared and not just take love for granted. My book based on 25 years of working with couples shows you how!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

I wrote an eco-social book for children with a CD and a long title, Youngen Finds Her Song, An Inspiring Adventure From the Heart of Nature. It was published last year and I am working on getting it to as many schools as possible. The book inspires children in the areas of self-respect, compassion, humor and hope, all qualities needed by us all as the human species faces big global issues. I wrote it for 7-12 year olds but younger children enjoy the CD, which brings the book to life. it is also being used in high schools to teach allegory in literature and I am delighted to know this.

Q: Do you have a favorite character? Why is s/he your favorite?

I like the character; George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, because he discovers that happiness is not just “out there” but in family, friends and community. I also like the self centered, spoiled but courageous, Scarlet in Gone With the Wind, because she grows into a more honest and down to earth woman. I’m a Pisces and we tend to be sentimentalists.

Q: What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you write? Do you need the noise or the silence?

I prefer the music of birds and trees rustling in the wind.

Q: If you could live in one of your books, which one would you live in?

I would live in, Youngen Finds Her Song, because there is a sense of adventure coupled with a supportive energy that surrounds the small bird in the story. Moreover, nature’s magic unfolds for her and I am forever enthralled with nature myself. For example, recently I read in Science News that for the first time it was discovered that a snail had become part plant! Yes, this animal is now getting its food through photosynthesis. Is that wild?

Q: How do you balance out the writer’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?

I prefer to write in the mornings but often don’t get a chance until the afternoon. I try to balance work and play because while I love writing, I like to be with my husband and friends too! Because writing is such an introverted process, this is important otherwise, one can end up with a strange life.

Q: Where you have lived and what you have experienced can influence your writing in many ways. Are there any specific locations or experiences that have popped up in your books?

I recently wrote a book, Love Across a Continent of Time, which I am seeking a publisher for. It is based on a true family saga. The location begins where I was born, in the center of the earth, Ecuador, South America. The story takes place between the 20s and 40s and I hope to give the reader an interest not just in the characters, but also in the wonderfully varied flora and fauna of that region. Moreover, the time period shows a country somewhat removed from two world wars, which is interesting.

Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?

Heart Magic, was translated into Spanish and I had to consider that the Latino world has a variety of dialects so I had someone from Spain, South America, the Carribean and Mexico read the book. The editing was challenging at times but I wanted to be sure the Latino reader from any part of the world would understand and enjoy the book.