Guest Post & Giveaway by Mary Lowry

Coming-of-Age in Real Life and in

THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE

THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE is a fantastical story about an American girl who runs away from home, takes on a new identity, and travels through Mexico searching for her family’s Mexican gardener, who is also her one true friend.

My favorite books have always been coming-of-age stories about strong characters that navigate the world as they grow into the women (or men) they were meant to be.

I think my own coming-of-age as a woman, and as a writer, happened in parts.

As soon as I graduated college at 21, I joined an elite, Type 1 Hotshot crew of forest firefighters. I traveled all over the American West with that almost all-male bunch, and that wild and exhilarating experience was the time, ironically, that I came into my own as a woman. It’s ironic because I was navigating a man’s world and doing a man’s job, but in doing so, and in gaining the confidence of my fellow crew members, I really learned a lot about myself as a girl.

I think my second coming-of-age (May I have two?) came when I wrote THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE. I had to support myself as I wrote the book, so I went to Durango, Colorado and got a job as a carpenter’s apprentice. Before dawn, I worked on my novel in my little basement room at the Desert Rose Horse Ranch; after the sun rose, I headed to work construction with a Viking of a man named David who believed women should have the opportunity to learn how to be carpenters if they wanted to do so. We worked outside all day and I was soooo cold, and by the end of the day I was soooo tired. But I still woke up early to work on my novel THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE, because I knew that being a writer was the most important thing for me.

I hope that women and girls who read THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE will be inspired to take risks and live life fully, and know that it’s never too late to come-of-age!

About the Book:

The Earthquake Machine

The book every girl should read,

and every girl’s parents hope she’ll never read.

  tells the story of 14 year-old Rhonda. On the outside, everything looks perfect in Rhonda’s world, but at home Rhonda has to deal with a manipulative father who keeps her mentally ill mother hooked on pharmaceuticals. The only reliable person in Rhonda’s life is her family’s Mexican yardman, Jesús. But when the INS deports Jesús back to his home state of Oaxaca, Rhonda is left alone with her increasingly painful family situation.

REMARKABLE. Wild, maddening, preposterous, beautiful. It's just crazy good. A marvel.–Joy Williams (Pulitzer Prize finalist, THE QUICK AND THE DEAD)

Mary Lowry has a wonderful imagination and a terrific sense of humor, as well as deep empathy for what can go wrong in life. The Earthquake Machine is her best tale yet.–H.W. Brands (New York Times bestselling author, Two time Pulitzer Prize Finalist).

The Earthquake Machine

Determined to find her friend Jésus, Rhonda seizes an opportunity to run away during a camping trip with friends to Big Bend National Park. She swims to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande and makes her way to the border town of Milagros, Mexico. There a peyote- addled bartender convinces her she won’t be safe traveling alone into the country’s interior. So with the bartender’s help, Rhonda cuts her hair and assumes the identity of a Mexican boy named Angel. She then sets off on a burro across the desert to look for Jesús. Thus begins a wild adventure that fulfills the longing of readers eager for a brave and brazen female protagonist.

Goodreads / Amazon

About the Author:

Mary Pauline Lowry has worked as a forest firefighter, screenwriter, open water lifeguard, construction worker, and advocate in the movement to end violence against women. At 15, she ran away from home and made it all the way to Matamoros, Mexico. She believes girls should make art, have adventures, and read books that show them the way.

You can learn more about Mary and The Earthquake Machine by visiting her website at http://www.marypaulinelowry.com/index.html.

You can also read a great review of The Earthquake Machine at Huffington Post at  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/the-earthquake-machine_b_1232478.html

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I am in the process of reading The Earthquake Machine and hope to have my review posted soon. In the meantime, Mary has generously offered to give away an ebook copy of The Earthquake Machine to one of my readers.

You guys know the drill by now. Rafflecopter below. Please don't forget to leave a comment for Mary. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway