Interview with Martha Cervantes - Pedro

Please welcome yet another new to me author, Martha Cervantes whose novel Pedro will surely thrill fans of psychological thrillers. Read on to learn more about the novel and about Martha too!

ISBN-13: 9781909477926
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
Release Date: 09/15/2015
Length: 608 pp
Available for pre-order: B&N/Amazon/Kobo

Abandoned as a baby to an old couple who kept him outside in their barn, Pedro suffered years of abuse and neglect. Looking for a way to rid himself of a life as a beast of burden, he begins to seek immortality in all the wrong places. Pedro's desire to live a life free of the burden and fear of fatality ultimately leads him to a cantina where a man playing the guitar as if in a trance tells Pedro of the Great Spirit. Eager to live a new life, Pedro sells his soul to the Great Spirit but at a great cost. Immortality may not be all that he bargained for, as Pedro suffers the consequences of having his wish granted.

Martha welcome to The Reading Frenzy
Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk with you, Debbie! 

Tell my readers a little about Pedro.
An early reader of the book compared Pedro to The Phantom of the Opera. 
If you’re familiar with The Phantom of the Opera, The Phantom does turn to a life of evil and is seen as a monster. 
As the story goes on, we learn the Phantom has never known human love. He was rejected by his own mother at birth, and this led to his downward spiral. This is Pedro’s story as well. 
Pedro is given to an older couple to raise as an infant, and is shown no love or affection. He lives in a barn alongside cows and sheep. 
Soon, he is no longer being neglected—because he is being abused physically and sexually at the hands of his surrogate parents.
Finally, Pedro takes off by himself to start a new life. He meets a guitar toting stranger, who tells him the story of The Great Spirit. 
Now, Pedro finds himself more desperate than ever to start a new life, and he sells his soul to this Great Spirit, but it comes with a very great cost. 
He has the gift of immortality and all the consequences and pain that come with it. 

The premise alludes to The Great Spirit
Is he/she based on a particular deity?
The Great Spirit represents Satan, who Pedro sells his soul to. 
I do not portray Satan in the traditional Biblical sense, but those with religious backgrounds might feel his portrayal is familiar to what they believe Satan is. 

Is the novel straight horror?
Yes. It is not meant to be taken realistically. The book is horror, and also very psychological. I want the readers to truly find themselves wrapped up in the story. Can you imagine how different you would have turned out had you been raised in a barn and abused? No, you certainly can’t, which makes Pedro’s desperation seem understandable and does make him sympathetic. I chose to have readers first meet Pedro as an infant in order to remind them that we all start off as infants with a clean slate. 

Also does the novel cover Pedro’s early years at all, when he was all but abandoned?
Yes, the novel covers Pedro’s early years, when he was abandoned. 
His biological mother could not afford to raise him, and so she runs away from her family’s ranch and just left the child on the doorstep of an old couple. She had no reason for picking these particuclar parents. 
The novel does follow his childhood, although he really did not have a childhood, does he? 
His childhood does “end” when he escapes from his “adopted” parents.

Martha I understand it took you years to write this.
Did you write it before your debut Emily came out?
I did write a lot of short stories, starting from when I was a very young girl. The story lived and grew in my mind for years, and I found no matter what else I was working on, Pedro’s story was still begging to be told. 

Your bio says you’ve been a storyteller since childhood.
What was your journey to become a novelist like, were you a writer in any other capacity or was it a conscious decision to start to write fiction?
It was a conscious decision. 
I did start writing stories while I was in grade school. 
We had an old Victorian house and I used to write stories under the foundation of the house. 
I had numerous imaginary friends that would appear to me, and I got many ideas to really start writing fantasy stories.
I still have a whole stack of stories I wrote because my mother saved them for me. I had quite an imagination as a child. I am thinking of revisiting these stories to see if I can use these stories again. 

Your writing is on the dark side.
What draws you to this type of tales?
These are the kind of stories that appeal to me. We are fictional characters ourselves. The mind will travel. We do have both a good and a bad side of our minds. My mind is attracted to the supernatural side. I tried to write romance novels, but I found I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. 

Martha what are you working on now?
I am currently working on another novel called Ashes. 

Thanks for sharing yourself with me today and good luck to all your endeavors.
And thanks so much for speaking with me, Debbie, I have really enjoyed our talk. 

Do you have any reader events lined up?
I will be doing some events locally, and hopefully will be traveling more in 2016. I live in California but would love to visit the east coast. I would also love to see how things go with Pedro. Perhaps a film can be next, who knows?! 

 Connect with Martha - Website 

About the author:
I was born in Wyoming. My parents were from Spain and Mexico. I lived with my parents and several brothers and sisters until we all grew up and each went their way. At an early age, I began to take a desire to write make-believe stories and would keep my siblings always asking for more stories, which delighted me and had me creating better stories. As I have grown into a grown woman, writing fiction brings out the best of my thoughts.
- Martha L. Cervantes