Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?

I didn’t choose this genre, it chose me! My go-to “guilty pleasure” genre when I need a break from reading historical fiction has always been apocalyptic fiction. They have always been fun for me to read, and I actually first started reading them accidentally. My husband had gotten me an e-reader and I was looking for free books. That’s when I came across what turned out to be an apocalyptic YA novel. I was hooked and read the entire seven-book series that summer! I’m not sure why I am a sucker for this genre. I would not be anyone’s first pick for their team during the apocalypse; I have no survival skills. Sometimes I think this goes back to my roots playing Legend of Zelda as a kid: scavenging supplies, picking up clues, battling the elements. That sort of thing. So anyway, I had this idea for a character in my head for a while but no real story around her. I was stuck in traffic on my way to work one day in a torrential downpour, which is not normal for NY in the winter. I thought to myself how apocalyptic a scene that was, my character materialized out there in the rain, and the rest just sort of happened!

Are you a full-time or part-time writer, and how does that affect your writing?

Part-time. I am a high school teacher by day and a mom of two little ones, so writing is my hobby. Life definitely makes writing challenging. Sometimes I can fit in a little writing during my prep period at school if I don’t have something else to do. In that regard, some school years have been easier to find the time than others. This year in particular has been very challenging. Otherwise, when my kids were smaller I would write during their naps, but they are school-aged now, so I’ve lost that time as well. For the most part I write in the evenings if I have time or energy, or sometimes on the weekends, but my family always comes first. So at this point, I fit it in when I can, and if I don’t have the time for days or weeks in a row, I try to welcome it as a break for “clarity.” It’s definitely frustrating, but I try to make the system work as best I can.

What have you written so far?

I have written the first two books of my apocalyptic trilogy: The Undoing and The Burying. I am currently about three-quarters through the third book (The Willing) as well. I gave myself a deadline of finishing by the end of the school year, which in NY is at the end of June. I have plans for a fourth book in the same world as the trilogy, but it will be an anthology of short stories surrounding the side characters who we meet and pass on. That was actually inspired by one of my readers! I always ask people who their favorite and least favorite characters are, and in the process she asked me about a side character to whom I honestly never gave a second thought. She said when she reads she always wonders about these sorts of people. There are so many side characters in my trilogy, so I actually thought that would be a pretty cool idea for an additional book. After that I have ideas for future series, but we will see what happens.

Do you work with an outline or plot sketch, or do you prefer to let a general idea guide your writing? 

I like to just have a general idea and then let the story/characters guide me. In each book of the trilogy there has been a complicated chapter where different points of view converge, and for two of the three I did have an outline. It was just vague bullet points that targeted the main action, just so I wouldn’t forget anything. I found that a real outline of the whole book or majority of the book, I feel somehow claustrophobic. Like if I don’t follow that outline I will have wasted my time. Yes, I am aware that is completely illogical, but that is one hundred percent how I felt when trying to use an outline for writing the second book in the series. So I scrapped the outline and haven’t used one since. I have found that the characters always tell me what needs to happen eventually. We may have gotten stuck before, but they haven’t failed me yet.

Did you independently or “self” publish, or did you go the “traditional” publishing route, and why?

I self-published. Initially I queried, but rejections are rough and the whole process is time consuming. I’m sure I could make the time for more queries, but I would rather spend that time writing or enjoying my family. I have found at book events and online that many people look down on self-published authors. I understand why, but though at times I don’t feel like a “real” writer because I’m not traditionally published, I have learned to value my work and myself much more this way. Everything I have achieved is because of what I have done, not someone else. I wrote it, edited it, and marketed it. I make hardly any money from it, but I have fans who email me and I do well at live events, and that makes me happy. At times part of me still wants a traditional publisher, but part of me also doesn’t want to let go of what I have.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?  

Just start writing! It’s easier said than done, I know. I didn’t take my own advice. My husband is the one who just randomly gave me a marble notebook and a pen one day while the kids were napping and told me to “just start already.” Just write it, even if it’s trash. We have to write the trash first to clear out our systems. The other piece of advice is to read a lot. That has never been a problem for me. However, as a writer I found that the importance of reading is different. As a writer, I read with a different lens. I read and see style now, when I never did before. I see how different authors word things differently, and which ones sit well with me and which ones don’t. When I’m stuck on my own book, reading helps to jog the memory a bit. Sometimes all it takes is one line in a book to trigger something in me. Reading is everything.

Tell us more about your main character. What inspired you to develop this character?

There are six major characters in the series: Luz, Shanice, Minh, Jquan, Tim, and Naveed. Luz was my original character, the one I never had a story for but she was just always there with me, like she was waiting for me to figure it out. Minh and Jquan came to me next, that day I was stuck in traffic on the way to work. The others just fell into place after. Each of them is from a marginalized population in US society: foster kids, immigrants, LGBTQ, BIPOC, etc. I didn’t intend it to be this way, it just sort of happened. One year at school one of the administrators ordered class sets of OwnVoices books, which feature characters from marginalized groups. I devoured them, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how important it was for our students to see themselves in the books they read. I’m half Puerto Rican, and I never once read a book featuring any Latino when I was in school.

That said, I already had Luz as a character in my head. She is a fifteen year-old Mexican immigrant. The other characters needed to fit with her somehow in terms of their own personal battles, and each of them just came to me on their own. I tried to make them as true to themselves (and my students) as possible. The one thing most readers have said time and time again is that the characters are real; that they make this book and the apocalypse is just in the background. That makes me happy because that is what I intended. I am not an action-packed kind of girl, so that action of the apocalypse is not something I could meaningfully write. But people? I can write about people. I am a special education teacher; observing people and their individuality is what I do.              

Who is your favorite fictional character and why?

Oh come on! There are so many to choose from! For a male character, I choose Edmond Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo. He was just so intelligent and patient, and the intricacy of his (1000-page) plan still amazes me. It was a story about revenge, and I am the least vengeful person you will ever meet, but the way Dantes enacted his revenge was just so artfully done. For a female character, I choose Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind. She was ahead of her time and a strong, proud, intelligent woman who was not afraid to do exactly what needed to be done. She also knew her faults and figured out how to run with them anyway.

Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?

Lucy Foley writes really intricate thrillers with a large cast of well-developed characters. I can only dream of writing like her! But when I read her books, I take note of the nuances in the way the characters speak and behave and try to remind myself of that as I perfect my craft. I also love Neal Shusterman. He writes brilliant YA stories that I have loved for years, but most recently, I have listened to some of his books on audio which has helped me with language. He has a particular style to his writing that I admire. It is subtle yet powerful at the same time. Sometimes I take notes on how he phrases a certain thing so I can look back at it later when I am writing on my own.

If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?  

Other than mom and teacher (both of which I love)? In another life, I would love to be a travel photographer. I love taking pictures of nature, and before I had kids, I traveled as much as I could.

Want to learn more about A.M. Davila?

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