Winter’s Divide by M. LaVon-Review and Interview

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 14, 2020

The end of the world didn’t happen with one single event or happen without warning. No, it happened a little at a time, in plain sight, with everyone watching and doing nothing to stop it.

As the pandemic that threatens to end human civilization makes landfall in the United States, Cate Winter’s life is turned upside down. After she and her sons fall ill with the mysterious virus, her husband, Tom, disappears. Weeks later, when Cate wakes up from a coma, she is alone—and the world has been torn apart.

One-third of the human population across the globe is dead and domestic militants and vigilantes are forcing the government into a civil war. And soon Cate begins to uncover secrets, secrets that have shattered her image of a picture-perfect life and entered her into the most heart-wrenching fight for survival. Can Cate uncover the truth—in time to save the survivors?

•••••••

REVIEW:WINTER’S DIVIDE is the first instalment in M. LaVon’s adult, post –apocalyptic series focusing on the aftermath of a viral pandemic that has killed over thirty per-cent of the world’s population in the year 2025.

WARNING: WINTER’S DIVIDE contains scenes of graphic violence, bloodshed and assault that may not be suitable for all readers.

Told from numerous first person perspectives including Cate Winter, Cate’s chief of staff Liz Hutchenson, and Liz’s brother, arms dealer Adam Hutchenson, WINTER’S DIVIDE follows our heroine after she wakes from a six week coma caused by a virus of unknown origins. With her husband missing, and her two teenaged sons by her side, Cate returns to her family owned company WMS (Winter Medical Solutions) in an effort to help contain the fall-out of a pandemic that is destroying the people and country she loves. But all is not well in the world she once lived, as several hundred survivors have gathered at the Winter Estate compound in the hopes of finding a safe harbor in the face of the upcoming war. As Cate and her team battle to survive, the enemy presents itself with an all too familiar face.

WINTER’S DIVIDE is a timely release in the face of the 2020 Coronovirus pandemic. From the inability to contain the virus, to the conspiracy theories surrounding government intervention and a biological weapon used to contain the hordes, WINTER’S DIVIDE is a dark, gritty and oft-times graphic depiction of a world gone mad-think The Walking Dead ™ without the zombies. From anarchy to rogue bands of militia controlled by a faceless, psycopathic enemy who sits in the high tower of power and control, chaos and disorder ensue when the Free Nationalists (FN) declare war against the US government, attacking military bases, research facilities and government organizations. No one is safe: no one can be trusted; family and friendship are just two more f-words to add to the list.

M. LaVon pulls the reader into a raw and startling world of what ifs and whys. A cautionary tale of survival in the aftermath of a civilization gone mad.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

TRC: Hi Mandy and welcome to The Reading Cafe.

We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Follow: Amazon author page / Goodreads

Mandy: Personally—I am a mom of two super active school age boys and have a pretty cool husband who supports my ever-evolving artistic passions. I love crafts, including decorating theme cakes, painting, writing, and creating. Professionally—I am a communications professional who loves to help others tell their story. I manage executive level communications, employee engagement, and operations for a tech company. I have a master’s in communications from the University of Washington (Go Huskies!).

TRC:Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Mandy: My mom—She had a passion for poetry and would read to us when we were young. I would try and write poems, short stories and such, attempting to mimic what I had heard. She always loved reading my writing. But I had some challenges, I am dyslexic, and for most of my life I was terrified to put my work out there for people to see. Creative writing has a certain level of inherent vulnerability. You are sharing a part of yourself. So, I focused on technical and formal writing, finding comfort in writing for other people.

My mom really pushed me to write for myself. She battled breast cancer for 17 years. In her final year, I wrote an article about my professional journey as a dyslexic communicator, and she cried and I cried, and she insisted I finally write a book and “show the world…”. As her health began to take a turn, sitting in her hospital room on my birthday, I jotted down the first few lines of Winter’s Divide.

Then the cancer spread, and her eyesight began to deteriorate, I would write a chapter then read it to her. I read her the last chapter a couple of days before her journey came to an end. She was very proud. My mom was my best friend and my biggest fan, it meant a lot to share that experience with her.

TRC:What challenges or difficulties did you encounter writing and publishing this story?

Honestly, the writing part was exhilarating. It poured out and I loved every moment. It was an escape from my own personal painful reality, imagining life without my mom. As for publishing—terrifying and exhausting. I put it out to a few agents, but ultimately chickened out and published it myself. There are elements of the story that are real and raw, and not as commercially appealing for a broader audience. I felt those elements were important enough to talk about and take a risk.

TRC:Would you please tell us something about the premise of WINTER’S DIVIDE?

Mandy: I am a big fan of the dystopic/post-apocalyptic/end-of-things genre, there are a lot of stories that are really centered around men and young adults, I really wanted to tell the story from a different perspective. Being careful to not share a spoiler—There were certain social undertones I felt were important to dive into, to spark debate and conversation about things that make us uncomfortable, like politics, equality, mental health, etc. I also wanted to write a story where the line between good and evil was harder to define.

TRC:How many books do you have planned for the series?

Mandy: I currently have 3 planned for this series. Book 2 is almost done and will hopefully be out in the fall. It is a continuation of the story and picks up shortly after Winter’s Divide ends.

TRC:What kind of research/plotting did you do, and how long did you spend researching /plotting before beginning WINTER’S DIVIDE?

Mandy: I had the basic idea for Winter’s Divide for a few years, but I did not start writing right away. I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to research, I studied a lot. Mostly around the catalyst for what would be the end-of-things. After the first sample chapter, that defined the tone I wanted, I plotted out the sequential key moments and built from there over the course of a few months.

TRC:With the recent outbreak and pandemic of the Coronavirus, how significant to, or similar in retrospect, is your story line premise to real-life events?

Mandy: I have heard from several of my early readers, asking how I have felt in light of the current circumstances and remarking on the eerie coincidences within my book. Honestly, the timing is not at all what I had imagined for my book launch period. I thought I would be casually reading excerpts, sipping a glass of wine, and chatting with readers about the shocking reality I created. Not living out aspects of my story, isolating in my home and watching life as we know it shift to a ‘new normal’.

Though there are several areas in my book that feel too close to home right now, thankfully, it is fiction. And our current situation is not as dramatic as I depict in the book. As I wrote it, I did know that it was a story on the border of being more realistic fiction, but I think that is what makes it relatable. However, I could not have imagined this level of relatability.

TRC:The story line contains a number of triggers for more sensitive readers. How, if at all, were you affected by your own writing and the imagery presented?

Mandy :  In some spots, it was really rough to get through and there were times I really had to grit my teeth and stop myself from sugar-coating the description. When I first set out to write this book, I had a very long conversation with my sister (super bibliophile), about the story arc, what I wanted to convey, and the tone I wanted to set. I wanted it to be gritty, real, raw, and brutal. Not like anything I had ever written. I wanted to describe the primal side of survival from a female perspective. My sister was my gut check for every twist and turn, making sure I was being true to my vision.
Every challenging moment, positive or not, was intentional and purposely positioned throughout the book. They are meant to be shocking and thought provoking.

TRC:Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

Mandy:  Yes! Totally. I actually did a cover survey with some of my early readers, and the high contrast black and white was the favorite. The cover art I chose was intentionally out of the norm for the genre. I wanted to differentiate the book and give it room to breathe in a sea of similar covers. Book 2 has a similar cover to connect them.

TRC:When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Mandy: I love this question! Like I mentioned before, I was very planful of my overall story outline. But when I was struck by something, a feeling, inspiration to dig deeper, to follow the breadcrumbs a character was leaving, it was hard to ignore. There were certain points where I made some choices that would support a future for those characters. The future of the characters really laid the groundwork for book 2.

TRC:The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?

Mandy: Be there with their characters—I am not going to lie, there were moments where I found myself crying my eyes out, and my husband was like “um… why are you crying? You wrote it”. But when you imagine it, you are there, you are beside them for every moment and you define how they go on. You pick them up and make them go on sometimes. It is hard to ignore those emotions.

I hope people connect with the characters as much as I did. I am an avid reader as well, and I appreciate the books that give me chills, tears, make me laugh out loud, or break me into a million little pieces… Just know if you cry, are mad, or angry when reading Winter’s Divide, I was right there with you.

TRC:Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?

Mandy: 100%, yes! I love a good climactic movie scores and dramatic instrumentals when I write. Especially, something moody and emotional. When I commute to work, I put on my playlist and use that moment of solitude to get deep in the mood and lost in imagining the story. When I know I am going for a certain feeling, I am very deliberate with the music I listen to. Some of my go to artists for Winter’s Divide included: Paul Cardall, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, David Tolk, James Blackshaw, Max Richter, Ahn Trio, and Bon Iver. Also, the playlist at the back of the book is true to that character. It is a very unexpected compilation, but intentionally colorful and mood setting.

TRC:What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?

Mandy: That every writer is 100% just a writer. Many of the writers I know and from my personal experience, have day jobs and families. We write between kids and work. I write with kids running around or late at night after I have read a bedtime story or folded laundry. I work a normal full-time job during the day and write when I can. I have been known to crank out a chapter or two on my phone notepad at a baseball game. Just a normal, average, working mom with a passion to share stories.

TRC:What is something that few, if anyone, know about you?

Mandy: I am super artsy, but have no musical talent whatsoever. I played the flute in Junior high and was so bad they moved me to tuba.

TRC:Who is your favorite author (living or dead)?

Mandy: Ugh! Hardest question! I have a lot of authors that I love for different reasons; for how they made me feel, what thoughts they inspired, what sleep I lost, how hard I cried… If I am not writing, I am reading. Elizabeth Barrett Browning. just because at one point in my childhood I wanted to be her.

TRC:On what are you currently working?

Mandy: Book 2! I am excited to bring the next phase of the story to life coming in the fall.

TRC:Would you like to add anything else?

Mandy: I know these are difficult times for everyone. We will get through this. Be thoughtful of each other. Help your healthcare workers out and social distance, us this time to read a good book. The team here at the Reading Café has provided some amazing suggestions.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food – Spaghetti Squash, with a taco top! (Baked spaghetti squash with turkey taco meat, beans, cheese, salsa… baked until the cheese is melty, then add all the taco fixings, trust me, it is so good!)

Favorite Dessert – I am not a big fan sweets, but I can’t say no to a good tiramisu.

Favorite TV Show – I love Blacklist and the new Lost in Space, and no surprise Handmaid’s Tale

Last Movie You Saw – Harriet, love it, cried throughout

Dark or Milk Chocolate – Milk Chocolate with salted caramel

Secret Celebrity Crush – Tom Ellis or Russell Wilson

Last Vacation Destination – Nashville, TN

Do you have any pets? – Sadly no, but I love animals (especially big, soft, lazy ones)

Last book you read – The Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson, really enjoyed it

TRC: Thank you Mandy for taking the time to answer our questions. We wish you all the best and congratulations on the release of Winter’s Divide.