LIVERMORE FALLS — Local author Kayla Maurais paid a visit to the Treat Memorial Library on Thursday, March 14, to meet with the local book club and talk about her debut young adult novel, “Soul Sucker”.

“Soul Sucker” is a self-published science-fiction/fantasy novel that follows siblings Dash and Shea, who are described by Maurais as polar opposite of one another. She shared with the book club the inspiration for such a dynamic came from the show ‘Supernatural’, which followed the adventures of siblings Sam and Dean Winchester.

Maurais said it was a plot point in a particular episode involving thieves of rare artifacts that sparked the idea for her novel. “From that, I built the story around [Dash and Shea] as a pair of siblings,” she said, “because at the core of its being, this book is about a sibling relationship.”

Maurais grew up in Jay and has been writing since she was 13 years old. She shared that she was given a writing prompt in school one day that spawned her interest in telling stories with a cinematic eye.

Maurais graduated from Jay High School in 2011 and enrolled in Emmanuel College in Boston, where she majored in film studies with a concentration on screenwriting. From there, she got her masters in screenwriting at the New York Film Academy at their Los Angeles campus.

Brianna Rush, library director for Treat Memorial Library, asked Maurais about her choice to blend science fiction with fantasy.

“I think [science fantasy] is going to become more and more known as time goes on,” she shared. “I like to break the rules. I don’t like to stick to one or the other.”

Marlene Bryant, a member of the book club and former teacher of Maurais, shared that she enjoyed the way Maurais built her characters and story despite not being a fan of science fiction.

When it came to finding a balance between two genres, Maurais said the process had a lot of trail and error in finding the right blend of fantasy and science fiction for her book. “I did edit and delete some things through the different drafts, but I think I’m really happy with the way it came together, and I’m pleased with my world that I built.”

Maurais shared some of her process, telling the Livermore Falls Advertiser that she starts with vague outlines of characters in her head that she fills out while listening to music.

“I listened to music a lot when I write and when I’m building scenes in my head,” Maurais said. “I call it choreographing scenes.”

Once she has a rough outline of her story, she lets her characters take it from there. “From there, I let my characters tell me their story, and I have very basic checkpoints, like very basic plot points of where I know the story might go,” she shared.

Maurais envisions the book as the first in an ongoing series, with a sequel on the way. She has another book in the works that she hopes to release very soon, and she plans on re-releasing “Soul Sucker” in the coming months.

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