Claudia Silva, Author of Dark Fantasy and Young Adult/Urban Fantasy
Claudia Silva was born in Mexico. She’s a 41-year-old Texas school teacher, wife and mother of two, who holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Bilingual Education.
At the age of nineteen, Silva started writing fanfiction (Stories following an already set universe, like writing a story using the Star Wars characters). When she was 24, Claudia wrote her first book, The Recruit, but it would be seventeen years later before it was published.
Interviewer: Why did it take so long to publish after writing your first book?
Silva: I was afraid, mostly. I didn’t think anyone would want to publish it, and the E-book industry wasn’t as big at that time. Also, I just enjoyed writing and knew publishing was next and very real, but it took me a while to gather my courage.
After publishing The Recruit, which is the first book of her series, The North American Vampire Secret Agency (NAVSA), Silva’s writing became liberated. With a mind free of fear, she gained the courage to move forward. In July 2017, she published, A Few Drops of Fantasy which is a collection of short stories that are mostly based on her life and thoughts of what her life would be like if it was “turned into something extraordinary or supernatural.”
Silva hasn’t slowed down since publishing her first two books. Over seventeen years ago, she was stagnated, but now, she has about 20 WIPs (Works in Progress) waiting “to be rewritten, revised and proofread.” The mass number of works indicates that this author always has a story waiting for it's day to shine. She’s currently working on the second book in the NAVSA series. Werewolf Phenomenon is scheduled to publish this summer (2018).
Silva writes in the early morning hours, “…when my husband and children are still asleep.” To relax from work and writing, she says, “I like to read, draw and dance ballet (although I’m getting too old for it) and play video games. I also enjoy comic books, movies, TV series, and anime.”
Claudia is on a productive mission to publish a book a year until she completes the North American Vampire Secret Agency series. She hasn’t decided how many books she will produce for the series and says, “It depends on where the characters take the story. I do know exactly how it’s going to end. I also have a series of stories that follow the characters years after the ending to the series, which I love and will eventually publish as well.”
Silva also has an unpublished book titled My Transformation and says it’s her favorite of all the books she’s written. “I wrote My Transformation when I was pregnant with my second child and couldn’t do a lot of activity. I like it because it’s like nothing I ever wrote before. It’s in first person and there are a lot of adult situations I haven’t always felt comfortable writing about, but for this story, it makes complete sense. I also created a character that I like making suffer. For a while, I kept thinking of ways to get him in trouble.” Publication of this book will come one day, but no time soon, she adds.
When asked why she chose to self-publish, Silva’s answer is the voice of many aspiring authors. “I didn’t think anyone would understand my fiction and I didn’t want to go through so many rejections. I like what I write and I like to see my work out there even if I self-published.”
Claudia has found her place in the indie world and for her, having the courage to have published something means that she has succeeded. In that case, she is a successful indie author but says the process is trying. “Everything that comes after finishing the first draft of a book” is challenging. She says the most she’s spent to submit her work to the world is on book covers.
Interviewer: How do you feel about negative reviews?
Silva: They get me down, but so far they haven’t stopped me from my plans of publishing my work. I like it and I want it out there for the people who could enjoy it.
Interviewer: Have you Googled yourself and if so, what was the outcome of your search?
Silva: I have. There is an actress that shares my name and another author who writes in Spanish. We usually have to let Goodreads and sellers know I’m not that same author.
With five-star book review ratings, Silva understands that her books have a way to go in the literary world. The thought does not dismay her. She says, “That people need to know you to give your book a try. I used to be a very private person online and I had to come out of my cocoon.” This lesson gives her the experience to encourage aspiring writers. “You have to do it for the love of writing because getting your book read is hard work!”
To learn more about Claudia, visit her on any of the following sites:
