Finding Mia By: Rachel K. Burke *Author Guest Post & Giveaway*

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Author: Rachel K. Burke

Genre: Contemporary/New Adult

Release date: January 2012

Tour organized by: AToMR Tours

Book Description

Intelligent and fiercely independent, sixteen-year-old Mia Marchette has never had a childhood. After her father’s disappearance when she was six, she has alone borne the burden of her mother’s bipolar disorder.

When her mother is institutionalized after a failed suicide attempt, Mia is abruptly forced to live with the estranged father she has not known for ten years. She is shocked to discover that he has created a new, picture-perfect life for himself, and is now living with a stepmother and a half-sister Mia never knew she had. Together, Mia and her new family must face the bitterness, mistakes, and long-hidden secrets that threaten to destroy their precarious happiness.

Finding Mia follows Mia's journey as she searches to find the unanswered questions from her past, leading to her own self-discovery.

Ultimately, this is a story of confronting pain and finding freedom, of letting go and learning to search for love in unexpected places.

Author's Guest Post

There were a few things that inspired me to write “Finding Mia.” I came up with the concept after reading Jennifer Weiner’s novel, “In her Shoes,” where the main character’s mother had suffered from depression and committed suicide when she was a young girl. I was frustrated when I read the book because Weiner never elaborated on what happened, and I found myself wondering how that affected the main character, and what would have happened had her father not been in the picture. I began wondering what happens to children with single parents who suffer from severe depression, and after conducting extensive research, I discovered that a lot of children are in this very situation, and many of them end up as the caretaker for the ill parent.

The novel “White Oleander” by Janet Fitch was another huge influence for writing “Finding Mia.” I loved the mother-daughter relationship in the story, and how the mother’s character was a beautiful artistic free spirit, but she also had mental issues that ultimately separated her from her daughter. The mother’s issues in “White Oleander” were much different than Denise’s, but I had a love/hate relationship with her character. Because of her irrational actions in the book, I wanted to hate her, I should have hated her, but I found myself really drawn to her. And in some ways, I tried to create that love/hate relationship with most of the characters in “Finding Mia,” because they all have certain characteristics that you want to hate, but once you understand them, you actually grow to respect them.

Having previously written a young adult novel, I wanted to try a different writing style and target a more mature audience for this book. Fitch’s writing also influenced my style greatly, and it was a very interesting experience straying from young adult writing and exploring a different side of myself.

About The Author

 Rachel was born and raised in Boston, MA. She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

She graduated from Bridgewater University in 2011 with a B.A. in Communications and Media Studies.

Rachel's work has appeared in Prevention Magazine, Worcester Magazine and Starpulse News Entertainment.

Rachel Burke | Twitter | Facebook

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