MEEKER | While many people will set out to write a novel, only about 3% will ever finish a manuscript. Of those, even fewer will ever see their books in print. That makes Meeker’s Marissa Lupe, who released her debut novel this month, an outlier, and a successful one.
Lupe hosted a book signing for “Stars Like Acid” at the Meeker Public Library earlier this month with about a dozen people in attendance.
“It was perfect,” Lupe said, noting most of the attendees are friends she’s met through her sons’ rec district activities. One couple, who stayed at the River Camp RV Park where Lupe’s parents are the park managers, received an advance copy of the book and made a six-plus hour drive back to Meeker from Colorado Springs for the signing.
The story, published by IngramSpark, an online self-publishing company, is the first in a series. Described as “Divergent” meets “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Lupe’s debut is a science fiction/dystopian novel.
“The overall theme is about freedom. Freedom to live your life, freedom to love,” Lupe says. The novel tells the stories of Téa, a Latina soldier in training who has been held captive on a military base for most of her life, and Annabelle, who lives on a space station designed to save Earth’s ruling class. When the two meet, secrets that connect the two could upend the dworld as they know it.
Lupe grew up on the Front Range and moved to Meeker with her husband, who works remotely, about four years ago with their three homeschooled boys, now ages 10, almost 7, and 5.
The desire to write has been with her for as long as she can remember.
“I was an early reader, reading huge chapter books by the time I was about 7. I loved books, I was obsessed. I wrote poetry and took creative writing classes,” she said. She kept a journal for years, and tried her hand at writing a memoir, but found retelling her own story traumatizing.
“It became serious about three years ago when Covid was coming into play, when everyone was home wanting to write the next Great American Novel,” she said.
The idea for “Stars Like Acid” came from a literal dream. She joined a Facebook group for writing moms and scrambled to finish her first draft in time to submit it to Reese Witherspoon’s “Lit Up” publishing contest. She didn’t win the contest, but she had a completed manuscript in hand, and set out on the next stage of publishing.
Over the next few years she took the manuscript through multiple edits and critiques, sought an agent, and eventually opted to use IngramSpark’s services.
“It was a long learning process. I’m not an expert. Once I realized I’m going to have to do this myself, what’s the point of bringing someone in,” she said.
In the modern publishing world, authors — even those who go through traditional mainstream publishers — find themselves required to do most of their own promotion and marketing.
With her husband’s help, she designed her own book cover, grew an audience of about 5,000 followers on her Instagram “Bookstagram,” got multiple reviews from some of her publishing peers in the Facebook group, joined two online blog book tours (the next one is in October), and organized her first book signing. She recently spotted her book — in a picture on Instagram — on the shelf of an independent bookstore in Carbondale, Colorado.
Meanwhile, she’s been busy writing the next book in the series, “Stars Like Fire,” which releases in spring of 2024, along with planning a prologue, “The Bone Inventory” to release in winter of 2024 and the third book in the series, “Stars Rain Down,” to release in spring of 2025.
Asked what she would like new readers to know, Lupe said, “If you buy and read my book there are moments where you’re going to be very mad at me. Remember that it’s a series and it’s fantasy and anything can happen.”
“Stars Like Acid” is available in multiple formats online and in stores. https://linktr.ee/mamarissabooks
