GUEST POST: Mary Pauline Lowry, author of The Earthquake Machine

I am so happy to welcome Mary Pauline Lowry today, author of The Earthquake Machine. I haven't had a chance to read her book yet, but I really look forward to the opportunity.

But for now, I will turn the floor over to Mary...

Guest Post for Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World

First I want to thank Heather for hosting me here at Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World. I love the title of her blog and can really relate to the idea it conveys. I’ve worked as a forest firefighter and a construction worker so I’ve spent plenty of time being a bookish grrrl surrounded by folks not quite so taken with literature.

Top Six Reasons

THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE

Will Rock Your World

1.    It’s an adventure story that features a brave and brazen female protagonist.


2.    The main character Rhonda runs away from home and travels alone into interior Mexico.


3.    It’s an honest (and disturbing) tale about a young girl’s sexual awakening.


4.    It shows how women can be awesome criminals.


5.    Insatiable Booksluts call it “Huck Finn with vibrators!”


6.    It’s like nothing you’ve ever read before; and it’s all about Girl Power!



Book synopsis:

The Earthquake Machine

The book every girl should read,

and every girl’s parents hope she’ll never read.

The Earthquake Machine tells the story of 14 year-old Rhonda. On the outside, everything looks perfect in Rhonda’s world, but at home Rhonda has to deal with a manipulative father who keeps her mentally ill mother hooked on pharmaceuticals. The only reliable person in Rhonda’s life is her family’s Mexican yardman, Jesús. But when the INS deports Jesús back to his home state of Oaxaca, Rhonda is left alone with her increasingly painful family situation.

Determined to find her friend Jésus, Rhonda seizes an opportunity to run away during a camping trip with friends to Big Bend National Park. She swims to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande and makes her way to the border town of Milagros, Mexico. There a peyote- addled bartender convinces her she won’t be safe traveling alone into the country’s interior. So with the bartender’s help, Rhonda cuts her hair and assumes the identity of a Mexican boy named Angel. She then sets off on a burro across the desert to look for Jesús. Thus begins a wild adventure that fulfills the longing of readers eager for a brave and brazen female protagonist.

Author bio:

Mary Pauline Lowry has worked as a forest firefighter, screenwriter, open water lifeguard, construction worker, and advocate in the movement to end violence against women. Due to no fault of her sweet parents, at 15 she ran away from home and made it all the way to Matamoros, Mexico. She believes girls should make art, have adventures, and read books that show them the way.



I would like to thank Mary for stopping by today! Stop back by on Saturday for a giveaway of her book The Earthquake Machine, as part of the Lucky Leprechauns Giveaway Hop!