Nobleton author included in anthology

November 12, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
A Nobleton author continues to delight younger readers,
Paula Pevato is among a select number of international authors whose stories were accepted into “Short and Happy (or not),” a collection of 36 stories that entertain and delight in small bites.
Pevato’s short, entitled “Firefly,” is published in the international anthology released by S & H Publishing, Inc. The anthology contains 36 stories by 25 talented authors hailing from Canada, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Colombia, the U.K., and across the United States from Washington State to Washington DC.
The contributors include multi-published award-winning authors as well as some who are having a first successful submission. The subject matter and style of the stories are as varied as the authors. Humor (or humour) abounds, but paranormal, memoir, fantasy, science fiction, dramatic settings, and wildly different points of view make the book a delight to read.
Pevato’s piece is a bittersweet love story between a teenage witch and the immortal witch hunter assigned to assimilate, infiltrate and eliminate her Coven. Firefly is the first book of The Firefly Series, a young adult paranormal trilogy.
Firefly was chosen by Kobo as a Teen Hidden Gem for 2014, and recently became a top 10 bestseller on Kobo’s Kids and Teens e-book list.
Pevato said she imagines there were many submissions.
“As an author, I was thrilled that the editors, Richard Bunning and Dixiane Hallaj, chose my story out of so many others.”
Pevato has been writing stories and poetry for as long as she can remember. She had short stories and poetry chosen for regional writing competitions, and was encouraged by English teachers, in particular a wonderful teacher in her final year of high school.
Pevato followed an academic path that took her abroad to the London School of Economics where she completed graduate studies (Masters and PhD in Public International Law). While in London, she published academic articles and edited an international law journal.
“I was fortunate to have been awarded several scholarships and awards during my studies, including fellowships to study at The Hague Academy of International Law, and attend UC Berkeley as a visiting scholar for the Organization of American States.”
After that, she worked as a legal officer for a UN organization in Geneva, Switzerland. She’s applied that experience and skill set to her writing, having transitioned to a full-time writing career.
As an author of Young Adult (YA) paranormal, she admits she lives in a world of make believe. Paranormal novels feature elements of magic and the supernatural, “so there’s really no limit with what I can do with the characters, particularly with witches and immortals.
“Those characters have abilities we can only imagine, such as casting spells and time traveling, and their lives can span many centuries, many generations. That gives me the opportunity to weave in history and mythology with supernatural themes.”
She contributed a paranormal story to this anthology, in the style of a folktale imagining how the first coven of witches came to be.
“I simply can’t resist writing about an alternate world, wondrous and magical, that sweeps readers away from their everyday lives. For readers, it’s an escape, a fantasy, so for me it’s so blissful to write for fans of this genre. Although I write for the YA audience, I’ve also received messages from readers who fall in the age groups referred to as Middle Grade, New Adult, and Adult. Thus, paranormal as a genre lends itself well to crossover from YA to Adult fiction.”
You can find more about Pevato’s work at http://pmpevato.com. For more on S & H Publishing, visit http://sandhpublishing.com/S&H Bookstore.htm.