We are thrilled to introduce you to our newest published author, Maya Mourshed! Maya recently published her book, Chemistories, through our Fresh Ink publishing program. In Fresh Ink, youth authors with a completed novel draft are mentored through a chapter-by-chapter revision process. At the end of the program, the author is guided through the publication process resulting in an ink-and-paper book they can hold in their hands and share with other readers! We interviewed Maya about her experience in the program. Keep reading to learn more about Maya’s book and Fresh Ink.
Interview with Maya Mourshed
Tell us about your book.
Chemistories is a collection of short stories and poems I wrote based on my interest in chemistry, accompanied by my own illustrations. Throughout my book, I bring elements of the periodic table to life. My stories not only personify chemical properties of the elements, but also make the elements relatable to human experiences! For example, you’ll see Helium longing for a friend to bond with in “Operation Bond” or atoms working together to defeat the evil Fluorine in “Saving the Atoms.” Also included in the book are a variety of creative and chemistry sidebars that explain scientific concepts to clarify the stories and to provide background knowledge related to the story before diving in.
What inspired you to tell these stories?
I first got interested in chemistry and the periodic table when I was eight years old. I was instantly hooked on the periodic table and how it organized the elements, what made each element special, and what all the letters and numbers on the element squares meant. Around that time, I had also developed a hobby of creative writing, so I began imagining the elements’ daily lives and how they would behave. I drafted short stories and poems about how I envisioned the elements and submitted them to writing contests. Some of my works in Chemistories were contest submissions that I elaborated on and refined more deeply for this book, and others started out as school writing assignments. But all my works were inspired by that joy I felt when I discovered my chemistry passion – that still remains with me to this day.
What do you hope your readers will take away from your book?
Not only do I hope my readers absorb the information from the scientific sidebars throughout the book, but I also hope that they absorb the beauty and wonder of chemistry in the world around them after reading it. That way, they can see the connection between chemistry and creative writing; and, they can learn something new while enjoying stories and poems at the same time. I envision my readers being curious about the chemistry around them and feeling the same happiness I felt when I first saw the periodic table. Plus, as a female author writing about chemistry, I would like to inspire girls who read this book to explore the sciences. Females are largely underrepresented in scientific fields currently, and I want to change that. I hope I will start to do that with this book.
