After parting ways with her troubled mermaid tribe, Luce just wants to live peacefully on her own. But her tranquility doesn’t last long: she receives news that the tribe is on the verge of collapse and desperately needs her leadership. The tribe’s cruel queen wants Luce dead. Dorian, the boy Luce broke mermaid law to save, is determined to make her pay for her part in the murder of his family. And while the mermaids cling to the idea that humans never suspect their existence, there are suddenly ominous signs to the contrary.
But when Luce and Dorian meet, they start to wonder if love can overpower the hatred they know they should feel for each other. Can Luce fulfill her rightful role as queen of the mermaids without sacrificing her forbidden romance with Dorian?
I'm a writer, artist, and freelance teacher. I teach creative writing workshops in the New York public schools via Teachers and Writers Collaborative; I've worked with kids in grades K-10, but I've focused on junior high and high school for the last several years. I don't think I would have written a YA novel if it weren't for that experience! Reading my students' intense, passionate poetry and stories recalled my own emotions at that age. Lost Voices was my attempt to write the book I most needed as a twelve-year-old struggling with what it means to be human: a book I never really found.
As for why I became a writer, well, I grew up moving around a lot. I was shy and didn't have a lot of friends, and I read all the time. Books sustained me and gave me a sense of belonging when I was young. All the voices of all the writers I've loved throughout my life seemed to flow together into something like a speaking whirlwind. Literature for me has always been a force greater than the individuals who create it. And because that force meant (and means) so much to me, I wanted to be a part of it, to give it what I could and contribute to its power.
I live in Brooklyn with my wonderful husband Todd, an artist and fabricator of electronic art, and our cats Jub Jub and Delphine. I have an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from City College.
My website is sarahporterbooks.com. It includes my drawings of Luce and Nausicaa (who features largely in the upcoming books in the trilogy) as well as a summary of the trilogy's second volume, WAKING STORMS. There's also a selection of reviews and interviews, and occasional updates.
