Who is Nova McBee? And why should you care? Nova McBee is a hopeless nomad and culture nerd who has lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She speaks multiple languages, including Mandarin, and lived in China for more than a decade writing books and teaching English and Creative Writing to teens and adults. Most importantly, she’s the author of what is sure to be your new favorite book, Calculated.
She has many names – Octavia, Double 8, Phoenix, Josephine. She’s a math prodigy, a calculating genius and everyone wants her. In seventeen-year-old Jo River’s complicated world of numbers, there’s no such thing as coincidence. When she is betrayed by someone she loves, kidnapped by the world’s most wanted smuggler, and forced to use her talent to shore up a criminal empire, Jo deems her gift a curse—until she meets Red…
Wise Wolf Books got the chance to speak with Nova McBee in hopes of learning more about who she is and how Calculated came to be.
“In one week, there will be a kidnapping. Yours.”
Wise Wolf Books: I know this is your first book deal, how do you feel about that and what has been the most exciting part so far?
Nova McBee: I’m thrilled, thankful, excited, nervous, and mostly ready. The Calculated series truly found the best home at Wise Wolf Books and they have been incredible to me and believed in this book from day one. (Thank you x 1000 😊)
The most exciting part so far is seeing Calculated become a real book with a cover + blurbs + dedications, etc. It’s been a long journey to get here and so many friends around the world have rooted me on for this moment. It feels so good to finally tell them an actual date it can be in their hands.
WWB: Have you always been a writer in some capacity?
NM: Yes. But in no way did I ever think it was possible to be a writer. When I was young I had this strange idea that writers were unknown people who were mostly dead. (LOL.) But I always wrote. I actually started out as a songwriter, lol. By second grade I had notebooks full of songs most about love and culture. (go figure) By High school my collection of journals filled with poems and accounts of my adventures were too many to count. A bonus was growing up with a father who was a storyteller, creative writer and teacher. He’d pick me up from school and awe my friends with fantastical stories of far away lands. He, oh excuse me, my “tooth fairy” would leave elaborate letters full of tales of different worlds. Needless to say, I had a very creative home, in which both parents encouraged and made space for every type of creative mess, I mean, project.
In University a couple professors told me the writing in my analytical papers wasn’t good enough but they gave me extra points for being “creative” — I should have guessed my career path then! But there’s a right time for things and I wasn’t ready yet. I was 28 when I started to study the craft of novel writing.
WWB: YA is known to be a difficult genre to break in to, what drew you to YA in particular?
NM: After I knew I wanted to be an author, I spent 5+ years just practicing my craft. During that time I wrote everything in all ages. Young Adult fit me in a way that was natural. As a young teen I’d already ventured all over the world. It was the bravest, most captivating, exhilarating time, and it made me who I am today. Those moments had a perspective I loved. Then the HUNGER GAMES came out. That book sealed the deal for me. It was the fist time I heard the word “YA.” I knew that was what I wanted to write. (fyi, the Calculated series, like the Hunger Games, is very much a YA crossover novel for adults too!)
WWB: You have lived all over, tell us a little about that. Did you just have a travel bug and needed to see the world? Where has been your favorite place to live?
NM: Oh I could talk about this for hours…Traveling, culture, languages has always been part of me. Like in a YA novel, it called to me for years in dreams and my imagination, in conversation, in purpose. I only had to step out onto that path to see that I was right. Growing up, my house was like an international hostel. Crossing cultures was natural, beautiful and fun. (My mom is also a first generation American who was raised in another language and culture.) As a teen, I went to live in my mother’s home country—and that year I ended up in more than seven countries and learned three languages. After that, I pursued anything international.
As for my favorite place to live, I don’t know. It’d be like choosing which child you love best! Impossible. Each place and people gave me something deep and special that made me who I am. I dearly love my friends and family in each place and long to be with them all. True story: For YEARS when asked what kind of gift I wanted all I’d always say, “Just a plane ticket.”
Let’s talk a little about the book now – Calculated:
WWB: I know you lived in China, as well as a few other places, ultimately why did you choose China as the setting for Calculated?
NM: Although places in the story are fictionalized, I wanted a compelling setting that had to be in a powerful nation—China fit this perfectly. It’s one of the most amazing countries in the world that holds a rich history and culture; with one of the deepest and most enlightening languages I’ve ever learned. You actually learn to think differently when you learn the concepts and stories behind each ‘character.’ For me, it brought a whole new perspective to the world. I knew my character’s math mind would love it. The place would shape her, like it did me. And of course, I was living there when I wrote Calculated, which made the setting easy and fun, and my Chinese friends were rooting me on and giving me ideas.
WWB: The book has been described as a “gender-swap mashup of The Count of Monte Cristo and Mission Impossible,” which I definitely agree with, were those the inspiration behind Calculated, or is that a coincidence?
NM: Not a coincidence. I’m a big fan of the Mission Impossible films. My Chinese friend lives in the same town where MI3 was filmed. Later, we filmed our own version of it there. It was hilarious but I will never show you. (So embarrassing!)
The year I got the idea for Calculated three things happened: 1) I had just finished the very long version of the Count of Monte Cristo, (which I LOVED and couldn’t stop thinking about for weeks.) 2) I was back in Seattle attending Anti-trafficking meetings, longing to help. 3) I’d been reflecting on how the classic bible story of Joseph was similar to the Edmond’s—betrayal, trafficking, imprisonment, rise to power, a change of identity, a choice of forgiveness or revenge, to save or destroy, and that their choices would effect more than themselves. After daydreaming if this story were to happen today, a modern story about a gifted girl in China came to me. I wrote the whole book outline in a day.
WWB: How did Jo Rivers come to life? Did you know who she was from the get-go, or did she come to you in bits and pieces?
NM: I knew I wanted her to be gifted; to posses a profitable quality that people wanted. She came bit by bit, layer by layer.
WWB: Are you good with numbers like Jo is?
NM: Wow. No. I was ok with numbers in high school, but I’ll admit I’ve forgotten most things. Thank God this is fiction. My imagination came up with things then I researched how to possibly make it work with math. I read a ton about math theories, concepts, differential equations, mechanics, physics, graphs, calculation, Newton’s laws, you name it. My brain hurt when I did the research. I also had numerous math teachers read it.
“Destiny is not what you do. It’s who you are.”
WWB: There is so much to take away from this book, but what is the main thing you want readers to gain from reading Calculated?
NM: Identity is a key theme.
And
That we have purpose; that each of us matter; and we need each other.
WWB: Do you plan to let your kids read your books when they’re old enough?
NM: Yes! I’ve already told my kids the story of Calculated and my 8-year-old son thinks it sounds like Ninjago. (lol?) I tell them all my stories and let them be involved in my creative process. Kids are great sounding boards and they love to listen and learn from stories. Sometimes when I need to teach them a crucial lesson, I’ll tell them about my characters, because then it’s not me telling them, it’s the story, which is often received better and way cooler. I’m so sneaky.
WWB: And the most important question of all – how do you take your coffee?
NM: LOL. Love this question.
Short answer is: My every morning go-to favorite coffee is made by an Italian Moka Pot, a spot of milk and no sugar. (Thanks, Italian friends.)
Long answer: Since I lived in the Middle East, Europe and Asia and literally had coffee in countless ways. I love switching it up, especially for guests. Cardamom infused espresso. Turmeric and Saffron coffee. French Press. Even Vietnamese style with sweetened condensed milk.
I have + will post more recipes!