Though born in California, the Santa Barbara–based author Amaya Mishka was raised in Alaska, where her family descends from the Athabascan people that live in the center of the state near McGrath. Working by day as a hypnotherapist, Mishka recently published her debut novel Ascension Warriors, which is the first in a series that combines Indigenous culture and mythology with science fiction. She answered a few of my questions about her book recently.
How has Athabascan culture informed your writing and life?
In my culture, art is almost as important as breathing. Growing up, I learned beading, sewing, and Native dance. Storytelling is a part of my culture. I feel called to convey messages rooted in traditional values of treating each living creature with respect, including our home, Mother Earth. In my mind, if we want to reach the minds of youth, it seems only natural to entertain them through sci-fi and fantasy fiction.
How did Ascension Warriors come about?
Ascension Warriors was essentially born of the idea to raise consciousness. When I began work on the novel in early 2017, I wasn't sure what I was writing initially and began the book as a boy-meets-girl story. However, quickly after I wrote the scene where Samantha meets Evan in the grocery store, the entire story took a sharp left turn into sci-fi, and I thought to myself, "What if the characters were all part of a bigger, covert plan to save humanity? How would that look and what would they be fighting for?”