Lilliam Rivera on finding inspiration in strong young Latinas

Lilliam Rivera likes writing the stories of young, strong Latinas in her novels, she said while visiting the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Her second novel, “Dealing in Dreams” — released by Simon & Schuster last month — is about a 15-year-old girl in the near future who is the leader of an all-girl gang.

“I really loved writing action-packed scenes, writing about girls kicking butt,” she tells The Times in the video interview above. “The kind of stuff that I read about and I watch, and I want to create those kinds of characters that young people kind of love.”

Check out the rest of our Festival of Books coverage.