#7 - Writing Steampunk Romance with Jacqueline Garlick

Oct 7, 2013

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Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Jacqueline Garlick, author of Lumière: A Fantasy Steampunk Romance Adventure (http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/lumiere-1).

Mark and Jackie discuss:

Jacqueline’s background in writing and experience working with SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators - http://www.scbwi.org/ ) under the mentorship of Ellen Hopkins (http://ellenhopkins.com/)
How Ellen Hopkins helped promote and nurture a beginning writer, helping them to believe that they could do it
The Niagara Retreat and Conference event (http://niagararetreatandconference.com/) that Jacqueline is a driving force behind
The self-publishing approach that Jacqueline’s agent suggested and supports
Taking the long-term approach as a writer, in both the indie and traditional publishing spaces, determining where a project best fits in an industry that is in flux
How the X-Ray machine used to be seen as a cure for everything
Themes in the novel, such as: Science created for good being done for bad; and the concept of inclusion for a person with an internal affliction (epilepsy) vs a person with an external affliction (visible birth defect)– and what is more terrible to live with
What it was like winning and participating in the Donald Maass Breakout Novel Intensive Scholarship (http://maassagency.com/)
How self-publishing actually “takes a village” or, in Jackie’s case, a team that includes a photographer and an animator
The types of questions that are important to ask when hiring an editor, a designer, etc

As part of this episode’s soliloquy, Mark speaks about the importance of networking for writers, why attending local writing groups, conferences and seminars can be invaluable for a writer.