Congratulations, Chelsea B! You’re our winner today. Please email MicheleC (at) romconinc.com with your snail mail information to claim your copy of Soulless! Thanks for visiting RomCon today.
How did you come up with the idea for SOULLESS?
The simple fact is: this was what I wanted to read. I enjoy urban fantasy but am not wild about a modern setting. I like steampunk but it tends to be a little too dark and dystopian for me. So I thought I might just combine the two, and then shake it up with a jot more romance and a whole lot of comedy. Then I simply started thinking about what kind of world could accommodate all these different elements. I'm familiar with the Victorian era and I find it a rich source of amusement in and of itself. Those ridiculous fashions and that obsession with etiquette seem the perfect time period to drop in vampires (dictating such things) and werewolves (chaffing against them) not to mention steam technology. It seemed to me that what comedy I couldn't supply with plot and character, an alternate Victorian London could provide just by being itself.
After deciding on a setting, I started idly toying with the idea of how a person would become undead. After all, if vampires and werewolves are bouncing about, what's to keep them from turning everyone? There must be biological procreative controls in place. Taking into account what I knew of Victorian scientific theory, I hypothesized that an excess soul found in only a few people might account for bite-survival rates. This led me to investigate the measuring of the soul – which an American scientist actually tried to do in the late 1800s. This, in turn, lead to the idea that if some people had too much soul there should be others who had too little, or none at all. And these people could act as nullifiers to supernatural abilities. Thus Alexia was born.
Did you sell it right away, or did you get a lot of rejections?
I got a few agent rejections, but the first open slush I sent it to an editor called me up. That was about two months after I mailed it in. You could have knocked me down with a feather I was so surprised. Nothing moves that fast in the publishing industry, except copy-edit deadlines. I'd been trying for almost 10 years to get other projects published, so I'd really only sent it out expecting to get rejections. Frankly, I was rather shocked anyone wanted to buy it. I figured the marketing people would put the royal slap down on any book with no obvious category or demographic not knowing where to shelve it or how to package it. Luckily editors liked it enough anyway. I think the word most often used was "charming."
How many books are you planning in the series?
Currently, I'm only contracted for three. The last one, Blameless, is undergoing final revisions and is due to my editor soon. (In fact, I should be working on it right now). I could see a few more staring Alexia after that, maybe two or three. I don't see this as Hamilton or Harris situation. I do love the world, though. So I'd like to explore 20 years after the Parasol Protectorate series, possibly in an American Old West steampunk setting. I'm hoping to write a single book about Alexia's father this spring, mostly because it's becoming increasingly necessary to know his back-story. It will be dark, though, so I'm not sure it'll get published since that's not what people like or expect from me as an author.
What happens next?
Three little words: werewolves in kilts
How do you make your writing so funny?
Mostly I take ridiculous characters and put them into absurd situations. I don't know about you, but
the times I find myself laughing the most are when I'm just chatting with my friends. They're the funniest people I know. So, I use them ruthlessly as inspiration. Actually, I number a couple of other writers amongst my tribe, and we'll bid things when they come up in conversations. As in "Ooo, can I steal that?" My other tactic for adding comedy while I'm writing is when something comes up in the plot I ask myself not "what would my character do next?" but "what is the most bizarre solution to this problem?" Sometimes this backfires on me in a "too much Douglas Adams kind of way" in which case I have to switch tactics and ask myself "what would PG Wodehouse do?"
I will admit, it can be very difficult to write comedy some days. I have a big post-it note affixed to the side of my computer that reads "Gail, don't lose the funny!"
So Michele suggested I end this blog with a couple questions for you all out there. And, as I really am curious, here are a few about characters. (I case you couldn't tell, characterization is my absolute favorite part of the writing process.) Since I've already written the next two books, you're answers can't influence me in any way, but I'd love to know if I went the right direction!
Who's your favorite character and why?
Who would you like to see more of, character wise?
And what would you like to know more of about the world?
I’m giving away a signed copy of Soulless to one commenter today so don’t be shy! Also, feel free to ask me any other questions. I can't always answer them, but I promise to try to answer the ones I can.
Take care everyone.
~Gail
Gail's Virtual Home
Alternatively: pick your poison: Friend or follow Gail on Twitter, Facebook, Livejournal, or Blogspot. Options options! Or join The Parasol Protectorate facebook group and take over the world one sip of tea at a time.You can also play the Alexia paper-doll dress up game.
Soulless hits shelves Oct 1, 2009 and Changeless in April of 2010.
