Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Jacqueline Garlick, author of Lumière: A Fantasy Steampunk Romance Adventure.
Mark and Jackie discuss:
Jacqueline’s background in writing and experience working with SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) under the mentorship of Ellen Hopkins- 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 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
- 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.
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