Please check out L.T Getty's Dreams of Mariposa today and don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a $50 Amazon/BN gift card in the tour wide giveaway. Please find all stops for the tour HERE. The tour is sponsored by Goddess Fish Promotions.
Talking with author L.T. Getty
Thanks for
stopping by to talk a little about your writing! Let's jump right in. When did
you begin writing and why?
Do you have a favorite genre? Is it the same genre you prefer to write?
Do you have a favorite genre? Is it the same genre you prefer to write?
If
we’re talking reading and movies, it usually leans more towards science fiction
as opposed to fantasy. I seem to lean a little more towards fantasy in the
writing, but I think it’s because I find that there’s a ton of mythos and
legends to explore, whereas with science fiction there’s tropes I absolutely
love to read and watch but I don’t want to feel like I’m rehashing or I don’t
know enough to be realistic about writing it.
Do certain themes and ideas tend to capture your writer’s imagination and fascinate you?
Absolutely! As with Tower
of Obsidian, Dreams of Mariposa deals with very powerful, immortal
creatures who have very different motivations than ones we humans have. They
have very different senses of what’s moral as well. I think a lot of times
people like to assume these immortal creatures are better than humans, because
they are so long lived and are stronger, faster, etc. Human beings have the
ability to grow and change and I think they can make excellent protagonists.
How do you balance long-term thinking vs. being nimble in today's market?
Honestly,
I think it’s kind of silly to chase markets unless you’re writing for an
anthology. Maybe this would be different if I were writing full time, but I
think the longest I’ve waited to get a rejection was two years – if I didn’t
have a spreadsheet, I wouldn’t remember I sent it to that house!
In
general, I follow CS Lewis’ writing advice: If I try to do something original,
I’ll obsess over that and write nothing original. If I try to tell the truth, I
typically do something creative without worrying about the originality, and
typically have more trouble trying to reign it in for market expectations. I
have projects sitting in the back of the desk because I took them and editors
asked how in the blazes they’re supposed to market some of it.
How do you find readers in today's market?
I’m
still working on an online presence. I used to be very concerned about looking
professional in writing circles and events, so I should have been having fun
and wearing costumes at the conventions as opposed to wearing business suits. I
find when I’m more relaxed in person and chat people up casually, I do better
than when I go professional.
Ultimately,
I just try to be upfront about what I’m writing about and respect the reader’s
intelligence.
Do you come up with the hook first, or do you create characters first and then dig through until you find a hook?
Do you come up with the hook first, or do you create characters first and then dig through until you find a hook?
I
let myself tell myself the story first, then I worry about all the details that
come after. I need to do several edits in order to get a decent draft, so it’s
not until I have a working, fluid draft that I think about the elevator pitch,
possible different titles, who I should be marketing a book to, etc.
How do you create your characters?
How do you create your characters?
I
think about what the story would need and how different characters would drive
the plot forward. You could take the same plot and use a very different cast,
and you’d have a very different story, I think, because their methodology of
solving the issues at hand vary with individual motivations.
What's on the top of your TBR pile right now?
What's on the top of your TBR pile right now?
I
have several books on my EReaderI’m about to start the novel Sons of the Earth, by Geralyn Wichers, a
novel about renegade synthetic humans which are deemed non-human. It’s my first
book by Wichers, I hope it’s decent.
Tell me a little about the characters in Dreams of Mariposa
Marie
is a master vampire thrust into a world quite different than the one she left
behind to be with her beloved. A great cataclysm happened and she lost almost
everyone she loved, including her husband, and when she tried to kill herself
she became both a master vampire and daywalker.
She
and another Master Vampire, Bastian, are recruited by the rulers of the
masquerade to infiltrate society and learn about a necromancer’s plot to open
an ancient seal, because they’re daywalkers and their looks alone are enough to
give us mere mortals pause.
Where’s the story set? How much influence did the setting have on the atmosphere/characters/development of the story?
Where’s the story set? How much influence did the setting have on the atmosphere/characters/development of the story?
The
story is set in our future, mostly in Europe, after a technology fall and
mankind is slowly relearning to use steam power. They have zeppelins, and a few
other alternative means of transportation. I’m vague as to where it takes
place, but let’s just say that a good chunk of the novel takes place in the UK.
Honestly,
part of the reason I started working on this story was years ago, when the
publisher was still Canadian, Ellen said she wanted more steampunk. I was
familiar with the more gothic pieces like Frankenstein and Dracula, as well as
stories like Sherlock Holmes, so that was my inspiration for entering that
setting.
If you had to write your memoir in five words, what would you write?
Tried
and failed. Tried harder.
How often does your muse distract you from day to day minutiae?
Depends on what I’m doing. When I’m doing cardio or cleaning my house, I can daydream about books and plot points (although I wish it was at the task at hand, as opposed to new ideas!) but if I’m doing something that involves more focus, I tend to focus on the task at hand until it’s done.
What do readers
have to look forward to in the future from you?
I have another novel signed with Champagne Books called Witchslayer’s Scion and I’ve sent book 2 to them, I’m waiting to hear back if we go into a series from there. I have a few novel on my hard drive I need to edit – I wrote a cyberpunk novel a few years ago I could probably whip into shape and send, and I recently finished a science fiction novel but I didn’t like the ending, so I’m giving myself some time and distance to figure out what I need to change to make the book satisfying. If the writer’s not happy, I doubt that the reader would be.
I have another novel signed with Champagne Books called Witchslayer’s Scion and I’ve sent book 2 to them, I’m waiting to hear back if we go into a series from there. I have a few novel on my hard drive I need to edit – I wrote a cyberpunk novel a few years ago I could probably whip into shape and send, and I recently finished a science fiction novel but I didn’t like the ending, so I’m giving myself some time and distance to figure out what I need to change to make the book satisfying. If the writer’s not happy, I doubt that the reader would be.
GENRE: Steampunk-Horror
Every decade, Marie must
leave her home and everything she loves to start anew. She can’t risk the
locals learning the truth of her immortality, much less her vampiric need of
feeding off fear. Fortunately for Marie, fear comes easily and she spends her
endless days mourning the loss of her beloved.
When she is summoned to the leaders of the masquerade, she is persuaded to assist them in uncovering a mystery of powers possibly more ancient then their own order.
As a rare daywalker of exquisite beauty, there is no society Marie cannot infiltrate. Having spent the last few centuries growing into her abilities, she expects to learn of the old powers, and return to her lonely eternity of mourning.
She doesn’t expect to fall in love.
When she is summoned to the leaders of the masquerade, she is persuaded to assist them in uncovering a mystery of powers possibly more ancient then their own order.
As a rare daywalker of exquisite beauty, there is no society Marie cannot infiltrate. Having spent the last few centuries growing into her abilities, she expects to learn of the old powers, and return to her lonely eternity of mourning.
She doesn’t expect to fall in love.
Excerpt
Two:
I could smell the inside of the building as being more than
simply old and in need of a maid. It smelled of old earth and iron. I sensed
nothing out of the ordinary, which told me the devious one likely had means of
cloaking. Curious, as most old houses at least had hints of hauntings.
He led me past a set of stairs and into what was probably once
a receiving parlor, but he had many dusty tomes and tall bookshelves, and a
ladder besides to get to the highest levels. One could not easily get to the
furniture, which was draped in ugly fabric. Boxes and crates littered the
floor. The cad hadn’t the sense to tidy up and make an effort when he knew he
was having a lady visitor.
“How many of your kind are there in town?” Septimus asked.
“More than a dozen?”
I laughed, looking up at the ghostly pale portraits. He had
strange tastes in art, preferring a more stylized appropriation than realistic
or idealized beauty. I saw a reference to ancient gods, destroying towns and
descending upon mortal women to force upon them their demi-god offspring.
Half-naked women in chains being molested was his true artistic preference, it
seemed. I should have brought Rosa. Even if he only dabbled in finger-paints,
she needed only half an excuse to show skin, and perhaps I could have rooted
around and discovered what he was up to without his condescension.
“As…we like to keep to ourselves and go without detection,
it is more like half that.” I didn’t bore him of the needs of the lesser of my
kin. “Have you had many run-ins with my kind?”
“I was curious about how you go about feeding without being
detected.” He turned his back on me and lit the fire almost too easily.
Buy Links:
GIVEAWAY
L.T.
Getty will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn
winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
About the Author
L.T. Getty is a science fiction and
fantasy writer who hails from the Canadian Prairies. When she’s not writing,
you can likely find her driving an ambulance and dreaming about travel.
Blog:
Goodreads:
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3 comments:
Thank you for hosting
Sounds really great, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your book with us. I think we all enjoy hearing about new books we previously didn't know about. Also, thank you for the giveaway.
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