Author Interview & Contest with Gail Carriger

I didn't know what Steampunk was until I was offered the chance to read the first two books in the Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger. Since then the writer of this amazing series has been on my must read list and I have been checking out more Steampunk because of it.

With the fourth book due out next week I couldn't resist asking Gail to stop by and tell us a little more about Heartless. I hope you all enjoy the interview and will enter the contest. Also make sure you check out the series if you haven't already. I absolutely love it!

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Amber - Thank you for visiting Amberkatze's Book Blog again! Maybe you can start things off by telling us a little about your The Parasol Protectorate Series?

Gail - Imagine Jane Austen dabbling in science and steam technology. Then imagine P.G. Wodehouse suddenly dropped vampires into the Drones Club. The Parasol Protectorate books are the resulting progeny. They feature Alexia Tarabotti, soulless Victorian harridan, and her increasingly eccentric group of friends. Alexia is prone to charging about London, then across England, and eventually through Europe on her quest to foil various evil plots. She is assisted, and sometimes hindered, in her endeavors by a band of scruffy werewolf soldiers, a cadre of gay vampires, a cross–dressing female inventor, and a very silly best friend with a predilection for atrocious hats.

Amber - Book four in the Parasol Protectorate series is due out! What can we expect from Heartless?

Gail - Heartless is my ode to the Sherlock Holmes oeuvre, if Holmes were a very grumpy autocratic female in an increasingly clumsy and indelicate condition tracking down plots to kill the queen with massive steampunk mechanicals.

Amber - Alexia has seen a lot of action so far. How do you decide what to throw at her in each book?

Gail - Sometimes it's matter a plot, sometimes necessity, and sometimes whim. I operate on the principle that when in doubt, make something explode.

Amber - Why do you think there has been such an increase of books in the Steampunk genre?

Gail - I have many theories on this. I believe it has immense escapist appeal. Steampunk is a unique movement in that it isn’t entirely literary – it has ties to the green movement, the maker community, historical reenactment societies, and the fashion world. With our economy in chaos, steampunk offers up an alternative lifestyle of sedate civilized behavior. Part of the appeal, I think, has to do with our own sense of chaos and impending doom. This often causes people to look back and seek out time that was more ridged and controlled, full of polite manners and forms of address.

Amber - Will there be more books in the series? How long would you like to see things continue for Alexia ? Do you see an end in sight?

Gail - There will be five books total, which means one more after Heartless. It is called Timeless and will be out in March of 2012. I am not one of those authors with a "beat that dead horse" tendency (I don't have children to put through college). I want to give my readers the satisfaction of an ending.

Amber - If The Parasol Protectorate was going to be made into a TV Series or Film who would you like to see playing the main characters?

Gail - There is an on going discussion about this over on the Parasol
Protectorate Facebook Group and I have done a guest blog on the subject, I also run an occasion spot in my blog, character studies, which include some possible casting for each character.

Amber - Are you working on anything else? Maybe another series? Something in another genre?

Gail - The universe I've created with the Parasol Protectorate will live on. I've begun the first of four young adult books set 25 years before Alexia, called the Finishing School series. Fans can expect a few of their favorite characters to show up in these as well as other future works.

Amber - How long on average does it take you to write a full book? Do you have a process you follow? or do you just start at page one and see what happens?

Gail - Six months usually. Three to write and three to edit and correct. I also spend a good deal of my writing time researching. I am definitely a process writer, not a discovery writer. I have an outline, a daily routine, and lots of ritual surrounding both. I also like to write with other people, I'm a kind of a social writer.

Amber - What are you listening and watching lately? Is there any music or other media that influences your writing?

Gail - I watch a lot of BBC costume dramas. I just finished Downton Abby and am now on the new Upstairs Downstairs series. They certainly influence what I write. I also like old 1950's comedies, I went on a Marilyn Munroe binge last month. Because I am writing an all girl's finishing school in my new YA series, I've been doing a lot of researching and watching of teenage girl socialization. That's included everything from Mean Girls to the original St. Trinian's series, to actual real life news stories on female bullying.

Amber - In the ultimate battle, who gets your vote: vampires or werewolves?

Gail - Humans, we'll out bread them all in the end. It's what we do best. With the possible exception of zombies.

Amber - Thank you for visiting the blog again! I hope you will pop by again soon!

Gail - Thank you for having me.





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Contest Time


Gail is very kindly giving away a signed copy of Soulless. The first book in the Parasol Protectorate Series and your chance to see how it all started! Sorry US Only!


How To Enter


I used to watch St Trinian's and Upstairs Downstairs when I was younger. What did you enjoy watching way back when?


No answer = No Entry


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The contest will stay open until Thursday 30th of June 2011 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.