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Alicia Kat Dillman Interview 1/26/2013 11:15:49 PM
Alicia Kat Dillman discusses her YA/New Adult novel & the writing life! LTS: Today’s featured author is also known in the Twitterverse as a very talented artist, cover art designeras well as a wonderful writer! I’d like to introduce you to YA author of The Marked Ones Trilogy, Alicia Kat Dillman. I’d like to begin by having you share a little information about yourself with our readers, Kat.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
AKD: The question is what don’t I do, really. Well first and foremost I create art, being that it’s my day job. I read a lot of books and manga and watch TV shows or movies and anime. I make cosplay, micro origami and miniature hand bound books. I take a jazz dance class once a week and perform in it’s two yearly shows. I’ve actually been in dance for the majority of my life. I also perform in the world famous historical re-enactment event The Great Dickens Fair every year. If you’re ever in the SF Bay Area during the winter holidays you should come check it out. Lastly my husband convinced me I should join their Pathfinder tabletop role playing game, so I’ll be starting that soon.
LTS: Has writing stories always been a part of your life and becoming a published author a lifelong dream?
AKD: Actually no. I didn’t know I wanted to be a writer until the later half of college while I was at the Academy. I’ve always been a storyteller (seriously I used to make up impromptu musicals for my parents when I was five) but I guess it just never occurred to me that I could do that as a job. I’ve actually only had two life long dreams. I’ve already achieved one, the other’s still on my bucket list.
LTS: The first in your trilogy, Daemons in the Mist, has been very well received! What was the inspiration behind this story and can you tell us a little bit about your protagonists, Patrick and Nualla?
AKD; Music, hands down. When I hear music I see stories in my head and weave them into worlds. But more specifically The Marked Ones Trilogy and my daemons didn’t come from one idea but more so a mash-up of music, strange adventures through Wikipedia and random programs I’ve watched on TV. Don’t believe me? Here’s how it all came to together: Add Hellenistic Greek Daemons, some program with horned creatures painted on cave walls, a special on cuttlefish and mix it together with the Katy Perry song Waking up in Vegas and you’ll basically have an idea of how this story formed in my head.
Patrick Connolly- is your average seventeen year old half-Japanese, half-European geeky artist that has been hopelessly infatuated with a girl, Nualla, for years. Unfortunately she doesn’t even seem to know he exists.
Why he’s worth rooting for: He’s willing to accept the impossible, forsake everything he’s ever known and risk everything for the girl he loves.
Nualla Galathea- is a Kalodaemon, a race of gazelle horned creatures, who hide their world within ours through a combination of natural refraction fields, enhanced persuasion abilities and super tech.
Why she’s worth caring about: She’s snarky, loving, and fierce, even if she is a little over dramatic and fails to think ahead at times. But when push comes to shove she’s willing to risk her life to protect the ones she cares about.
If you’d like to see more of what inspires the Marked Ones Trilogy and the world of daemons, you can check out The Marked Ones Pinterest board.
LTS: Without giving away too much, can you reveal what’s in store for the readers when they crack open Daemons in the Mist?
AKD Set against the misty backdrop of modern day San Francisco Daemons in the Mist tells, in alternating first person, the not-so-normal love story of Patrick Connolly and Nualla Galathea.
The story opens with our two characters attending the same high school but living in separate worlds. Patrick has been infatuated with Nualla for years, but always from a distance. He's a normal teenage boy with normal friends, and she's well, gorgeous, rich, and seemingly unaware he exists. That is, until the day he steps in between her and an outraged ex and suddenly catches the eye of his dream girl. Unsure of how he could get this incredibly lucky but not thinking about it too hard, he accepts her invite to a spur of the moment weekend trip to Vegas. A night of dancing and way too many drinks later Patrick wakes up to find himself married to her, setting off a chain of events that will change the lives of everyone around him. As the world he thought he knew comes crashing down around him, Patrick struggles to keep hold of his new love. But in the end will it be enough?
The Marked Ones trilogy is a story about the truly terrible things people are capable of. The unbreakable strength and commitment of love. And fighting to protect the people you care about most in this world even if it means your death.
LTS: The road to publication is difficult at the best of times. What made you decide go the indie route and self-publish your novel?
AKD: Most little girls play house or with dolls, I played store. I think I’ve wanted to own my own business since I was five. I come from a long line of people with that entrepreneurial spirit, so it was inevitable, really. I have nothing against traditional publishing, I have a lot of friends who work in the industry. But for me, it was more important that I do this myself, than hand my project over to someone else. I really like the idea that this is mine; that I made this. My words, my art, my design, my drive, moving it forward. That my readers get one complete vision, one story, one voice. Pure, the way it was meant to be.
LTS: What is the best and worst part of self-publishing?
AKD: Best: That you have complete creative control. Worst: Since you’re basically running your own company you have to split your time between so many things you wouldn’t have to do if you were traditionally published.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned on the road to publication?
Everything always takes longer than you think it will. When designing a release or production schedule, always double the time you think it might take. For example I thought I was going to release 2-3 books last year but then my now husband proposed to me and I had to plan a wedding in ten months on top of my normal work load. Needless to say The Storm Behind Your Eyes and The Other Side of Truth (The Marked Ones books 2 & 3) got pushed back to 2013 releases.
LTS: On the subject of writing styles, are you a plotter or pantser? The readers would like to know if you tend to plot out your story line in great detail or if your writing is more organic with the characters and events unfolding as you write.
AKD: I’m a non-linear pantser. For me writing is a lot like walking through fog. You never know what will be waiting there in the next few steps, but when it appears you just know that it was always meant to be there. I start from a single idea, a scene, a bit of dialog, a character, and the story just flows outward from that point. Racing into the distance, ever expanding, like the universe.
LTS: Some authors meditate, others need to fuel up on coffee or listen to music. Do you have any rituals, ones that can be shared with the readers, that you must do before you hunker down for a writing session?
AKD: I don’t do anything before sitting down to write but I do have my music playing while I write. I design custom playlists for each book and listen to them while I work. I also keep a Pinterest board for every project to collected all my idea sparking reference.
LTS: At one time or another, most writers hit the wall and their work stalls because of the dreaded writer’s block. What do you do to get around or over this mental wall to resume writing?
AKD: I can’t say I’d ever had writer’s block per say. My problem is usually an abundance of ideas, not a lack of them. I’m not kidding, I have about 10-15 books and 3 comics currently in production. However, when I can’t think of the right word or how to transition a certain section during the first draft of a book I just type *** and move on. Maybe I’m weird, but it just seems far more productive than beating my head against the wall trying to find the right words.
LTS: Who is your favourite author and how has he/she inspired you to write or influenced your writing style or choice of genre?
AKD: I don’t have a single favorite author, more like three. And this is what I’ve learned from them:
Rick Riordan- How to strike the perfect balance of humor and life threatening peril. And the importance of opening lines.
Cassandra Clare- The characters we cherish most are the not ones that always win but the ones whose life seems to flow from one horrific trial to the next.
JK Rowling- Even if your story doesn’t span over years your characters should still change and grow. And never be afraid to question the ordinary and turn it into something fantastical.
LTS: What do you foresee in your future over the next five years and do you hope to branch out from YA into other categories?
AKD; Technically The Marked Ones Trilogy is somewhere between Young Adult and New Adult so I’ve already started to branch out. As new Adult becomes an officially recognized category in the next few years I expect I’ll be writing for both categories. As far as genres go, right now all my books are urban fantasy but I have a few straight up fantasy, light Sci-fi, and even contemporary novels, on their way.
LTS: Can your fans expect a sequel to Daemons in the Mist in the near future?
AKD: Yes, The Storm Behind Your Eyes: The Marked Ones Book 2, is currently in edits and will be releasing later this year.
LTS: Thank you very much for taking the time to share in your works and your writing wisdom, Kat! Catch you on Twitter!
