I have a special Saturday treat for you all! Thanks to my involvement in Authonomy a year or two ago, I have had the fortune of meeting some wonderful and interesting people. These are writers, artists, entrepreneurs, and mentors. Today, I’d like to welcome one of these fantastic friends: Cameron Chapman. Her book, Aboard the Unstoppable Aerostat Fenris, is a Steampunk novel, which she can describe better than I.
For those people who don’t know–and I admit I only have a vague notion–what, exactly, is steampunk?
Put most simply, steampunk is Victorian sci-fi. It’s also alternate history in a lot of instances, where steam power and clockwork stayed the dominant form of technology, rather than being replaced by electronics and the internal combustion engine. It’s a really fun genre, with a lot of room for experimentation. I tend to run more toward the fantasy elements of steampunk, without a ton of gadgetry and tech-speak. More like Star Wars than Star Trek.
How many books have you written/published?
I’ve self-published two books, one non-fiction, and one fiction. I’ve written something like eight first drafts, and have another four or five that are in progress. Some of those are just about ready for publication (including the second book of The Steam and Steel Chronicles), while others are still in first draft form. I’ve made a point this year to finish or trunk all of the projects I’ve started thus far, before I start on any new ones.
What genre do you enjoy writing in most? Why?
I love writing fantasy and sci-fi, but I also write women’s fiction and maybe a bit of romance. The one common thread that all of my books have, though, is a love story. I feel like it’s something almost anyone can relate to, and helps ground books that are otherwise not at all set in our reality.
Where do you find inspiration?
I’m inspired by everything. Movies, music, TV, other writers, current events, politics, random conversations I overhear. Lately, I’ve been taking a lot of inspiration from my grandmother, who’s 91. Her short-term memory is going due to anesthesia during a hip-replacement surgery, and so she talks a lot about the past. She was in the Women’s Army Corps during WWII, and has a ton of interesting stories from that time. I take notes after our regular visits with her, and I’ve already got a few ideas for novels built around events she’s shared.
Music is a huge inspiration for me. I create playlists for each novel I work on, and I listen to them pretty incessantly while I’m brainstorming. I love music, and have varied taste, which is handy since I write such a variety of genres!
A glance through your website shows you’re not just an author–you do design work, too. How does that match up with the creative writing side? What about your professional writing (for blogs and magazines, like Mashable)?
I’m a full-time writer, but most of my income comes from blogging. I do freelance design work on occasion, though with all the writing I do, most of that is for my own personal projects, or friends. I’ve been focusing more on book design and web design for authors and publishers, though at the moment I’m so busy with writing I don’t have much time for design work. It’s tough to strike a balance between my professional writing and my personal, creative writing. It’s easy to get burnt out on writing in general when I write a few thousand words for “work” during the day, and then want to try to produce the same for my creative writing in the evenings. I’m still working on getting the right balance, though it’s getting easier. I’m also learning to say “no” on occasion, and not take on more work than I can handle.
How do you like being an indie author, and what advice would you give to other authors looking to follow that route?
I love being an indie author. I’m an entrepreneur at heart, and I enjoy the business side of it almost as much as the creative side. It really incorporates all of my interest. I get to design book covers and interiors, code everything for the ebook versions, network with readers and other writers, and be a complete control freak. It works for me.
As far as advice to others, I think it breaks down into a few things: First, take your time. Don’t rush it. Just because you can publish a manuscript a week after you finish writing it, doesn’t mean you should. Think of indie publishing as a marathon, not a sprint.
Second, research! Read everything you can on indie publishing. Read blogs by people who are successful at it, from those who aren’t successful at it, and even those who hate it and think it’s an awful idea. Go into it with your eyes open, and be ready to the challenges it presents.
Third, be professional. There are too many indie publishers out there who aren’t professional, and who have very low quality standards, and they’re ruining it for the rest of us. If there’s a part of the process you can’t handle yourself, hire someone. If you’re strapped for cash, seek out friends and family, or students, who might be able to help you at a lower cost. Look at the books you see published by the big publishers, and see how yours looks compared to theirs. Just because you’re an indie doesn’t mean you can’t have a book that’s just as well-put-together as anything the big New York publishers are putting out.
About The Steam and Steel Chronicles:
- The first book in The Steam and Steel Chronicles, Aboard the Unstoppable Aerostat Fenris, was released in February 2011 and is available on Kindle , Nook , and Smashwords. The book follows Isabelle Feeney Hemsworth and Aerostat Captain Stig Rayner from the Russian Empire across Europe, as they set out to deliver mysterious—and possibly dangerous—cargo to Iceland and get Isabelle home to England.
- The Steam and Steel Chronicles detail the lives of Isabelle and Stig as they venture through an alternate steampunk Edwardian age. Book Two, tentatively titled The Great Healion Race, will be released this spring. There are six books planned in the series.
About the author:
Raised in New England and Virginia, Cameron Chapman has been writing off and on since grade school, though she knew at an early age she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. She’s been blogging professionally since 2006, and started writing fiction “seriously” in 2007. She enjoys reading fiction from a wide variety of genres, including women’s fiction, chick lit, fantasy, science fiction, and horror. She writes soft science fiction, fantasy, and women’s fiction, though all of her stories are based on love.
Chapman lives in Northern New England with her husband, two dogs, and a rather ornery cat. When she’s not writing, which is rarely, she enjoys being outdoors (and sometimes she combines the two).
Visit her blog, Cameron Chapman On Writing, or follow her on Twitter or Goodreads. In addition to writing, she does occasional design work, and has recently been focusing on book design (both interior and covers).
Thank you so much for joining us, Cameron! Now that I know a little more about Steampunk, I’ll have to go check it out–it sounds right up my alley!
Do you guys have any questions?
Thanks again for having me, Noelle! I just wanted to let your readers know that the book is available on Smashwords, Kindle, and Nook.