Author Interview: Jaclyn Dolamore

First off, I'd like to thank Jaclyn Dolamore for dropping by to answer some questions. She's a local author for me, so I invited her onto the blog after a twitter conversation about the local libraries. I really enjoyed her novel, Magic Under Glass (you can see my review here). She also has a really cool contest running on her blog in celebration of the paperback release of Magic Under Glass, here.

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Sara: How would you describe your novel, Magic Under Glass, for readers who haven’t heard of it before?

Jaclyn: Foreign dancer meets clockwork boy in Victorian Gothic "house full o' secrets" setting, with magic!

Sara: How would you describe each of your main characters in three words?

Jaclyn: 3 words! That's hard! How about:

Nimira: Needs a friend.
Erris: Needs a therapist.
Hollin: Needs a vacation.

Sara: What sets your series apart from the rest of the Paranormal Young Adult novels?

Jaclyn: Well, I don't know of any other novels that have a clockwork man as a love interest. I also think Nimira is fairly unique in being from an Eastern-influenced country in a 19th-century western world.

Sara: Tell us a little about your writing process. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Jaclyn: I'm about 80% plotter. I have to know where a story is going or I'll flounder, but I also have to be open to possibilities because things always work out different than I expected.

Sara: Where did the idea for Magic Under Glass come from? Is it a novel you have always wanted to write or did it sneak up on you?

Jaclyn: It REALLY snuck up on me. I had the idea for it hit me over the course of a couple of days, and two months later I had a finished first draft. It took a couple more drafts and two more years to actually sell it, so the evolution toward publication was slow, but the initial idea was very fast. I've just always loved the Victorian era so once I started playing in that setting, it came easily.

Sara: Can we look forward to a sequel for Magic Under Glass? Do you have any other upcoming releases or projects you’d like to share with readers?

Jaclyn: Yes, Magic Under Stone comes out in 2012, sometime, and before that, my next novel, mermaid + winged boy love story Between the Sea and Sky will be released in October.

Sara: What are your influences both in and out of Paranormal Young Adult?

Jaclyn: I don't think I actually have any major influences within paranormal YA. I think it's good to draw from other things so you don't end up repetitive with other stuff that's out there. I am very inspired by history and I read loads of non-fiction. Other influences: Studio Ghibli films and other anime, various graphic novels and manga such as Thieves and Kings, Elfquest, A Distant Soil, NANA, and Meatcake, classic children's literature like Little House and L. M. Montgomery novels... I'm all over the place, but despite writing novels I'm very visual, which is probably one reason I often start with setting instead of plot or character when I'm beginning something.

Sara: What are you currently reading?

Jaclyn: A Dance Between Flames: Berlin Between the Wars by Anton Gill -- it's research but also fascinating. And Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John, a really fun YA about a hearing impaired girl who becomes a rock band manager.

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Title: Magic Under Glass
Author: Jaclyn Dolamore
Genre: Paranormal Young Adult
Release Date: 05/24/11 (paperback)
But the Book:

Summary:

Nimira is a music-hall girl used to dancing for pennies. So when wealthy sorcerer Hollin Parry hires her to sing accompaniment to a mysterious piano-playing automaton, Nimira believes it will be the start of a better life.

In Parry's world, long-buried secrets are about to stir. Unsettling rumors begin to swirl about ghosts, a madwoman roaming the halls, and Parry’s involvement in a group of corrupt sorcerers for whom the rules of the living and dead are meant to be broken for greater power.

When Nimira discovers the spirit of a dashing fairy gentleman is trapped within the automaton, she is determined to break the curse. But even as the two fall into a love that seems hopeless, breaking the curse becomes a perilous race against time. Because it's not just the future of these star-crossed lovers that's at stake, but the fate of the entire magical world.