Today we have a tour stop and interview from author Makayla Yokley, who's talking about her new steampunk fantasy novel, The Ruby Curse
Heroes
come in all shapes and sizes... though they're not usually escaped convicts.
Seventeen-year-old Violet Seymour is the only person to ever escape the highest
maximum security prison in the steam-and-clockwork powered nation of Arcova.
She is also a link in an ancient bloodline of heroes. When mages start going
missing, Violet is the only person who can find them.
So,
first off, when did you know you were a writer?
I don’t think I ever really “became” a writer.
Writing has been something I did automatically, like breathing, since before I
can even remember. Even back in elementary school I was the kid who was coming
up with all these stories and writing them down in a notebook.
As I got older I started identifying this
compulsion with a career, but even now it still doesn’t feel like that’s what
this is. I do this for fun and because I can’t imagine filling my day with
anything else. Sometimes I look at people who don’t write and can’t figure out
how they manage to keep themselves entertained for a whole day. I do have other
hobbies, but none of them are as satisfying as sitting down in front of a
computer and spinning a tale about people whose lives are so extraordinary that
it’s hard not to be enthralled.
Being identified as a writer is something other
people do to describe me, I think, but for me it’s just something fun. Opening
up my Word program and typing out these stories is entertaining and never
really registers as “writing”.
How
did you come up with the idea for The Ruby Curse?
The
Ruby Curse actually came out of a Tolkein-esque fantasy that I tried to do and
failed. I wasn’t able to get deep enough into the world no matter how much I
tried to redo it, but the plot and some of the characters I liked. Once I
started learning what steampunk was (having heard the word in an online
interview with an agent whose name I don’t remember anymore), I realized I could
recycle the plot and a few of the characters (Ethan and Aurora) and let them
play in this new world. Everything started working out better and it was much
easier to get into this new world.
Violet was the true basis for The Ruby Curse though. In a story that
played on the concept of the quintessential fairy tale “heroes”, I wanted an
anti-hero to take center stage. Someone who has done quite a few terrible
things herself; someone you wouldn’t expect to be a hero. Not only did that
make the story more fun, but it gave me some interesting ways to play with the
common themes within fairytales; something that plays a big part in the series
as a whole. Like, for example, what if the hero wasn’t interested in saving
anyone else and was only interested in achieving things to her own end? What if
the hero lost all faith in humanity and had been forced to grow up much faster
than everyone else, leaving her somewhat bitter about the way things were? Was
this someone who would only do what heroes usually do (namely save people or
help solve a conflict) if her interests and the interests of those around her
happen to overlap?
It was this kind of thought process that truly
birthed The Ruby Curse. Something
that started out as an experiment in a new genre has evolved into something
else almost entirely. It’s a living, breathing thing that I have no real
control over. I can give it ideas, suggest it move in a different direction,
but ultimately I’m just someone who types.
Are
you the kind of writer who follows a certain schedule or do you just scribble
things down whenever you get the chance?
I definitely just sit down and write whenever I
can. Sometimes whenever it works out that I can sit down and write it tends to
be at the same times every day. I don’t like calling it a schedule because it’s
subject to so much change, but I guess sometimes it kind of works out to be a
schedule.
Usually, if I’m able to work the coffee bar at
work, I have time to write in-between customers. There are some days when I’m
working the coffee bar that I hardly get more than three or four customers in
the whole two hour span that I work, and during that time I’m usually
scribbling something down in a notebook I brought with me or something.
I almost always write when I come home from school
and work though. I come home, make something to eat, and when I’m done eating I
start trying to type. Things are slow at first, very little usually getting
done until after four thirty or five unless I’m really in the zone or in a good
part.
On that note, there are sometimes days when I
don’t write at all. I hate those days, they kind of feel unproductive (and for
good reason!) and somewhat wasted. For some reason, though, if I have long dry
spells I can usually come back and write a whole bunch without even realizing
it. I guess it’s sort of like experiencing a drought and then being drenched in
the storm, beginning the rainy season.
Do
you plan out the whole book before you start writing or do you just write and
see what comes?
Write and see what comes, without a doubt.
Sometimes I try to plan out a book before I write it but somehow that kills the
romance of a new idea. I like to let everything come to me naturally and let it
evolve along with how things are already progressing. Sometimes I write myself
into a corner and sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised with what comes out of
nothing. Sometimes it even fixes a problem I might’ve been having before,
giving the story a new layer of dimension that I think would’ve been lost if I
tried to plan it out beforehand.
No, the planning starts after the first draft.
That’s when I’ve been introduced to the plot, what works and what doesn’t, and
what works but needs to be adjusted or improved on. That’s when I start doing
scene/setting cards, something I learned about in Kurt Hickman’s book Revising Fiction: Making Sense of the
Madness. For setting cards, you decide all the basic stuff: whose in the
scene, what scene it is, where it takes place, how it moves the plot forward or
moves a character forward… that sort of stuff. For setting cards you look at
each setting and decide what kind of atmosphere you want from it. After that
it’s mostly just using the senses: taste, touch, smell, sound, sight, ect, and
finding ways to make the description create the atmosphere you wanted. Then I
do character archs on Excel, taking each major scene and finding a way to move
the character along their arch. I find this a good way to keep the character
growth from feeling forced or fake. You can see how each character reacts in the
scene, even if you don’t see it in the narrative, and how that makes them into
a person who is better or worse from where they started.
What
do you do when you’re not writing? Have any other hobbies?
I like to paint and do crafts. I’m a huge DIY
kind of person, finding that if I want something that either doesn’t exist or
is too expensive to buy, I try and make it myself. Clothes and sewing stuff
doesn’t usually go well unless I can hand-sew it, but stuff that I can paint or
glue together usually comes out looking fine.
I also like to play video games, but I’m by no
means a gamer. I have no actual skill unless I’ve played the game a hundred
times before. No, I’m not a gamer, but playing games relaxes me for some reason
and helps me turn off my brain for a little while. Sometimes it’s that turning
off of my brain that helps me with a problem I’m having in my work. Like, for
example, when I’m playing my Sims 3 game I’m able to write without much of a
problem. I’ve been told because it takes away a “sense of urgency” and that
makes just about as much sense as anything else, so why not believe that?
What
do you like most about Steampunk?
The creative freedom. In steampunk, while there
are some set rules about what is and what isn’t steampunk, it’s mostly left to
speculation (which is why it’s under the umbrella of “Speculative Fiction”) and
allows the people who are interested in it to twist it to meet their ends.
In my series I was able to use it to create a
sense of excess among the upper classes. They don’t have to do much for
themselves because of how much technology has evolved and made its way into the
“average” home. People don’t need to plant flowers anymore if they can afford
robotic flowers, they don’t need to hire many servants because robots can run
an average household— things like that.
Steampunk also gave me a way to fill in the gap
that the real Victorian Era lacked from a medical standpoint. People who work
in the mines, for example, sometimes lose their limbs. With steam power and the
medical achievements it’s created, those with lost limbs are able to have them
replaced with robotic prosthetics, which are crude looking at best. While this
new technology offers new ways for medicine to help people, it comes with a
price. The more a person has replaced with technology, the more it starts to
destroy their sanity.
Admit
it, all writers are quirky! Do you have any quirks when you write, like
favorite music or snacks?
For some reason, when I’m having an especially
hard time writing, I listen to Disney music. Songs from movies like The Little
Mermaid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, ect. are able to help me around
whatever problem I might be having.
Who
are your favorite authors?
Laurell K. Hamilton without a doubt. I
especially love her “Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter” series. F. Scott Fitzgerald
and “Great Gatsby”, Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll, J.K. Rowling… man, I have
so many it’s hard to keep track!
So
what comes next for you? Tell us a little about your works in progress.
Right now I’m working on the second book “Briar
Light” which will feature the same characters and progress the story that gets
set up in “The Ruby Curse”. We learn some new stuff about our characters’
backgrounds, meet new characters, learn secrets about some minor characters
from “the Ruby Curse”, and all that good stuff!
I’ve also got a few side projects that are so
far in their incubation stage that they aren’t even worth mentioning at this
point.
In
your opinion, what is the most important thing in a good book?
Characters are definitely a key point in what
makes a good book. These are the people you’re going to be following throughout
the story, the ones you’re supposed to empathize with and the ones who are
supposed to be able to move you to tears. I like characters who are deep, who
have believable motivations and who I can feel good about having become for as
long as it took to read the novel.
What
is the best advice you could give to young, aspiring writers?
Don’t quit. I can’t tell you how many times I
threatened to quit but never could. Don’t even think about quitting because its
nothing but a slow poison in your veins. When you sit down to write, believe
that you can do it and you will.
Edit! Edit! Edit! Editing was always the bane
of my existence, so I tried to write the first draft perfectly so I wouldn’t
have to. Not only did this not work, it never will no matter who you are. F.
Scott Fitzgerald rewrote The Great Gatsby seventeen times before publishing.
Now, that might be a bit much, but it shows that even the classics who we all
know and love had to edit their work repeatedly because the original draft
wasn’t good enough. Don’t skip this important step!
Join a writer’s group and/or a critique group.
Joining my writer’s group was one of the best decisions I ever made. I’ve been
improving ever since and have met a wonderful bunch of people who only want to
encourage each other and see each other succeed. That’s the kind of environment
that a writer needs, as solitary as the work can get. Don’t box yourself up in
a room and expect genius. You need the experience of being around people who
know exactly what you’re going through.
~~~~
About the Author
Makayla Yokley is a college
student who lives in Kansas with her somewhat evil cat named Cujo. She likes to
write fiction of all genres. Currently she is majoring in Liberal Arts.
Links
(Fan page on Facebook)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Makayla-Yokley/231164716982029
Buy a copy of “The Ruby
Curse” at:
(Paperback and Kindle)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Ruby-Curse-Makayla-Yokley/dp/1479117471/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1
Excerpt
Clearfall,
Ethan’s village, was Heaven. The earth breathed light, pouring it out from
every tree and blade of grass that flowed against the gentle breeze. From over
the horizon the sun touched the day with its golden fingers, sliding them
between the clouds overhead as if through strands of hair. Skinny, white
trunked trees stood above the fields of wheat, grass, and flowers; their leafy
arms stretched wide to welcome the warmth.
Dainty
little blue and white flowers peeked out from behind the blades of grass like
shy children in awe of the world around them; and a sparrow offered a single
term in the distance. Being here was just like being lost in an ethereal dream,
walking a spiritual path with eyes closed. I felt free here, the shackles of
city life shaken away and wings unfolding from a cocoon. I was filled with an
unfamiliar sense of peace and happiness just by breathing the fresh air and
feeling it pour through me, rejuvenating every cell and drop of blood beneath
my skin. It was euphoric.
“You don’t need those.” Ethan said, tapping
the side of his face in an indication that he meant my goggles. He must’ve seen
that I had lifted one side to get a look at my surroundings without having even
a single detail filtered through a blue-tinted lens. Question was, how long had
he been watching me?
Makayla will award a free digital copy of The Ruby Curse via Smashwords to one commenter at every stop so make sure you comment for a chance to win!
