Post 438: Dayna Ingram (Interview)

This interview took place over instant messenger between myself and the author of Eat Your Heart Out, Dayna Ingram on October 13, 2011.  The interview has been edited for flow, to fix typos and capitalization, and to make us both sound less like prats, but for the most part is intact. Links added by blogger and not necessarily endorsed by Dayna. 

Dayna Ingram grew up in Ohio and has since moved to the Bay Area, where she spends most of her time workin’, schoolin’, and forcin’ her dog to wear sweater vests. For more info on her writing projects, visit thedingram.blogspot.com. Her new novel Eat Your Heart Out will be available from Brazenhead sometime in November.

LibsLIB: It's been about a year since I last interviewed you. What have you been up to since then?
Dayna Ingram: Let's see. I moved to berkeley, I got promoted at work, I wrote some more things....I am one more semester away from graduating....ummm... I discovered Battlestar Gallactica somewhat to my detriment, as I put off a lot of important things to watch it, such as bathing and sleeping.

LibsLIB: Your last novel was self-published, while this one is going through a small press, what have your experiences with that been so far? Do you prefer one over the other at this point or is it too early to tell? 
Dayna: Selling a manuscript is more exciting because it's like, "Hooray! A stranger likes my story and thinks other people will too!" It's nice to have someone in your corner, and Alex Jeffers (the editor/publisher of BrazenHead) has been great. One thing that's the same with both self-publishing and small press publishing (at least in this case) is that there is still no marketing budget. BrazenHead will send out review copies, but that's it. So I'm still grass-rootsing it.
LibsLIB: Do you get to choose who receives review copies, or does Jeffers make that decision?
Dayna: He does it. I could maybe make suggestions. But I can also send copies on my own to places. I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I don't want to step on any toes, I'm so new at this!
LibsLIB: If there was one person you could make sure read Eat Your Heart Out, who would it be?
Dayna Michelle Rodriguez.I'm going to send her a copy. Maybe her intern/personal assistant will like it, at least

LibsLIB: What exactly is your fascination with Michelle Rodriguez?
Dayna: That is like asking me why I love butter. Butter is delicious. She is fierce. She is a strong, sexy lady. She fought some zombies in a movie one time. And I have a thing for bad girls, you know this.
LibsLIB: You dedicated your novel to her, in your own opinion, flattering or borderline creepy?
Dayna: Haha, I thought it was funny. Who do you think Renni Ramirez is? I'm just solidifying the image for the reader. But it might be a bit creepy.

LibsLIB: Speaking of Renni Ramirez, do you consider this a lesbian novel with zombies, or a zombie novel with lesbians? 
Dayna: A lesbian novel with zombies. There's a lot more focus on the lesbians. If it was a zombie novel with lesbians, I think I would have killed off a lot more characters. For the gore factor.
LibsLIB: You decided to go with the classic slow moving, mindless zombies, is that your ideal zombie, or do you like other zombies as well?
Dayna: That is my ideal zombie, especially if I were running away from one. I like that zombie best because it's super creepy, being stalked by something so slow and smelly. It's also easier to underestimate those types of zombies, and that's when shit starts getting real. I love the zombies in Left 4 Dead (the game) that explode zombie-attracting goo on you, though. That's a pretty cool survival tool for the species. If you can call zombies a species.

LibsLIB: Do you have any favorite zombie movies or books?
Dayna: Yes. My favorite zombie book is Max Brook's World War Z. I think he took a very cool angle on it, oral histories of the Zombie War, that allowed him to explore a lot of different aspects of a zombie outbreak in a realistic way. My favorite zombie movie is Shaun of the Dead, because it managed to make me laugh, make me cry, and creep me out a bit. Not since Steel Magnolias has that happened.

LibsLIB: Do you feel that LGBTQ are underrepresented in the zombie genre? What do you think including them has to offer in terms of storytelling?
Dayna: Yes, I think they're (we're) underrepresented in all literature and media. I recently Googled "lesbian zombie novel" and got only one hit that had anything to do with zombies, the rest was all lesbian vampires. In terms of storytelling, I think it just adds something for a reader to relate to, or just be aware of. "Hey, gay people fight zombies too!" Eat Your Heart Out might have been just as sexy if one of the main characters was a man, but they're women, so, hooray! I would like to plug the website AfterEllen.com right now, which is an entertainment website for and by LGBTQ peoples. A quick search of that site will show anyone just how very little we are represented in the media.

LibsLIB: You have some unusual names in your book (Biff Tipping, Carmelle Souffle), why did you include such unusual names and how did you come up with them ?
Dayna: I must confess that is a result of having written the first draft of this for NaNoWriMo. I didn't have time to second-guess names, and they just sounded good at the time. Biff Tipping sounds like beef tips to me, and he's kinda big and beefy, and Carmelle Souffle is all creamy and delicious. I really like food.

LibsLIB: If you had to pair Eat Your Heart Out with a particular food and/or beverage, what would it be?
Dayna: Chocolate cake that you must eat with your face (no hands).What did you eat while you read it?
LibsLIB: I don't eat much while I read, I think I remember eating black licorice.

LibsLIB: Are you planning to participate in NaNoWriMo again this year? What will you be writing about and do you have any advice for other NaNoers?
Dayna: Indeed I plan to! I am going to work on a novella called BLAM!, which borrows heavily from Noir traditions and has a little fun with sex and gender. My advice is: don't plan what you are going to write too far ahead of time. Focus on immediacy: What do you want from this immediate scene? What do you want to express here? (Expectations amount to pressure and pressure amounts to not writing!) And don't get discouraged if you are behind by, like, 10,000 words with two days to go. There is this magical potion called 5-hour Energy.... It's also good to have buddies to write with, and encourage each other. But that's true in all things. Also throw in a bunch of crazy extra words and adverbs, you can edit them out later.

LibsLIB: Is there a NaNoWriMo novel you'd like to see someone else write?
Dayna: Zombie Unicorns!!

Post 421: Amy M. Donaldson (Interview)

Amy M. Donaldson works as an Associate Editor at Baker Publishing Group. She received her PhD in New Testament and Early Christianity from the University of Notre Dame. Her recent book, We Want to Believe, was published in April 2011.

LibsNote: The interview took place via email with the author, who was contacted via Goodreads. The interview mostly remains unedited, except for the removal of certain clarifying elements or rewording of questions posed that I later realized sounded awkward as hell. All hyperlinks added by LibsLIB and not necessarily endorsed by the interviewee.

LibsLIB: Did you have any concerns writing a book about a show that's been off the air since 2002?

Amy M. Donaldson: I wasn't concerned that there wouldn't be an audience for the book, since I've remained active in the fandom and know there are still plenty of X-Philes out there. However, until the second movie came out, I wasn't sure that there would be enough interest in the show to sell the idea to a publisher. So, although I had gathered ideas for the book over the years, I didn't give any serious thought to actually writing it until there was news of the second movie. And I didn't start writing the book until I had secured a publisher.

LibsLIB: Why did you feel compelled to write about the religious themes in the X-Files?

AMD: I was interested in writing on the topic because it was always one of the things I enjoyed about the show and because it hadn't really been written on before. There's a book on the philosophy of The X-Files and at least two on the science of The X-Files, but as far as I'm aware, all that's been written about religion in the show are a couple of articles. It seemed to me like a very rich topic worth exploring.

LibsLIB: Why this show? What does the X-Files provide for you that keeps you coming back to it?

AMD: As much as I appreciate the religious themes, for me the heart and soul of the show is the relationship between Mulder and Scully. That's one reason why in my book the chapter on love is one of the longest chapters. But the emphasis on religion, and especially the role it plays in Scully's life, has always intrigued me and earned my respect. Most other shows I've seen that try to address religion have missed the mark in one way or another. But The X-Files treats religion and faith as a normal part of life for intelligent people and presents the possibility that supernatural events are genuine and may be attributed to the divine.

LibsLIB: You mentioned the general lack of religion(s) in science fiction, do you think this is an oversight on the part of sci-fi authors? 

AMD: Sci-fi as a whole (including books and movies, not just television) does not necessarily shy away from religious themes, but sci-fi religion is often more metaphorical or negative rather than a depiction of real-world religion in a true and positive light. That's where I see a distinction in how religion is treated in The X-Files.

I think where there is a lack of religion, or even hostility to religion, in sci-fi, it often says more about the authors/creators themselves than about the worlds and people they create. I also think that the lack of human religion I note in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Stargate SG-1 is a trend that has shifted since those shows first aired. Perhaps in that way The X-Files was simply cutting edge or trendsetting. As sci-fi has become more postmodern, there seems to be more allowance for religion and faith. But that religion itself also tends to be more postmodern, such as the syncretistic mix you find in Lost, or focused on the fact of faith (a general sense of spirituality) rather than the object of faith. The X-Files still remains somewhat unique in giving such a prominent position to a mainline tradition like Scully's Catholic faith.

LibsLIB: Have you read any other books or seen any other shows that you enjoyed that also had religious and sci-fi elements? 

AMD: My latest sci-fi interest has been Stargate Universe, which unfortunately just got canceled after only two seasons. There were a number of religious themes introduced in that show, and I was interested to see where the writers were taking these themes, especially since it seemed like such a far cry from how religion was treated in Stargate SG-1.

LibsLIB: If you've read it, what are your thoughts on Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow?

AMD: I have not read this book, but I googled it, since you mentioned it. For some reason, sci-fi books don't appeal to me as much as sci-fi television and movies. My father is actually the avid sci-fi reader in my family.

Libs LIB: In your book you state, "The counterpart to justice is mercy: not repaying someone the full punishment they deserve. At times, mercy can be just as effective a deterrent as consequences, when the person realizes the price they should have paid and out of gratefulness vows never to repeat the offense."

I immediately thought of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables both as a recipient of mercy from the priest and its giver by sparing Javert's life. Why do you think this is a recurring theme in literature/storytelling? Can you think of an example of this occurring in the X-Files?

AMD: I love that aspect of Les Miserables and think it is such a powerful story. (I may even have had it in mind when I wrote that sentence you quote!) Honestly, one reason this may be a recurring theme is because it is such a major theme in Christianity and because Christianity has had a major impact on Western literature. However, it is also a powerful theme because it is so contrary to human nature. The very shock of being treated with mercy when you expect judgment can be very compelling—if, like Valjean rather than Javert, you can accept the gift of that mercy and allow it to change you.

I think I can see small examples of this theme in The X-Files, but not anything as major and profound as in Les Miserables. One example is in the "Gethsemane"-"Redux" arc, when Mulder kills a man (out of self-defense, although he never seems to argue that point) and fears he is headed for jail, but he is spared prosecution. However, that is more a plot device to save our hero after he has been placed in jeopardy for the sake of a season-ending cliffhanger than it is a message about mercy. Perhaps a more intentional example is the soul eater in "The Gift," who mercifully takes on himself the "death sentence" of others. But the truest act of mercy is by those like Mulder and Doggett who recognize the suffering and humanity of the soul eater and refuse to prolong its pain.

LibsLIB: In your interview at The X-Files Lexicon, you stated that you don't believe in aliens. What compelled you to keep watching the show, especially for alien-centered episodes? Are there any paranormal/supernatural phenomena you are inclined to believe in?

AMD: Although The X-Files has a reputation for being about aliens, there were really so many episodes that had nothing at all to do with aliens. And even the episodes that did had more to do with the human element in collaboration with the aliens. I also don't believe in Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future, but that never stopped me from enjoying Star Trek. What keeps me watching anything is good characters and a good story.

I believe in the supernatural more than in the paranormal. Because my worldview is to see reality as the creation of an invisible and all-powerful God, I also believe that he is capable of doing any number of things that we as finite beings cannot fully perceive or understand. The scientific, and often modernist, mindset of Western culture can sometimes blind us from seeing beyond the tangible, but I think there is more to reality than what we can perceive with our limited five senses.

LibsLIB: Who is your favorite character and why?

AMD: I identify more with Scully, but I'm not a "Scullyist" in the sense of some fans who prefer her over Mulder. I think the last two seasons of the show prove what a bad idea it is for one of the pair to be without the other. I generally don't enjoy as much the episodes where one of the two is absent (except maybe for "Three of a Kind," just because the Lone Gunmen are so much fun).

I love the fact that Scully is such a strong female character who is intelligent without being overly weepy or sexualized. I also love the fact that Mulder has so much respect for her, from day one. I think my main appreciation for Mulder is through Scully's eyes.

LibsLIB: What is your favorite way to enjoy an episode (or three) of the X-Files?

AMD: I suppose my answer may have been different back in the day, when the episodes first aired. Now, I simply enjoy having the show on in the background while I'm doing other things. But I was never one to have a specific routine, such as turning off the lights and silencing the telephone. In the first season that I watched the show, my roommate and I would record the show and then watch it together later that night when we were both home. Later on, though, I couldn't wait that long—I had to watch the show while it was airing.

LibsLIB: The X-Files is famous for "Mulder torture" both in the fandom and the show. Do you have a favorite form of Mulder torture?

AMD: I'm not particularly fond of torturing Mulder, nor can I say that I fully understand why some of my friends enjoy that so much. I guess the closest I can come to having a favorite moment is in "Anasazi" when Scully shoots Mulder, for his own good. What's a little bullet wound between friends?

Post 300: Myself (interview)

I know you don't really care about learning more about me, but I thought I would share this interview between my editor (Dan Walker) and myself.  This took place over AIM on January 6, 2010.  If you're not interested in learning more about me, feel free to skip it, regular posting resumes tomorrow.  If there are additional questions you wish to ask, I will be happy to answer them in the comment section.  Interview edited for spelling errors, flow, and clarity.

Dan Walker: I just want to start off by asking you to introduce yourself to us. We already know a lot about you from reading your blog, but this needs some kind of a beginning. Maybe this post is someone's first
time here or something, who knows.
LibsLIB: My name is Amy Campbell, I've lived all over the country between my mother being in the Air Force and then attending Antioch College where I participated in the co-op program.  My family was and continues to be fairly dysfunctional whenever we're in the same room together, but we seem to function pretty well separately.  I have a background in history and received my Masters degree in Library Science in August
2009 from Kent State University, where I met my fiance who is a constant pain in my ass and the light of my life.

DW: Why did you decide to start blogging, and to start this blog in particular?
LibsLIB: I started the blog up in March 2010. By that time I had already been unemployed for about seven months and I felt this might be a good distraction for me.  At the very least it would get me more involved
in professional development in the form of reader's advisory, which among other things is a librarian or other informed person making reading recommendations.  The idea for this particular blog had actually been floating around in my head for several years.  I've always related reading to my personal life and how it can enrich it or trigger memories or deepen my thinking about certain topics.  I was curious to see if other people did this as well, or if it would improve their reading experiences if they started to do this.

So I began by sharing my personal reading experiences and thoughts with reading and seeing if anyone was interested in sharing their own, or at least listening to mine.

DW: Is there anything in particular in your background, personal or professional, that you think gives you unique insight into the subject of books and reading?
LibsLIB: Well, everyone brings their own particular insight to reading, from what they choose to read in the first place to what it makes them feel or think about, and that can change from moment to moment based on when and where they read the book.  I think given my lifelong experiences as a reader, a historian, and a librarian I may be able to put literature into a more involved context than someone who has less experience in these backgrounds, but then their insights may be more thoughtful just because it's the first time they've been exposed to a certain reading experience or concept.  It's really a matter of personal taste and opinion, which is why I like having guest bloggers to give a different view point every now and then.

DW: Tell me about your guest bloggers: Who are they? Where did you find them? How important are their posts to you, and to your project?
LibsLIB: At the moment my guest bloggers mostly consist of family and friends. There's Dan Walker who is my future husband and also my editor, although he sometimes lets things slip.  You get what you pay for I guess.  He and I almost never agree on literature, so it's interesting to see some of his reflections.  He prefers to write under a pseudonym, while some of my other guest bloggers just use initials.

That gets us to Kyle B.  Kyle is actually a mutual friend, with a background in journalism, which I thought would work well with the personal essay nature of the blog.

Then there's Dayna Ingram, who I met at Antioch College during my undergraduate program.  She's actually gone on to become a writer and so it's great to get that perspective.  She mostly works in fiction and has a couple of self-published novels.  I love her posts because they are usually off the wall and we have a similar sense of humor.

Marybeth Cieplinski is also a writer and mutual friend of my fiance's.  Although Marybeth's background is mostly in fan-fiction (X-Files), she also has some really unique insights, being a person who has gained much wisdom in her years of child rearing.  I like that I'm able to get her perspective as a mother, writer, and as
a non-traditional student.  It's hard to express how proud and happy I am for her for receiving her Bachelor's degree just this year.

DW: Sounds like a great bunch of people! So let's talk blog content.  You read a lot of children's and YA fiction, it seems. Tell us about that.  Do you find it odd at all?
LibsLIB: I wouldn't say I read a lot of it.  I think if you look back over my blog I read a pretty eclectic bunch of books.  I certainly don't find it at all odd.  I think a lot of people still enjoy stories from their childhood and are trying to capture the feel of it, not to mention there are just some great stories being written for children and YA.  I know when I was growing up we didn't have nearly as many choices in
literature as we do now.  If adults are benefiting from this as well I see absolutely nothing wrong with it, but then I think everyone should read anything and everything they can get their hands on.

DW: You certainly do read a broad variety of books. Would you think of yourself as young at heart, or fun loving? I only ask because of the occasional toilet humor, and here I am referring specifically to Pooping on Mars.
LibsLIB: Probably more fun loving than young at heart.  I like to think of myself as a curmudgeonly old lady in training.  You have to understand I was raised on Looney Toons and Mel Brooks, that's going to make for
a strange sense of humor.

DW: Sorry, that picture just made an impression on me. "Fun loving" fits, I think. You also talk a lot about the darker side of things, I notice. I recall a mention or two about your soul being black, for instance.
LibsLIB: That goes more with my twisted sense of humor.  I can't remember that particular reference, but whenever people ask me how I take my coffee, my response is usually, "Black like my soul."  I just think it's funny and it usually takes people back a bit before they realize I'm having them on.  In the meantime, watching their faces as they figure out what to do gives me an inner sense of glee.

DW: Haha! So what about zombies and vampires? You apparently like both, and you've griped about vampires a lot, especially in regards to Twilight. Do the supernatural monster genres hold a special place in your life?
LibsLIB: Not so much the monsters themselves as the recognizable bits of humanity within the monsters.  It's not what's different that makes them so scary, it's what makes them like us, because if they can be monsters and feel things like lust (Dracula), loneliness (Frankenstein), etc. then what kind of monsterlike behavior are we capable of?  With zombies it's a bit more direct because we have a deeply embedded distaste for the dead because...well, they're just not sanitary to be around.  The idea of a dead corpse walking around and mucking up the air alone ought to scare the bejesus out of a sane person.  Having them bite you on top of that?  I wouldn't even want a living person biting me.

DW: And when they start sparkling, you get angry.
LibsLIB: I'm actually not so angry about the sparkling.  It's stupid and it's silly and it's a bastardization of the genre, but when it comes down to it, I have a problem with the romanticizing of dangerous relationships.  These are not the kinds of relationships we want young people to idealize and set as their standards for romantic love, because they will either never be achieved or if they are it will be with someone who is controlling, moody, and "mysterious."  To me mysterious is just another word for not knowing anything about the person you plan to spend forever with.  I don't see how that can possibly be a positive thing to teach our young people.  Besides, Count Chocula is more intimidating than the sparkly freaks Meyer
created.

DW: He is also more delicious. If I may extrapolate, you're concerned about the effects of media on young people.
LibsLIB: I am, especially since this used to be a genre in which we have some really strong female role models.  Buffy the Vampire slayer is the obvious front runner here, but then you also have fantasy and
sci-fi writers who were making real progress in producing headstrong females who were also allowed to have love lives and be good role models, and I feel [Twilight] just threw us back into the dark ages.
It's like the revival of the "get back in the kitchen" joke, except it's not really much of a joke is it?

DW: Just for reference, can you give another example of good female role models in fantasy or sci-fi?
LibsLIB: More recently I'd say Katniss from the Hunger Games Trilogy.  Despite all the bull-hockey about Team Peeta/Team Gale, which was all fan-frenzy anyway, Katniss all along said, "No, not with the world the way it is now.  Marriage means children and I won't have my children subjected to the Hunger Games." For this reason I very much wanted everyone who was excited about who Katniss would end up with in the third book to omg shut the hell up. But even Mina Harker was a stronger character than Bella Swan, Harker at least had her own personality and started to explore her sexuality in relation to her strange attraction to Dracula.  Another example is Lauren Olamina from my favorite book Parable of the Sower.  Her world is falling apart around her and she seems to be the only one to recognize it.  Her parents tell her not to go around scaring people, so instead she begins to prepare for the inevitable.  Although she can't save everyone because they have their heads in the sand, she is able to save herself and some others, and rebuilds a community based on the principle that everyone has a special skill set or knowledge to
contribute.

DW: It's just a shame that these characters aren't in the million-selling, movie-making series.
LibsLIB: I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hunger Games turned into movies, but honestly I'm okay with keeping them in literature where they can tell us their story directly rather than having it focused through the
lens of what would likely be a male director.

DW: Let's switch gears. Rupert the Magical Pony. Tell us about him.
LibsLIB: Rupert is a magical pony and he lives in a magical pony field and he goes on magical pony adventures and it usually ends poorly for him.

DW: How'd you come up with him, and I mean him specifically? Why a magical pony, why such a tendency to die at the end of the stories?
LibsLIB: Ponies are kind of naturally ridiculous: they have all the looks of a horse, which is a majestic and useful animal, but somehow when it got translated to a pony it's just kinda like, "Yeah...what are we gonna
do about you?"  As far as his actual creation it took a lot of watching of bad movies and 80's cartoons.  And I like to think his tendency to die is kind of mocking writers who "drop bombs" as the ending of their stories.  Also, killing magical ponies is hilarious.

DW: I can't argue with the results. What, aside from death, is Rupert's future?
LibsLIB: I have no idea.  I've gotten really good responses to it.  I'd like to see Rupert stories published or maybe turned into a season long TV show.  The stories I worked on during NaNoWriMo still have a lot of
work that need to be done before I'd even consider sending them to an agent.  I'm not even sure I could find someone willing to publish them, which is a shame because I think Rupert has a lot to teach us.

DW: We can all learn a lot from a cheerfully oblivious talking pony. I wanted to wind down with a big question: Where, in your opinion, does your blog fit in with the rest of the literary blogosphere?
LibsLIB: It doesn't really.  It's kind of the ugly baby.  But I don't think there's anything wrong with having a blog dedicated to self-reflection in reading and I think it will makes us all more thoughtful and
intelligent and open to new ideas.

DW: If you weren't blogging, what would you be doing?
LibsLIB: I'd still probably be reading a lot.  As it is I watch a lot of movies on Netflix, so I'd probably do more of that.  Mostly I'd be doing much of the same things I'm doing now; I would just be more miserable
because I would feel less productive about it.  I mean, it's great having an audience and I love getting feedback, but to be honest I keep the blog because I like doing it.

DW: I think that's what's most important. Where do you see yourself and your blog in the next few years?
LibsLIB: I will probably drop the daily format at some point.  I can't reasonably keep up with that.  I imagine it will depend on what kind of job I have and how much time I have to read.  I'm trying not to look too far into the future because right now it's like a big empty blank space and I have no idea how to fill it.  There are really just too many uncertainties for me to answer that question.

DW: Well, I think we all wish you the best. Any last words you'd like to say to your readers?
LibsLIB: That is a terrible closer, and I'm sorry my fiance/editor/interviewer is such a tool.  But otherwise, keep reading.

[Editor's note: I am not a tool.]

Day 269: Matt Stephens of Fingerpress (interview)

Mr. Stephens contacted me in early December to announce the creation of his new publishing house Fingerpress, along with several titles he thought I might be interested in.  I thought I would take the chance to interview him, because how often is a new publishing press created?  The interview was conducted over e-mail due to the Ohio-England time difference and busy schedules.  Minor changes were made, but for the most part the interview is left intact.

A bit of background information about Matt Stephens:
I've written some non-fiction (IT) books published by Apress, NY, as my main background is in software development. One of these books (Extreme Programming Refactored) is highly satirical in nature, and caused quite a stir as it set out to slaughter a "sacred cow" in the programming world. I think it had a beneficial effect on the IT industry, as it caused people to question the snake oil that the "fashionable software gurus" at the time were selling.

That said, I'm passionate about both reading fiction and writing. Writing and programming have always been these two opposing disciplines in my life, competing for my time. Authoring the IT books was a way to bring the two disciplines together, so they could become complementary.

The decision to start Fingerpress began as a nagging thought in the back of my mind: as soon as I realised that it was possible, I almost had no choice in the matter. I wanted to start a nimble, agile publishing company that will take full advantage of the online world for marketing and distribution, and of course for engaging with the reading community. It's a business partnership with my wife Michelle, which so far has worked really well. Michelle's chief role is as Acquisitions Editor, sifting through the slush pile and picking out the most promising manuscripts - the ones that hit the right balance between originality, readability and (hopefully) having that commercial edge.

I still do IT consultancy and run training courses in software design, partly to pay the bills but also because it's my "other passion". You'll see that we're publishing IT books in addition to the fiction.

The Interview
LibsLIB: You started this press as an individual, how have you financed this endeavor and have you come across any difficulties while starting up Fingerpress?
Matt Stephens: With my partner Michelle, we've really started Fingerpress on a shoestring budget, financing it from our own pockets. It's been an interesting exercise in finding cost-effective ways of producing and marketing books. I like to think that we're a progressive company with a focus on connected, on-line marketing (e.g. our new Facebook page). But you could also take the viewpoint that we're using Internet marketing because it's the cheapest way to do it. Either view is fine by me, though!

LibsLIB: Where did the name Fingerpress come from?
MS: Just a play on "book press" and fingers. It seemed apt, as fingers are kind of essential to hold a book and turn the pages when you're reading (whether it's a print book or an ebook). They're like an invisible tool; we forget about them so easily when we disappear into a book's world, and yet it's the fingers that are holding that world while we read.

LibsLIB: You currently have four fiction works and one IT book, do you have a favorite? Why?

MS: They're all my favourite! Of course I have to say that, but if I had to choose one, it would probably be Dominic Green's Smallworld, as I'm a massive science fiction fan. Dominic's something of a hit in the short story world, but his novel was languishing undiscovered on his website. I contacted him, because I was looking for something that stood out from the mountain of submissions we were receiving. The book reminds me of something by Douglas Adams or Stanislaw Lem, even; but it also has its own originality.

Our "mainstream" books were selected by Michelle, and I became closely involved in the manuscript editing process. The Cyclist really opened my eyes to the kinds of dilemmas that went on during World War II. This French assistant Chief of Police is harbouring a young Jewish girl, the same age as his own daughter; and everything's fine (if a little precarious) until he decides he wants to bring a German officer to justice for assaulting and murdering a young woman. At that stage he's putting the lives of his own family at risk, in the name of justice. It sounds heavy, but it's also a fast-paced read; real war-time adventure.

And then Maria's Melody was written by this incredible woman who grew up in post-war North Germany but now lives in a remote part of Scotland. It's a memoir of her impoverished childhood as part of an outcast family, with an alcoholic father who would beat the children senseless, and an adulterous mother who was also prone to violent outbursts. But what really makes the book is how the children just accept their lot and get on with being children; they find happiness despite these quite awful grown-ups. I found the book to be a very rewarding to read; and editing it brought me that much closer to the story, of course.

LibsLIB: I noticed that you plan to make your sci-fi title Smallworld available for free on eReader, are there plans do to this with other titles?
MS: We'll be watching Smallworld closely to see if giving it away for free generates book sales. It certainly worked for the likes of Cory Doctorow; the theory is that an order of magnitude more people discover the book than would have otherwise, as it's freely available, and we encourage people to forward the ebook around. As long as a certain percentage of those people then buy the print book, then it's working.

So we're holding off from doing the same with our other books, until we see what happens with Smallworld.

LibsLIB: Was this a decision on your part, or the author's, and why?
MS: I was keen to see if giving a book away could actually make money. I suggested it to Dominic [the author], who (to my pleasant surprise) really liked the idea.

LibsLIB: Are there any upcoming titles we should be aware of, that you are excited about?
MS: The next novel lined up is Magic And Grace by Chad Hautmann, who was previously published by Penguin Books. It's almost a romance, but written with a contemporary wit; the style is reminiscent of Douglas Coupland, all wrapped up in a sunny Florida setting.

We also have - unannounced, so this is something of an exclusive! - the start of a fantasy trilogy for the Young Adult market, Colandra's Quest. A bus explosion catapults a man to the Celestial Hall. When the guardians realise their mistake, he is returned to Earth, but in returning with his body, he uncovers a demonic plot to take over the Universe. So there's intrigue and existentialism, with plenty of action and supernatural interventions. I'm actually really excited about this series.

LibsLIB: What kind of editing process do the books undergo through your press?
MS: We have an "in-house" copy editor based on Vancouver Island who gives each book an initial once-over. After that I do an in-depth edit, which might involve asking the author to make structural changes to improve pacing, character development etc. Then it's back to the copy-editor for a final pass, and then everyone scans the galley proofs for typos and layout errors. We also ask several people to "test-read" each book at various stages, and give their feedback.

LibsLIB: Who is your editor? What kind of works are they looking for?
MS: At the moment we're closed for submissions. We have plenty enough titles lined up for the next year or two, at least! But when we re-open the gates, Michelle (who does most of the acquisitions) will be looking to fill out each of the "lines" we've established: contemporary romance, historical/wartime drama, science fiction and fantasy. I'm also on the lookout to publish something that combines horror with steampunk, but it'll have to be highly innovative with top-notch writing.

LibsLIB: In our previous conversations, you mentioned a large number of submissions, do you have a number? And within what time frame did you receive said submissions?
MS: We were receiving 30 or 40 submissions a week, over a couple of months. There was some excellent material that we sadly had to turn away, just because of the sheer volume of submissions. But the other 98%... everyone seems to feel that it's their right to be published, which strikes me as odd; novel writing is a discipline that takes years to master. Not everyone feels it's their right to have their paintings hung in the Guggenheim, for example.

LibsLIB: As a small press, what do you offer readers that the larger presses don't?
MS: We're providing a showcase for talented writers who otherwise might not have had the break they deserved. We're also publishing established writers (Chad Hautmann and Dominic Green, for example). So really, we're all about the writing; good reads, with a sharp edge.


LibsNote: Look for posts about Smallworld soon.  In the meantime, go get your free digital copy from Fingerpress.  Available in ePub and PDF formats.

Day 223: Dayna Ingram (Interview)

This interview took place over instant messenger between myself and the author of Sleep Like This, Dayna Ingram on October 22, 2010.  The interview has been edited for flow and to fix typos, but for the most part is intact.

Dayna Ingram is a writer and student living in the Bay Area. She received her BA in Creative Writing from Antioch College in 2008, and is currently working on her MFA in Creative Writing at San Francisco State University. She works at Half Price Books, where she buys more books than she can reasonably hope to read in a lifetime.  She is also the author of Sleep Like This.



LibsLIB: So, you recently decided to self-publish your first novel Sleep Like This. Why did you decide to self-publish instead of going through traditional publishing, and what has your experience with self-publishing been?
Dayna Ingram: I went with self-publishing as a sort of experiment just to see what it was like and how much marketing I could do on my own. No one really tells you when you first set out to study creative writing that the hardest part isn't actually the writing of a story, it's the publishing. It's a whole other ball game that I wanted to skip this first time out, because it intimidates the crap out of me.

I'm still in the early stages with self-publishing, but I have mixed feelings about it just because it is super hard to get over the stigma that a self-published book isn't "good enough" to have been published through conventional channels. So sometimes I am afraid to tell people about the book because I worry they'll reject it based solely on that.

LibsLIB: If that's the case why did you decide to publish under your real name instead of a pen name?
Dayna: Hm. I don't really care for pen names. I mean, I still wrote the story, and I'm still proud of the work, I don't want to erase myself from it. I guess it's my own preconceptions of self-publishing I have to force myself to confront before I can confront anyone else on theirs, and attaching my name will push me into that action. Hopefully.  I guess I don't understand pen names, really. It's almost like tacking on "anonymous". If you don't want to be associated with what you wrote, why put it out there in the first place?

Plus it's really cool to see your name printed on the cover/spine of a book.

LibsLIB: Do you think you would enjoy working with a publishing house to see your name printed on a book, or did you think you prefer the amount of control you have by self-publishing your work?
Dayna: I think I would like to work with a publishing house someday. Work with an agent or an editor, or a team, something like that. People scare me though, especially professional people, so once I stop hiding behind my fear, I can attempt the conventional publishing route. Once I have my MFA I might feel more confident.

I really like writing, and I really want people to read my work, but going through the hoops of getting an agent and pitching your stuff to a publishing house, it's more businessy and feels like a lot of bullshit because it's all about money. I don't really care about money at this point, I just want people to read my work. Sleep Like This would've been free but CreateSpace won't let me do that. But the ebook probably will be free.

LibsLIB: You completed Sleep Like This as your senior project at Antioch College, where you also involved a science student to help you with the forensics, can you tell the readers of Libs LIB a little bit about that experience and how you set it up?
Dayna: Sure. Jessica Davis was doing her senior project where she wanted to solve a crime scene so she came to me with the idea to have me write a novel revolving around this murder that she would solve.  So I started writing this story that I envisioned as a short story (because it'd be less work for me!), and I would just ask Jessica questions like, how does fingerprinting work? What about gun powder residue? DNA? What are some conceivable poisons? But I couldn't get too detailed because I was trying to set this crime scene up for her to solve, and I wanted to outsmart her a little bit. But of course I didn't.

I remember also the day I had to set up the crime scene for Jess. It was the morning after a huge college party and we were both hung over, as was my friend Brittany who was enlisted to play the dead body.  And it took FOREVER. We had to wait around while Jess combed the scene, which was some empty room in the science building, and Brittany just had to lay there for awhile. And I learned it takes something like 50 strands of hair or something ridiculous like that to get DNA from it. 

Sleep Like This really began evolving into a novel during NaNoWriMo, which was the only year I ever won that thing (2006, I think). And originally Jessica was actually a character in it, solving the case and everything. And there was a different killer, it was really different.

LibsLIB: Do you think the experience with Jessica Davis made Sleep Like This more accurate or gave you an insight you might not have had otherwise?
Dayna: Well, without her the story never would've been written. But as far as forensically accurate, I think she was working within a school budget/school facilities, so she was more limited to what she could do with certain evidence. So I had to research outside of that to really try to understand what procedures would be used.  So I watched a lot of Law and Order: SVU.
LibsLIB: I believe you mentioned you were working on a second novel, what will that one be about?
Dayna: Yes, it's called All Good Children, and it is basically an exploration of family life within a dystopian future in which humans have a natural predator. Well, I guess not natural. Paranatural?  I'm really into it, and the first draft is almost done, but I always find it harder to write something the more deeply I'm involved with the story and the characters. It's like I've set this bar and I am afraid I can't reach it, even though I know I can because I'm the one who set it. So I sometimes sabotage myself. But it's coming along.  One of my professors called it "literary sci-fi", which felt pretty good.
LibsLIB: Do you think you're drawn more to sci-fi, or do you just write what you're interested in at the time, can we expect a lot of different genre writing from you?
Dayna: I hope you can expect a lot of different genre writing. I like elements of sci-fi and fantasy because they allow me to put my characters into these extreme situations and see what develops. I'm most interested in the psychology of my characters, so sometimes throwing like giant man-eating spiders at them is interesting, and sometimes having them not be able to find a parking space at a BART station is more interesting. It depends on the character.

LibsLIB: So, what's with your fascination with Buffy the Vampire Slayer anyway?
Dayna: Haha! This is my favorite thing ever to talk about.  It's just the best writing for a television show I've ever encountered, even with all the hokie demon stuff.  It was always about relationships and personal issues and never about demon slaying, even though it was set in that world. It was richer than that. It transcended its genre.  Plus Faith is hot.
LibsLIB: I always found the "supporting characters" to actually be more interesting than the lead characters (i.e. Buffy and Angel), who was your favorite character and why?
Dayna: Faith, because she had the classic redemption story. She was the bad girl you just want to hold while she eventually cries because no one's that tough.  Spike also had a redemption story, and I'd say his character was the most complex throughout the series. He's a close second for my favorite.  I only really like Buffy in relation to the other characters, if that makes sense. Like, I only cared about her because of how she affected her friends and how they all cared about her.  But her superiority/inferiority complex got tired after a while.  Even though it was called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" it was always an ensemble show, which was great. 
LibsLIBS: I was not a big fan of Buffy herself, it was almost as if the show didn't have her it might have been better except everyone in Sunnydale would be un/dead.
Dayna: Yeah, they'd all be slaves to the Master, but Willow would be all vampy hot, so it's a trade-off.
LibsLIBS: You portray lesbian relationships in Sleep Like This, do you think Whedon did an accurate or reasonable job with Willow's sexuality give you have more experience as a lesbian?
Dayna: I think he did a good job, because it was kind of gradual. Willow met someone she connected with who happened to be female and she went for it. She still had feelings for her once boyfriend, Oz, but she recognized and embraced this newness in her sexuality. (which J-Dub did hint at in earlier seasons with her vampire-self). And Tara turned out to be the love of her life, and after that relationship ended, Willow got into another relationship with a woman. So it was never about this one-shot sweeps month deal. It was the natural progression of a character.  Now, where J-Dub [Joss Whedon] dropped the ball was Buffy's lesbian experience in the comic books, which doesn't fit her character's progression at all, at least to me.
LibsLIB: It felt like in Sleep Like This you used a lot of experiences that actually happened at Antioch, the stuff with The Couple, the experimenting and uncertainty of new sexual experiences, and even some of the tragedies that happened. How much did Antioch influence your writing of this particular novel and do you think it will continue to influence you?
Dayna: It influenced this novel almost 100%. Antioch was an engrossing place and I wrote most of the novel there, so it was my whole world and it became the whole world in the novel, I think. But I think at least some the experiences I wrote about are universal to the first-year college experience anywhere; they're just amped up on a smaller campus in a small town.  My Antioch experience has greatly influenced my worldview, so of course that carries over to my writing. I am much more aware of how I portray women and people of color, and issues of identity and sexuality, which seem to be themes in most of my work.
LibsLIB: Okay, I think we're nearing the end of the interview because I believe you have a date with a raquetball court. Is there a character or story element you would like me to write a Rupert story about?
Dayna: Hm. You should do an Alice in Wonderland story, where Rupert follows a plain old turtle down a hole into our world, where he's excited to encounter all these really dull things, and then he gets tranquilized and taken to a government facility where they do experiments on him and sell his body to a corporation that uses his image to sell hamburgers.
LibsLIB: Hah, done.

Dayna: Ooh, can I say one more thing about the novel?
LibsLIB: Yes, you can say many more things.
Dayna: Not to sound exploit-y, but the sex scene in the car, my professor at the time told our workshop class that it made her want to be a lesbian. I'm just saying.
LibsLIB: I can believe it, it was a pretty hot scene. Was it perhaps based on personal experience? 
Dayna: No comment.
LibsLIB: You saucy wench.
Dayna: Can I write a fake blog post for you about how the book reminds me of the one time I accidentally murdered my classmate?**
LibsLIB: hahaha, yes.  Danny wants to know why you would want to write about that (but is amused).
Dayna: Because it's highly relatable, who hasn't accidentally murdered someone in this day and age? I mean, come on, it's 2010.
LibsLIB: Danny also wants you to know that he's gay for you, and yes he has seen the YouTube Video.
Dayna: I am blushing. My finest moment! I love that little movie. If it is my only legacy, I will be happy with that.

ANNOUNCEMENT!  If you liked this post, you may be interested in reading the book yourself.  Dayna Ingram is having a contest for her book over at Goodreads.  Just sign up for an account (if you don't have one already) and enter here.  Quick! It ends November 12! 

**Look for this post tomorrow!

Day 171: Jen Karsbaek (Interview)

This interview is part of Book Blogger Appreciation Week.  I signed up to exchange interviews with another blogger, and I had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing Jen Karsbaek from Devourer of Books.  This is an edited version in which I look less stupid, fix typos and spelling, and cut out some of the irrelevant chit chat.

LibsLIB:  Good evening O Devourer of Books.  I believe we have an appointment. 
Jen:  We do indeed, hello!  How are you this fine evening?

LibsLIB:  Not too bad, haven't been sleeping well lately, but I have the feeling that's due more to allergies and late night video game binges than ill health.  Yourself?

Jen:  I also didn't sleep well last night, but more because I was awakened right as I was falling asleep, then just couldn't get back.  I saw your posts about Mockingjay, did you stay up late reading it? 

LibsLIB:  I read it in two sittings, my room mate brought it home around 6, I think I started reading it at 8 and read it until almost 2am, and then picked back up at around noon.  I needed to put it down quite a bit to think about certain parts, so it took me longer to read than expected.  So how long have you been blogging and what got you started? 
Jen:  I've been blogging about two and 1/2 years now, I started in February of 2008 after finding out that such things as book blogs existed through a conversation on LibraryThing. Since many of the people in my real life were sick of hearing about what I was reading, I thought the internet might be interested (or would at least give me an outlet to express my thoughts).  Plus, I had so many people asking what I was reading and what I had thought of it, I thought it might be easier to just point them to my blog.

LibsLIB:  Have you had any posts that caused a great deal of uproar, either from spoilers leaked or disagreement about review, etc.?  If not is it something you worry about.

Jen:  I'm very careful not to give out spoilers or, if I am going to do so, to be very clear that there will be spoilers, so I haven't had any problems with that.  The only reader disagreements I have had with my reviews have come from young teens finding some of my YA or Middle Grade reviews that have been less than positive (Twilight and one or two others).  I don't worry about it too much, I either ignore them or, if they are too rude/abusive, I don't allow them the privilege of commenting. I don't care if people disagree, but I do care that they are civil. 

More obnoxious or worrisome are  comments from authors or people who are quite obviously friends of authors who take issue with negative reviews.  That doesn't happen often, but it does happen occasionally. and primarily with self-published authors.  This is why I just don't accept books from self-published authors any longer, and I haven't really had an issues since then.  Google alerts are a great thing for authors, but I think there are some authors who probably shouldn't be using them, if they cannot either accept or ignore negative reactions to their books. You're never going to do anything creative that is universally loved.

LibsLIB:  Ah see, I thought they just spent all day searching for themselves, didn't realize Google had that service.  How many books do you try usually read per week, and how often do you post?

Jen:  I try to finish at least 3 print and one audio book per week, depending on the length of the books. I generally post 5-6 days per week right now, but that is going to increase to 7 days a week next month during my special Chicago authors feature month, and will likely stay at 7 days per week, because I am planning to start a new 'Saturday Story Spotlight' feature on Saturdays to talk about the books my son is enjoying or I am enjoying reading to him

LibsLIB:  How old is your child, do you have more than one?

Jen:  He's one, actually, he's our only one right now

LibsLIB:  How do you manage to find time to read and take care of your family?  Do you work as well?

Jen:  Yes, I am working part-time. Audiobooks are a big way I sneak in extra reading time, when I'm driving, cooking, cleaning, etc. The other thing is that I end up prioritizing reading over doing things like putting away laundry, because it is my relaxation/escape, even if it is a heavier book.  Plus I just carry a book everywhere I go to squeeze every possible reading moment out of my day (like if my son falls asleep in the car, etc).

LibsLIB:  Do you participate in reading challenges or book blog memes?  What do you think about them in general?

Jen:  Last year was the first time I signed up for challenges and I think I signed up for 15 or so, but I've found that my reading revolves so much around my review copies and what I've taken out from the library (poor, neglected books I own!) that I never make a point to read anything for challenges. This year I'll only be signing up for a couple of challenges, and only ones like What's In A Name that I can complete by accident.

The only meme I participate in regularly is the Sunday Salon, and that's not really very meme-y. Every so often I'll do a Library Loot or Teaser Tuesday, but probably not even once a month these days.

I think memes have their place, particularly for people who are just starting out in blogging and can use them to connect to the community, but at a certain point  people need to move beyond them and just pick one or two favorites that they really embrace and sort of make their own, or they risk having their own voice lost amongst content largely developed by other people.

LibsLIB:  What is the best book you've read this year, and the worst?

Jen:  I've finished 160 books so far this year, so it is tough to pick just one! Among the best are "The Weight of Heaven" by Thrity Umrigar and "Red Hook Road" by Ayelet Waldman.

If I've read anything that was really terrible, I've DNF'd it and can't even remember now, but I think "The Captive Queen" by Alison Weir was the biggest disappointment, because the first 20 pages were pretty bad, and I generally like her work

LibsLIB:  How do you choose what to read, and where do you usually get your books from?

 Jen:  The majority of my books these days are review copies that come from publishers, authors, and outside publicists, as well as Shelf Awareness and LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  I decide what to read based on release dates, how long I've had the book, and pure interest/whim.

LibsLIB:  I noticed in your about me section that it says you're a knitter, if you were going to design a scarf for your favorite character/author who would it be for and what would it look like? 

Jen:  Well, it would probably be for Cathy from East of Eden. That's my favorite book, and she's the most interesting character therein who would wear a scarf...  I think it would have to be cashmere, mixed with something shiny in a subtle way, a dark scarf with a bit of a spark.  Plus an intricate design that I'd probably have to do a lot of research to figure out, something  that wraps around and repeats itself.