Interview with Author Marie Lamba

Today, I am thrilled to have Marie Lamba as my guest author. Marie's book, Drawn, is out in electronic and paper format. I was lucky enough to read it before the launch and reviewed it here.

Let's see what Marie has to say:

1.The setting in Drawn is a village in England. It feels so real. Have you lived there? How did you give such a good feeling for the sense of place?

I did spend four months living in a town in the Cotswold area of England. I was a senior in college and did a semester abroad living in a semi-detached house very much like the one Michelle lives in in Drawn. I stayed in Cheltenham, which had both a posh area and also a sort of more traditional English town area with its requisite pub, a Washateria, a chemists, etc. And there was a tiny old church, just like the one in my novel. In fact, my description of the churchyard came directly from the journal I kept back in college.

Here’s a bit of that:

Closest to the tiny church are the oldest graves. Words washed away by time. Stones cracked and crumbling. My favorite stones are the ones that look like giant gingerbread noblemen resting on the ground. Their arms and legs are separated from their bodies as if they’d been soaked in milk for too long.

But the town in my novel is fictional, which gave me a lot of leeway in laying it out and making stuff up. After all, there is no castle in Cheltenham!

2. I found the tension between what Michelle sees and what she is willing to believe to be compelling. Can you tell us anything about the decision to blur the lines between the paranormal and mental illness?

I think whenever something extraordinary happens in this world, it makes us question our perceptions. Was that a ghost or are we imagining things? Did something streak across the sky or am I dreaming? Did I really hear a voice or am I losing it?

Michelle’s family has a history of both mental illness and of psychic ability. In the novel, everything comes into question. Was her mom really psychic or just loopy? Was her brother really schizophrenic or just attuned to unheard voices and visions? It all comes to a head when Michelle runs into someone who is either a delusion or a ghost. And it’s her own sanity and happiness that hangs in the balance.

It takes a lot to believe in the supernatural. A true leap of faith. The same thing is true of love. I thought this would make for an interesting parallel conflict.

3. How is this story different from what you have written before?

My first two YA novels What I Meant… and Over My Head are both contemporary YA’s set in the real world. Drawn is my first foray into the paranormal. Where my first two novels took place in the U.S., this one is in England and spans a few hundred years into the past. Plus the main character in my contemporaries is a biracial girl who is half Asian-Indian, just like my own daughters. In Drawn, Michelle De Freccio is a teen artist from New Jersey, just like I once was. Different all around!

4. When you move from one project to another, how do you separate yourself from the old project?

Great question! The truth is it’s very difficult. Some books take hold of you and hang on for so long that it’s hard to shake them and move on. Drawn is like that for me. It took me over two years to write it, and that’s two years of complete immersion. Even after it was done, I found myself returning to it over and over again to reread it, to stay lost in that world I created. Is this normal? I have no idea.

I think the only way to cut that bond is to get so involved in a new project that you have a brand new obsession to get lost in.

5. You first published with a traditional publisher, and then formed your own publishing company. What are some advantages and disadvantages of each?

The advantages of a traditional publisher is that you know your book will be in libraries and in many bookstores, and that it will be reviewed by top national folk such as Publisher’s Weekly. You have the publisher and editor behind you to guide you with their wisdom in creating the best possible product,and the publishing house is in charge of making things happen in the best possible way. You also benefit endlessly from their strong reputations. Being endorsed by them is an unmistakable seal of approval.

The good thing about indie-publishing is that you call all the shots. The bad thing about indie-publishing is that you call all the shots. What I mean is that you are responsible for everything and must study up quick to become the expert in things as various as marketing and design, and you must find the best people to do editing, layout, etc. One advantage is that you can get your book out into the marketplace quickly. And with the new distribution channels in place, you have an international reach with your book. Gotta love that.

6. When did you know you would be a writer?

Fifth grade, Sicomac School library, fantasy shelf. I pick up Edward Eager’s Half Magic and he has me believing the craziest things and laughing. And I compulsively read his next book and his next, and I decide that I want to write. The end!

7. Can you name two classes or books that you have found to be particularly helpful in your writing journey?

Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass. I use this in the revision stage after I’ve completed a first draft of my novel. The exercises in here really help me with plotting, tension and secondary characters. I recommend any novelist run out and buy this one pronto!

The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler. This book is shaped after folklorist Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, which is also a book I absolutely adored. In The Writer’s Journey we are led through classic storytelling techniques and archetypes used in oral and written tradition. And this helps writers shape their own stories in a meaningful way. A wonderful book for story structure.

8. You are an agent as well as an author. How do you make the two roles work together?

Actually, I’m so glad I came to agenting after being a full-time author for such a long while. Because I worked so hard myself to get published, including spending 10 years on a manuscript that was never accepted, I’m endlessly empathetic to writers. I understand how huge it is to get “the call” from an agent, and how important the agent is to the happiness and well-being of an author.

My own agent, Jennifer DeChiara who heads the firm I now agent for, has been an incredible role model for me. Modeling for me an agent who answers your questions, who stands up for you, and who believes in you and reps you throughout your entire career. I’m so grateful for that.

And because I come at this from the writerly end, I’m a strong editor and have really decent marketing skills too. Skills that not only help me as a writer, but that help me to be a supportive agent as well.

As for the day-to-day thing, I tend to do my agent-related stuff in the first half of the day, and the writing stuff in the afternoon, unless a deadline one way or another mixes this up.

I absolutely LOVE reading all the various queries I get each day. Feels like a treasure hunt.

9. What's your next stop on your blog tour?

Next up is The Elliot Review on January 19th! I’ll be doing a guest post called “Positively Medieval,” which asks the all-important question: What’s so exciting about a knight in shining armor? For links and details of all the stops on the blog tour, you can go to my website marielamba.com and click on the top blog tour tab.

10. Where do you see yourself in five years?

I see myself even more involved in agenting with more clients to launch. I see myself writing more novels, both paranormal and contemporary, and drifting into the land of women’s fiction too. And I see myself as having more fun than ever making stuff up.

Thanks for dropping by my blog!

Thanks so much for having me, Stephanie!

Marie Lamba (marielamba.com) is author of acclaimed young adult novels including What I Meant…(Random House), Over My Head, and Drawn. When she isn’t writing or obsessively rereading her own NYC.

About Drawn by Marie Lamba:

Teen artist Michelle De Freccio moves to England in search of a normal life...instead she finds a hot medieval ghost with a sketchy past.

It all begins when a strange guy appears in Michelle's drawings. When she actually meets him at the town’s castle, she's unmistakably drawn to him. But something is definitely not right. For starters, he wears medieval garb, talks of ancient murders and tends to disappear each time they kiss.

Could he possibly be a ghost? Could Michelle be losing her mind? Or has she simply uncovered a love so timeless it’s spanned the centuries…

"...a wonderfully spooky tale of romance and discovery. It’s a magical exploration of the unconquerable power of love. Highly recommended!” — Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay