Rookie Wednesday: Gail Carriger

This week's interview is with author Gail Carriger who's first published novel, Soulless: The Parasol Protectorate, hits shelves tomorrow!

What's one random tidbit about yourself?

I find endless comedic enjoyment in the ridiculous: the Westminster Dog Show, rubber animals, string cheese, squid, that kind of thing.

What were you doing the moment you found out that Soulless had sold?

I was drinking an excellent latte at my favorite local coffee shop. There might have been sputtering and a certain amount of foam loss as a result of The Call.

What's the best book that you've read over the past six months?

Roman Diary by Richard Platt and David Parkins, a kid's picture book. Fantastic.

Was the process of writing and publishing your first novel what you expected it to be?

Both yes and no. I'd been in and around publishing for a long while so I was prepared for all the things one is warned about: finding an agent, long waits, contract battles, etc. But the editing process was unexpectedly relaxed – my editor has a very light touch. Also, I actually got to have an opinion on my cover art, which I really wasn't expecting and Orbit has been great about helping me promote the book with thing like the paper doll. http://www.orbitbooks.net/soulless/

Give us one embarrassing author moment:

I arrived for my very first in-person meeting with my agent with the back of my dress unzipped. Sigh. The moral of this story? Always travel with a lady's maid. The moral of the moral? Sell enough books to afford a lady's maid.

What would you most like potential readers to know about you and/or your book?

Neither of us are meant to be taken seriously.

List 3-5 characters from Soulless and do word associations.

Alexia Tarabotti: pragmatic
Lord Maccon: grumpy
Professor Lyall: competent
Lord Akeldama: outrageous
Ivy Hisselpenny: ugly hats

What's your favorite thing about Soulless?

That I got to put comedy, urban fantasy, and steampunk all into one book. It's like the attack of the sub-genres!

What projects do you have in the pipeline?

I'm mucking about with the copy edit for Changeless, Book the Second in the Parasol Protectorate series, right now. It has a tentative release date of April 2010. Blameless, Book the Third, is due in a few months. I'm sitting on a short story set in the same universe, which I'm thinking may make its way into a contest of some kind (so keep your eyes on my blog around the middle of October). My agent is busy eviscerating a SF YA I completed a few months ago. But, lucky me, I've got nothing new going on just now. That probably won't last long.

Any final comments?

Beware the brass octopus.

Thanks for stopping by Gail!

Visit Gail's site for more info about her and her work.

Soulless synopsis from Amazon:

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.