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****Laura Bickle’s DARK ALCHEMY is
#110 in the never-ending series called INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION where
the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC)
focuses on one specific excerpt from a fiction genre and how that fiction
writer wrote that specific excerpt. All INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links are
at the end of this piece. (Right: Laura Bickle in April of 2019)
Name of
fiction work? And were there other names you considered that you would like to
share with us? My book is DARK
ALCHEMY. My working title for the book was THE RAVEN KING, but we felt that sounded a bit too epic fantasy.
Has
this been published? And it is totally fine if the answer is no. If yes, what
publisher and what publication date? Yes. DARK
ALCHEMY was published by Harper Voyager Impulse on March 24, 2015.
What is
the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you
completely finished the piece of fiction? I had
played around with the idea in 2012, (Bottom Left: Laura in April of 2012)and set it aside to pursue other projects.
I did a substantial rewrite of the manuscript a couple of years later before it
went out on submission. Final edits and copy edits were complete in 2014 (Bottom Right: Laura in July 2014).
Where
did you do most of your writing for this fiction work? And please describe in
detail. And can you please include a photo? I do most
of my writing at home, either indoors or in my garden. I can’t get much
accomplished in noisy environments, so having a quiet place to work is
important to me. Here’s a photo from my garden with a couple of my writing
companions, a painted lady butterfly and a common buckeye butterfly (Right).
What
were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as
you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop;
specific time of day? When I’m on deadline, I work
on the project every day. Working on a laptop is more efficient for me, though
I outline and make notes in pen and paper on a journal. I find that I’m more
productive if I block off some time on my schedule to write; otherwise, it can
wind up at the bottom of a to-do list and it doesn’t get accomplished. I’m more
productive if I block out this time earlier in the day. I’m not a morning
person, but it seems to work out better to write as early as I can. (Left: Laura's cat with her laptop)
What is
the summary of this specific fiction work? Stephen
King's The Gunslinger meets Breaking Bad in Laura Bickle's novel Dark
Alchemy.
Some secrets are better left buried …
Geologist Petra Dee arrives in Wyoming seeking
clues to her father's disappearance years ago. What she finds instead is
Temperance, a dying western town with a gold rush past and a meth-infested
present. But under the dust and quiet, an old power is shifting. When bodies
start turning up—desiccated and twisted skeletons that Petra can't
scientifically explain—her investigations land her in the middle of a covert
war between the town's most powerful interests. Petra's father wasn't the only
one searching for the alchemical secrets of Temperance, and those still looking
are now ready to kill. Armed with nothing but shaky alliances, a pair of
antique guns, and a relic she doesn't understand, the only thing Petra knows
for sure is that she and her coyote sidekick are going to have to move fast—or
die next.
Can you
give the reader just enough information for them to understand what is going on
in the excerpt? This is the opening of DARK
ALCHEMY, when a murder is discovered ranch land. We meet Gabriel, a man
with an uncanny connection to ravens. Gabe has lived here for centuries, and
this killing is unlike any he’s ever seen before.
Please include just one excerpt and include page numbers as
reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer. Click on or copy the link and paste into your search engine
to hear an audio recording of Chapters 1 and 2 from Dark Alchemy: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062389862/dark-alchemy/#audio-sample
Click on or copy the link and paste into your search engine
to read Chapters 1 and 2 from Dark Alchemy: https://aerbook.com/books/Dark_Alchemy-87655.html?social=1&retail=1&emailcap=0
Why is
this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write? And can you describe
your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? I felt a lot of excitement about venturing into a new world with
new characters. When I began this project, I looked forward to discovering who
the principal characters were, what drove them, and what magic lives in the
shadows in this beautiful land.
Were
there any deletions from this excerpt that you can share with us? I’m sorry, but I don’t have any of my old drafts. I knew I wanted
to begin the story with Gabe, to show his experience of the land, and to
contrast it with the experience of the other human characters who do most of
their work in sunshine.
Other
works you have published? There are five books in the DARK
ALCHEMY cycle: DARK ALCHEMY, MERCURY RETROGRADE, NINE OF
STARS, WITCH CREEK, and PHOENIX FALLING. I’ve published
several urban fantasy novels (EMBERS and SPARKS as Laura Bickle, DARK
ORACLE and ROGUE ORACLE under my other pen name, Alayna Williams). I’ve
written some YA as well (THE HALLOWED ONES, THE OUTSIDE, THE DRAGON’S
PLAYLIST, FLESH, and PAWNED). My complete book list is
here:
https://www.authorlaurabickle.com/
Anything
you would like to add? Thanks very much for the
chance to chat with you and your readers today.
Laura Bickle grew up in rural Ohio,
reading entirely too many comic books out loud to her favorite Wonder Woman
doll. After graduating with an MA in Sociology – Criminology from Ohio State
University and an MLIS in Library Science from the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she patrolled the stacks at the public library and worked
with data systems in criminal justice. She now dreams up stories about the monsters
under the stairs, also writing contemporary fantasy novels under the name
Alayna Williams.
Her work has been
included in the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer Project 2013 reading list and the State
Library of Ohio’s Choose to Read Ohio reading list for 2015-2016.
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