Two Ends of the Pen: Interview with L.T. Getty, THE MERMAID AND THE UNICORNS

Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?

The Mermaid and the Unicorns follows Daphne, a young teenage mermaid turned into a human and sent to retrieve a unicorn for a sea witch. She meets human friends and finds a way to thwart the witch and return home.

The book was designed to stand on its own but I would like to write a direct sequel. I am in the middle of writing an indirect sequel, which follows mostly new characters set in that same world. I do have an idea for a sequel, but as of right now I have other projects that are taking priority.

Do you have a favorite character?

Larry the lumberjack. He is such a delightful grump who does nothing but help; I think subconsciously I wrote him as the dad who got dragged to a movie he didn’t want to see.

Have you ever had a minor character evolve into a major one? Did that change the direction of the novel at all? Did the character become the hero/heroine of their own book?

Several times, yes. In this book, the character Sedolei arrived to me before in the novel Garnet and Silver. He’s a unicorn and had a much larger part in that book, but I couldn’t not reuse him in this book. Unicorns aren’t really part of the fae realm depicted, so it wasn’t really a stretch to show unicorns in a very different world.

My Rogue Healer series with Champagne Books focuses on Koth, and really it’s a spin off of what I was developing in High School. Koth started out as a villain, but he was a lot of fun to write and I hated the convoluted reasons the heroes would interact with him, and he slowly became not so much a hero, but the person that the good guys knew would get his hands dirty when they were at a moral crossroads. Koth’s a lot more rounded as a character now then he was, plus it was a lot of fun to delve into the world before the majority of the cast in the main project were born.

How long before you got your offer of representation/your first contract? Was it for your first novel?

I started writing some time in Junior High and I got my first contract for Tower of Obsidian when I was 28. It was the same week I got my paramedic license. Now, Tower of Obsidian was definitely not my first novel; I wrote my first series in high school and didn’t really write much in University, mostly because of school demands and work, although I did write some shorts.

Are you currently under a traditional publishing contract for future books or do you have manuscripts that you will self-publish? Are you doing both?

My niece wants to know this too! Because the sequel is more aimed at a YA market as opposed to a MG one, I potentially could take it to my publisher, or pursue another publisher as the books belong in the same universe, but you needn’t read it them. I think I’ll probably self-publish it, but as of right now it’s not even rough drafted and needs to sit for a while once it is, so I wouldn’t look .

I have another title with Champagne Books coming out 2023, and hopefully it will be at least a trilogy, but I’m hoping for series.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish your book(s)?

I wanted to try it. When I first started on the submit – wait – cry (I kid) cycle I would get occasionally good feedback, but often times I wasn’t tickling their fancy because I wasn’t always dancing to the accepted beat.

I looked into self-publishing years ago and the reality is that up until the internet and ebooks, it wasn’t feasible. Getting books into a bookseller’s shelf is difficult, and most distributors don’t want to bother individuals, so much as go to houses and ask what they have that meet criteria X for an upcoming season.

I decided to do it because I wanted to.

What is your writing process? Do you listen to music or do you like silence?

I like instrumental music or stuff I can’t sing along to. Same with when I’m studying.

As for my process – generally speaking I set myself a goal on a project and ballpark where I think I’m going, and set realistic goals. I’ve been doing this for a while, so I know about how long it takes me to do things. Different projects require more (or less) work, and so instead of saying, “I’m going to write a novel in a year” I break it down to a, “I want to write a book over the course of 10 months for a rough draft. I think it’ll be between 85-90k. That means I need to average 10k a month” and go from there. My schedule is prone to change and interruption, so that’s planned. Books don’t always cooperate with length, so it’s a weird combination of having good habits and being flexible.

I send my rough draft to Ron mostly for content editing. At this phase, I’m willing to make major changes to the story. Then I let it sit for a while, and make another plan while I’m writing another story. That’s why it’s okay for me to only write say a thousand words a day – I’m usually editing something else too.

If something’s not working, I find getting exercise allows my mind to reset, and I can sometimes work out plot issues if I’m walking the dog or doing laps in the pool.

I also think reading books is paramount, but not in the way that other writers have told me. When I read really big books – those 800+ page door stoppers – it teaches me to write to that pacing. If I want to write a tighter novel – The Mermaid and the Unicorns is about 68k – I need to read shorter novels and learn the pacing.

Do you outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?

I originally went with the term “Pantser” but I’m more of an in-between model than anything. I usually start out with an idea for a scene, and then I write the dessert first; the scenes that get my attention. I form a rough outline and create backstory, but I use an outline the same way I make a schedule when I’m on vacation. I know it’s important and what needs to happen, but if I decide to veer a certain way I didn’t expect – say, have lunch at a place I didn’t know existed – I’m not going to be mad. I often have too many ideas and have to cut back to make the story tight, but the good news is revision is part of the writing process, and I’d rather have too many ideas that can be taken out and explored in another story.

Did you hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing?

Yes. I put out feelers and I honestly got a little frustrated because I keep getting the idea when I say “Copy Editor” some people think I meant, “Cheerleader”. Tell me when I’m making a stupid mistake, let me worry about the terrible quality of my puns.

Do you find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next book? Do you try to write everyday or carve out certain times during the week?

When I was starting to write it was easy because I needed to be home to watch my sisters and make supper. I had a very set routine, which got thrown out the window my final year of high school because my sisters no longer needed me and I got a job. I learned to be flexible and my process is hard to explain – I think building the habit is important, but because my university classes and work schedule was all over the place, I learned to try to hash out a scene or an idea and be task orientated. I can’t control people needing me or a computer break down, but if I find myself with a little bit of down time, I can edit a few pages, which is a few pages less for me to work on when I have a more designated time to do it.

Some fun facts about you, which do you prefer – dogs or cats? Chocolate or vanilla? Coffee or Tea? Talk or Text? Day or Night?

I’ll pet a crocodile if I knew it wasn’t going to bite me. I have pet a bat, once. I have a dog and a cat; the dog I really really wanted and the cat was a rescue, but turns out I love both.

I do love chocolate but vanilla is nice too, depending on what we’re having. If it’s ice cream, let’s go with chocolate. Pie? Vanilla.

I’m a tea drinker; the only way I have coffee is if it’s in some sort of fru-fru mochalatte with sprinkles. I don’t like coffee; I like desert.

On my cell phone, text me. I can talk to some people for hours; that way we don’t get side tracked.

I guess day but I do like my night shifts at work; I think it’s because a lot of the stuff I enjoy – kayaking, biking, etc., usually need to take place during the day.

What’s next for you?

I am hiring an editor for a novella for the Rogue Healer series and I then have to decide which project I’m going to self-publish next year; I’ve narrowed it down but I am wishy-washy. It’ll probably be another Middle Grade title.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

L.T. Getty is a rural paramedic from Manitoba. She enjoys writing science fiction and fantasy and generally being creative.

Amazon (American)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09F2MRB9N/

Amazon (Canadian)

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B09F2MRB9N/

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-mermaid-and-the-unicorns

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60006465-the-mermaid-and-the-unicorns

Barnes and Noble