In this week’s interview, I’m super excited to feature Ichabod Temperance and his exciting steampunk writings! Ichabod is a gem, so I’ll let him introduce himself in his own unique way:

Ichabod Temperance is a silly little fellow with absolutely no writing credentials. Speculation is that a grotesque construction accident awakened a dormant writing bug in Icky. Doctors are desperately trying to make the boy stop, but to date, he just keeps writing silly novels such as ‘A Matter of Temperance‘, ‘A World of InTemperance‘, ‘For the Love of Temperance‘, ‘A Study in Temperance‘ and his current work In progress, ‘In a Latitude of Temperance’. (Update: Latitude of Temperance is now available on Amazon.)

For a tantalizing excerpt of Ichabod’s “In a Latitude of Temperance”, click here.

Ichabod, thank you for being here. Before we talk about your WIP, why don’t you tell us a few things about yourself besides your collection on Amazon? 

Yippee! Thanks, Maria! I am so thrilled to be invited to your lovely blog! I am a lifelong Alabama Birminghamster. I played drums in a silly punk rock band for 28 years, studied diligently in karate for 21 years, and have been heavily involved with professional wrestling for 14 years. My wrestling and karate background helped me to land a small role in an independent film as a stuntman. The film is a sweeping, no-budget, steampunk epic entitled, ‘Engines of Destiny’. My enthusiasm in the project helped my part to get upgraded. I now get to wear a 2,700 pound steampowered mechanical suit and beat up on a young Teddy Roosevelt. This experience encouraged me to look into the genre of steampunk literature. Unfortunately, most of the material I found was of a dark and morbid sensibility, whereas the movie was upbeat and charming. Following the example of one of my castmates, I wrote my own blog adventure that in turn led to writing the books.

You’re my first writer/wrestler/stuntman guest here! What are you working on right now?

I have begun pursuing themes in my books. With the current book, ‘In a Latitude of Temperance’, the theme is vampires. In it, I have madcap adventures with some of my own personal favorite vampires in history. Sixteen vampires are involved, and only one of them is not one from history. She is a personal friend of mine.

Are you happy with the pace of your work? Do you aim at a specific word count each day?

I do not think that I write as other writers do. I will mull a topic around in my head and bounce ideas off of my lovely, gracious, and kind muse, Miss Persephone Plumtartt, until I feel ready to begin. Once the writing process is initiated, I do not eat, sleep, fornicate, or acknowledge the outside world until finished. A good pace is 4,000 to 5,000 words a day during the frenzied writing cycle.

Plotter, pantser or both?

What did you call me! Oops. I mean, I don’t know what a pantser is, but I think you refer to planning out the story as opposed to letting it unfold in an ‘organic’ manner. I guess I’m a 30% plotter, and a 70% pantser. But if you press me on it, I will deny it and say that I intended for everything to work out the way it does.

What’s your worst enemy in getting that first draft finished?

Lord Bar’Bazaul, the ‘Mentholated Menace,’ would like to claim the title of being my arch nemesis, but ‘The Mystique from San Monique,’ Sku ‘le Bizzare, may have something to say about that! How they would dearly love me to be unable to achieve the end of my books, but so far, I have triumphed over their diabolical obstacles.

Have you ever experienced lack of inspiration or drive to write? If so, how do you motivate yourself?

All I need is a nice smooch from the beautiful Miss Persephone Plumtartt and I am good to go!

I bet that’s the best inspiration there is! Could we take a look at your workspace? Is there a particular place you find inspiring for writing?

Tee, hee! Miss Plumtartt took a picture of me working as I finished up the first novel. Even though I am not looking at the camera, I know that in the photo, my mind is on the book. You cannot really see the little nook I am working in and do all my writing, but that is where I am and what I am doing. I felt it appropriate that this is the picture that I use as my author’s photo and it appears on the back cover of the books. My cat Kitka is looking in the camera and everyone thinks he is the author, not me! sigh. I am tempted to use that as my workspace photo, but instead, Miss Plumtartt has taken a picture of me with the beautiful Miss Bandit. This picture gives a better look at where it all happens.

Kitca and Miss Bandit are both lovely! Now your pic is pinned on my Featured Writers’ Workspace board on Pinterest. Lots of pets there already! Apart from Word and Google, do you use any other writing or research tools and apps?

No, Ma’am, just Wiki, Miss Plumtartt’s invaluable assistance, and my own eclectic background.

How do you intend to celebrate writing “The End” on your draft?

I’m gonna get romantic with Miss Plumtartt! She is starting to get a little antsy…

You do that! Which book publishing processes are you going to outsource and which are you confident enough to undertake yourself?

Eek! Sorry, Maria, you are moving into a field I know nothing of as I am still very much a newbie. At this time, I am self-published on Amazon only. I am learning the ropes of promotion as I go along. Your ‘5 ways new writers can drive away potential readers‘ article has been a big help, as well as getting to participate in your ‘Calling All Critiques’ event! I am very lucky to have a friend who does my cover silhouettes and another pal who does the graphics. Miss Plumtartt does all the formatting. All I do is the writing and the promotion.

Do you have any marketing tips or favorite promotional sites you’d like to share?

Uhb. I wish I did. I have learned, I think, that it is better to develop a few good contacts, than lots of half-hearted contacts, as far as self-promotion on Facebook is concerned. Spamming is a turn off.

Is steampunk/paranormal the genre you will brand yourself with or do you see yourself branching out in the future?

At this time, I cannot see myself doing anything but Steampunk/Paranormal. I am having too much fun! I cannot say what the future may hold, as a little over a year ago, I had never written so much as a grocery list, and now I have all these silly books! I’m a pantser as far as future plans are concerned.

Would you like to share with us links where we can find you and your work?

Yes, Ma’am! Here is my Amazon author’s page:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Ichabod%20Temperance&search-alias=books

Thank you, Ichabod, and best of luck with your current project!

Thank you, Maria! You, your blog, and your wonderful friends have been a tremendous help to me!

Cheers!

Your pal,

~Ichabod.