Ask the Author: L.S. Kilroy
Answered Questions (7)
L.S. Kilroy
Hi Nate! Thanks so much for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed it. This is a great question.
It's strange how inspiration strikes. For the galateans, I wanted to include some type of servant class of programmable automata that were incredibly lifelike and frightening in the fact that they, at one point, were able to be hacked and cause massive destruction. And the name "galateans" is derived from the Greek myth of Galatea, the statue brought to life by the goddess Venus after her sculptor, Pygmalion, fell in love with her. The Arnaud story, however is a little more sinister. It's, in a way, my special homage to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but also I got the idea from a creepy post I saw on Facebook about La Pascualita - the corpse bride of Mexico. Apparently, La Pascualita is an eerily lifelike mannequin that has been in the window of a bridal store for the past 75 years - ever since the owner's daughter, Pascuala, died from a black widow spider bite on her wedding day. Bearing a striking resemblance to the deceased, the mannequin is only allowed to be changed behind closed doors by a trusted few. Her fingers have wrinkles on their knuckles and yellowed nails. And rumor has it that La Pascualita has even been known to change positions on her own. I thought this was so macabre that I wanted to incorporate an element of it into my story and I used Arnaud and the other galateans who have human souls imbued into them for that purpose.
As far as the other technology - the yoctosteam. I was thinking of how nanotechnology is being developed now and I figured that possibly in the future, there would be smaller particles than nanos used, which are yoctos. But I am not a scientist, so the idea of little yocto mites that carry information and are used to power vehicles, weapons, and such is a complete fabrication of my mind. And this is a world that has seen many natural disasters and catastrophes on a global scale so I was operating under the impression that digital would be wiped out. Yet these other technologies have been able to evolve. There's also almost a magical element about it, too - especially Artemis' engineering and the programming talents of Oliver Woodlock. I'm the author and I can say that I'm not even sure how they're doing it. But I think it must have to do with the transferring of one's own energy into another object, or sending energy that can then manifest in a different location as with the "manifests" - the way the mail operates. I suppose there's a heavy steampunk influence with the Neo-Victorian aspects of this world, but the technology brings a little cyberpunk into the mix as well. I sure hope this answer will suffice! Thanks again for reading!
It's strange how inspiration strikes. For the galateans, I wanted to include some type of servant class of programmable automata that were incredibly lifelike and frightening in the fact that they, at one point, were able to be hacked and cause massive destruction. And the name "galateans" is derived from the Greek myth of Galatea, the statue brought to life by the goddess Venus after her sculptor, Pygmalion, fell in love with her. The Arnaud story, however is a little more sinister. It's, in a way, my special homage to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but also I got the idea from a creepy post I saw on Facebook about La Pascualita - the corpse bride of Mexico. Apparently, La Pascualita is an eerily lifelike mannequin that has been in the window of a bridal store for the past 75 years - ever since the owner's daughter, Pascuala, died from a black widow spider bite on her wedding day. Bearing a striking resemblance to the deceased, the mannequin is only allowed to be changed behind closed doors by a trusted few. Her fingers have wrinkles on their knuckles and yellowed nails. And rumor has it that La Pascualita has even been known to change positions on her own. I thought this was so macabre that I wanted to incorporate an element of it into my story and I used Arnaud and the other galateans who have human souls imbued into them for that purpose.
As far as the other technology - the yoctosteam. I was thinking of how nanotechnology is being developed now and I figured that possibly in the future, there would be smaller particles than nanos used, which are yoctos. But I am not a scientist, so the idea of little yocto mites that carry information and are used to power vehicles, weapons, and such is a complete fabrication of my mind. And this is a world that has seen many natural disasters and catastrophes on a global scale so I was operating under the impression that digital would be wiped out. Yet these other technologies have been able to evolve. There's also almost a magical element about it, too - especially Artemis' engineering and the programming talents of Oliver Woodlock. I'm the author and I can say that I'm not even sure how they're doing it. But I think it must have to do with the transferring of one's own energy into another object, or sending energy that can then manifest in a different location as with the "manifests" - the way the mail operates. I suppose there's a heavy steampunk influence with the Neo-Victorian aspects of this world, but the technology brings a little cyberpunk into the mix as well. I sure hope this answer will suffice! Thanks again for reading!
L.S. Kilroy
I embrace it. If I can't write, then I stop worrying about it and live my life. Inspiration always comes back.
L.S. Kilroy
The best thing about being a writer is the freedom to create whatever I feel like creating. And I think the potential to tell stories that shed some light on the human condition, that reflect social issues, that make people think and inspire a dialogue is, for me, what literature has always been about. People may think it's all just words and that writing is a secondhand experience and reading is an even more removed experience, but I really believe in the transformative effect of books...I mean, if books had no power, ignorant people wouldn't burn them, right?
L.S. Kilroy
This advice may sound unconventional, but it's worked for me. It's true that practice makes perfect and you should try to get into a routine to hone your craft - take a class, workshop with fellow writers, and do the thing. Stephen King said "Writers write," and that's true. If you want to be good at something, you need to work at it. However, that isn't always easy. Sometimes with schedules and what not, especially if you work full-time at a job that sucks away your energy, if you have a relationship that you need to devote time to, or a child, you can't carve out a determined amount of time every day to write. I would go weeks without writing a word even when I was in the middle of working on a book. Sometimes it wasn't even because of other factors in my life, it was just because I didn't feel like it. If I'm not inspired and I'm not feeling it, I can't write. And I think that's okay. Because every time I've tried to force it, the product is crap. So my advice is: Write, but only when you feel it. Even though I don't write creatively every single day, I've still managed to produce three books and a slew of short stories in spite of being a high school teacher at one point and having a very stressful corporate job at another. When you feel it and when you're enjoying it, pushing yourself to work when you go home at night isn't as hard as you might think.
L.S. Kilroy
I've actually just finished a second novel and it couldn't be more the opposite of The Vitruvian Heir. I think I needed a complete departure and I'm a huge throwback to the 1960s so I was intent on writing something set in that volatile decade. And I think - sadly - that today's social climate mirrors this tempestuous time in our country. It's called The Clothes That Make You and it's set in 1967 New England suburbia. Sally Fiore is a quiet, teenage outcast from a strict Italian family who is coping with the recent loss of her father. Her sheltered world changes when she makes an unlikely friend in the new girl at school - a feisty, civil rights activist who identifies as a boy. I'm planning on a spring release (hopefully).
L.S. Kilroy
Inspiration comes in different ways. Ideas fall into my head, sparked either by something I've read about or a conversation I've had, or even by an image I've seen. When I get an idea for a story, I usually ruminate on it for a long time before I even start writing. Sometimes I hear a song that evokes something about the story and I attach myself to that song, listening to it over and over while I think about my project. This allows me to imagine scenes unfolding. I also get inspired at certain times of day, and when I do, I always try to make a note about what's just popped into my head or I send myself an email about it so I don't forget.
L.S. Kilroy
In high school, I used to write down summaries for story ideas all the time and draw book jackets to go with them. I would keep them in an old Peanuts suitcase under my bed. When I was a sophomore, my history teacher was telling us about the time when Catherine de’ Medici ruled the French court. She had a group of beautiful female spies called the Flying Squadron (L’escadron Volant), whom she recruited to seduce important men in court and then report back to her. My fifteen-year-old self took this fascinating lesson and formed an idea for a new story. What if a future version of the United States had somehow come under the control of an emperor who commanded that everything be returned to the Victorian and Edwardian periods – women were stripped of rights, had to wear corsets, etc.? And what if, there was a woman who was running this underground circle of female spies trained to extract information from powerful men? What if she was planning a coup? What if she sent her best girl in to charm the emperor himself? But then the girl falls in love with him…That was my teenage sensibility. That story was eventually discarded along with its bedfellows somewhere between high school and college. Then, a couple of years ago, when women’s rights issues were heavy in the media, the germ of this idea resurfaced and became The Vitruvian Heir.
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