Interview with Author – HL Carpenter

About HL Carpenter:
We’re HL Carpenter, a Florida-based mother/daughter duo. We write from our studios in Carpenter Country, a magical place that, like our stories, is unreal but not untrue. Our books are family-friendly and suitable for ten-year-olds as well as kidults of all ages.

What inspires you to write?
We always want to know why. We're not sure if that means we're inspired to write because we can come up with our own reasons about the cause of an event, or if that means we're inspired to write because in writing we can supply our own answer, control the outcome, and make sense of both life in general and what's happening in our lives in particular.

So why does "why" make us want to write? Maybe a story lurks in the answer…

Tell us about your writing process.
For us, the writing process begins when one or the other of us spots a sentence, an image, or a word that sparks an idea. If the idea is intriguing enough, the idea-spotter writes up a synopsis and fleshes the story out. Then we decide if the topic is one that will sustain our interest long enough to complete the story.

When we start to write, we invoke rule one, which is that during this first-draft stage, we never make corrections to each other’s work. Instead, we take turns writing scenes and keep the story moving forward. Once the story is in rough form from first scene to last, we go back to the beginning and blend our words together.

At the editing stage, we invoke rule two: No matter how attached either of us is to a particular word or phrase, when we disagree, we re-write the section in dispute. Then we move into what we consider the typical writer's routine: Revise-Edit-Proof-Fix. This part of the work can take months. Eventually we arrive at a point when we both agree we've reached THE END (of the story, not our partnership). 🙂

Then the process starts over with cover design…

How did you decide how to publish your books?
Our first middle grade/young adult novel, The SkyHorse, was published by Musa Publishing in 2012. Musa, a wonderful publisher, has since gone out of business, and they turned all rights back to us. At that point, we decided to become indie authors. We updated and republished our books, including The SkyHorse, under our own imprint. To our delight, we enjoy the entire process. We like being in control of every aspect of our work!

In addition to Musa, we've had stories published traditionally, and we've butted heads with editors who have a different vision of our work than we do. However, we're not averse to traditional publishing. In fact, we are eagerly anticipating the release of A Ghost in The Gardens, our latest middle grade book by Mirror World Publishing in June 2018.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
We think the future of book publishing will be similar to the past—full of innovation, expansion, and new methods of connecting authors and readers. We look forward to coming changes as important as the Gutenberg printing press in the 1400s, and as far-reaching as the internet today.

We're eager to learn how future writers will use technology and inventions we have yet to dream of to capitalize on the sale of rights, including serialization, book clubs, video, and audio.

We're hopeful that copyright protections and author-friendly contract terms will remain respected and beneficial, and that literacy rates will continue the current positive trend.

In short, we think the future of book publishing is as bright as the creative individuals who participate in the industry, and as far-reaching and ever-changing as imagination.

What do you use?: Professional Editor

What genres do you write?: Middle grade, young adult, cozy mystery, speculative fiction, allegorical fiction, humor

What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print, Audiobook

Website(s)
HL Carpenter Home Page Link
Link To HL Carpenter Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on Smashwords

Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.