Apex Book Company

THE BLACK ACT is your debut novel. Congratulations! I know you’ve got a nice list of short fiction credits to your name, but still, could you give our readers something akin to a “Bohmer Basics?”

Louise: Hmmm, if we’re talking basic tenets of a Bohmer story, well, let’s see: My first goal is to get inside your head and mess with it. I don’t want to give my readers an easy ride. If you’re looking for nice safe happy little stories, filled with Mary Sues and tall dark and impossibly perfect, well, I don’t write those.

Nothing is sacred in a Bohmer story, and dichotomy and irony are sprinkled in liberally. You need spice. I hate blandness.

My characters are flawed, usually have lived life to the fullest, maybe a bit too full, and they’re often jaded, slightly insular, but they still need emotion, connection, empathy, and that’s probably what pisses them off the most. Their love/hate relationships with life — many of my characters have at least a slight love/hate relationship with life. No, they don’t yearn for death, or anything so cliche as that, but they can see the pros and cons to existence. Let’s put it that way.

In other words, if you are looking for roses and sunshine, don’t buy my books or read my stories. If you are looking for complex, strange and eerie worlds filled with shades of grey and gritty realism yoked with the fantastical, boy, have I got the stories for you!

This love/hate relationship with life you describe…is this a bit of darkness stemming from personal experiences?

Yes, definitely, but not to the extreme some of my characters might exhibit in some stories. I guess, a good way of putting it is, from a young age I have been able to dissect a situation and see the many sides of it. I have a problem with black and white labels: bad vs. good, light vs. dark. I think this is because, when you peel back the layers of practically any situation, at least from my personal experience, there is rarely a simple, one size fits all answer. I can detach, and see more than two sides, in most cases. As a child, my mother used to call me ‘cold’ for this. Ha!

I often say I am a cynical optimist. I can see the good and bad, if you want to use those terms, in just about everything. Where there is an upside, there is also generally some downside. I’m a realist, despite my wild imagination. That’s a trait I get from my father, I suppose. He was very realistic about both the good and bad side of humanity, and society, really. I am very much the same way. I can see light in darkness, and darkness in light.

Tell us a bit about THE BLACK ACT. Pitch it for our readers!

I think the best way to do that would be to shared my extended blurb with you. Still needs some edits, but this will give you a good idea of what kind of story THE BLACK ACT has to offer your readers.

What if mistakes follow future generations? What if a planet is alive, and humans share it with a variety of beings created from a projection of this world’s sentience, combined with matter made up of Oak and earth skin, rough like an animal’s hide, bones of dense wood and marrow, bodies of moss, and toadstool or bird eyes?

A genetic makeup that fights itself, when two foreign DNA strands collide and fae essence fights human cells, as wolf might reject the pairing of its being with the deer, or the owl. Dangerous, but a Halfling child, born of the combination of fae and Dalthwein witch woman can live, if the energies battling within them are diligently maintained and cared for, schooled in controlling their exceptional abilities.

Two witch sisters are about to learn that their placid life, spent within a highly regarded Guardian Guild, learning sacred teachings and ancient histories, is filled with a hidden web of entangled deceit and lies.

The history of a curse is fraught with bloody battles, bitter hatred, and dark secrets. Through five generations, ghosts of war haunt the Wise Women. When the Rebellion of Glenna ends, their curse sleeps bound in the Tunnels of the Dead, waiting for its chance to re-awaken the battle between the Wood People and Dalthwein Clans.

Claire, a distraught young Wise Woman born in the sacred valley of the fae, unwittingly helps it escape imprisonment. While her twin sister, Anna, receives psychic glimpses of ancient secrets she must unravel. With her scribe teacher, Rosalind, she also struggles to uncover the reasons behind Claire’s strange behavior, ever escalating since the death of their Guild Mother, Grianne.

The Age of the Wise Women will cease, if the curse does not end with Anna and Claire. Perhaps inheriting the mistakes of their ancestors, and learning the truths of their identities, will bring great suffering for these witch twins?

That’s cheating! So, let me rephrase…in 10 words or less, sell us on THE BLACK ACT.

THE BLACK ACT is my loose reinterpretation of the Irish Tuatha de Dannan mythos, blending with my inspiration taken from the art work of Brian Froud, and classic literature and folklore. My faeries don’t have wings, and they’re anything but dainty. Think old pagan forest gods and goddesses of old, nymphs and satyrs. And then there are the witches. It is also deeply infused with my love of Clive Barker’s work.

Sigh, you’re over your word limit. As they say, can’t win for cheating! For that, I’m going to remind readers that you are offering up risque photos of yourself for people who pre-order THE BLACK ACT!

LMAO! No, you ginger haired brat! :P

Pinch!

I tried that with my chapbook of stories (WEBS OF DISCORD). It didn’t work too hot. So, how do you juggle so many jobs? You’re an editor, writer, fashionista, Canadian Mountie, you help run Lachesis…

No, you brat, I am not a fashionista or a Canadian Mountie. *pinches Jason* Seriously, I think of my style as frump meets metal head, I guess. I wear sweaters, and a lot of black, or thrift shop clothes. I’m frugal, not fashionable.

As to how I juggle my workload, I honestly don’t find it extremely difficult. It suits my brain patterns, my lifestyle. I’m a chronic insomniac, so freelancing helps me stay sane. I’m one of those lucky insomniacs who can remain cognizant during my bouts of insomnia — which only last a couple weeks, at the most, these days — so I get a lot of work done during these time periods.

Working from home, I catch up on sleep with a short nap through the day, during these periods. I work long days — usually 10 to 12 hours — but when you enjoy what you are doing, the time passes quickly. Also, I find my brain works best when I multitask. If I get stuck on something in one area, I can simply switch to another for a while, then return to the prior task, and flip back and forth through the day. I also post promo during my breaks. It works well to squeeze a great deal of work into a small amount of time, which allows me to get a lot done in a day.

I do try to take 2 days off a week, though, but it is often just 1 full day I end up taking off. Still, I am learning how to manage my tendency to become a workaholic well, these days.

Do you find being from the Canadian north to be a hindrance to your career?

Not really, no. With the Internet allowing writers to do so much of their own promotion, I find it isn’t too hard to promote across North America, and to even reach a European audience.

I’ve also been lucky, and choosy. I’ve landed contracts with publishers that have decent cross North America and international distribution, so really I don’t have much of a problem reaching the other markets across my borders.

You’re an old hand in the small press. What sort of advice would you give to writers who are looking for legitimate small press outlets for their work?

Well, thank you, sir.

First of all, writers must know their markets. The best way to learn about small press publishers — who is legit and who is not — is to research them. Google these presses, and go to places like Preditors & Editors to check out their standings as a business. Are they recommended or not recommended?

If you are interested in working with a small press on your book, research them thoroughly first. I can’t stress this strongly enough. Look on their site to find information like their payment schedule, who works for them as editors and authors. Try to talk to one of their authors to see how they are to deal with as a publisher. How they’ll treat you and your book.

And if you are offered a publication contract, read that contract carefully, and make sure it is fair, what you are looking for. If you don’t read your contract, be prepared to get stuck in a publication deal with unfavorable terms, and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself for rushing.

Here’s a key piece of advice I can give the new writer looking to work with the small press, or any press: Don’t rush in this business. Take your time, and do your homework. Try to apply a top down approach, and definitely make sure you only work with highly reputable small presses.

Okay, so where can we get the exciting, the thrilling, THE BLACK ACT?

THE BLACK ACT will be available for pre-order through Lachesis Publishing on December 28, 2008 ( www.lachesispublishing.com ), and released on April 28, 2009. Some people ask “Does this mean you are self publishing?” Let me clear this up. No, it does not. Carole contracted me on TBA before I became an editor for Lachesis and its imprint. She and I have agreed I will only publish TBA and any offshoot or serial books included within its world / premise. She and I both don’t want to tarnish the good name of Lachesis by making it appear as if it might in any way resemble a vanity press. Traditional, professional quality publishing has always been Carole’s goal, and I fully support her in that.

What’s next for Ms. Bohmer?

A novel entitled GYPSY WAGON, which I am already pre-shopping somewhat. I have two publishers who appear interested, both small press. One is New York / East Coast based, and would offer some great opportunities, including distribution in the publishing hub. I haven’t made any firm decisions on that yet, though.

Also, a possible prequel to THE BLACK ACT. It would trace the history of Corrigan McCleod, Anna and Claire’s ancient ancestor, and explore how he brought the then nameless tribes to the Dalthwein Lands.

Thank you for the interview!

Thank you for interviewing me! I appreciate it very much. Long live Apex! *Pinches the Ginger Thang, and then runs off cackling*

For more information, visit http://www.louisebohmer.com/