Author Spotlight: Lou Wilham
As we celebrate the release of Girl in the Clockwork Tower this week, we are featuring a special interview with author Lou Wilham!
You can learn more about her new release below. Also, stay tuned for part II of this celebration that will take place on Friday, September 25th at 10am EST on our Facebook page! We'll be interviewing Lou, and showing off her new release.
Get your copy of Girl In the Clockwork Tower HERE.
What does it feel like now that tower is out in the world?
Honestly? Weird. Not in a bad way more in a holy-crap-I-finally-did-it way. I’ve spent the last two years of my life working on The Girl in the Clockwork Tower. Maybe I wasn’t working on it all the time, and I took time to do other projects, but this story has been living in me for that long, and now it’s just going to be out there in the world living in other people. It’s wild!
Of course, the story isn’t done, and I’ve got at least three more books to go before we’re completely done with Daiwynn, Persi, and the crew of the Duchess but still… it’s like the closing of a chapter. I imagine I’ll bawl my eyes out when the series is finally done, but we’ve got a ways to go before then.
How would you describe The Girl in the Clockwork Tower to someone who is interested in reading it?
Let’s think of it like a recipe (a cocktail recipe probably). To create The Girl in the Clockwork Tower you mix two parts adventure novel, one part spy novel, three parts retelling, a dash of Steampunk for color, a sprinkling of pirates, and then add pineapple to taste. Haha, I know that’s a silly explanation but it’s really the best way to describe it.
What was your inspiration for The Girl in the Clockwork Tower?
It was really a combination of things. I’ve been in love with Tangled since it first came out. Marissa Meyer’s Cress was positively adorable. And Gail Carriger dragged me into the world of steampunk kicking and screaming (not really but you get the idea). So really it was just the perfect storm. I combined all of these things I loved to create a story that touches on issues I find important, while still having the light-hearted spunk that seems to be my style of writing.
What do you hope readers take away from this new release?
This is a toughy. On the surface I’d just like to think that people walk away from Tower feeling fulfilled in Persi’s journey to strength, and able to find that strength in themselves. But I also touch on topics of racism and genocide that I feel are important to mention. For me, I’ve always believed that the way we learn to be more accepting, and open-minded of the people around us is through the media we consume. In Daiwynn, Enchanted (magical creatures) are systematically rounded up and sent to labor camps, and I hope through empathizing with Persi, Manu, Benard, Owen, and all the rest that my readers learn to empathize with the real people around them. A little heavy-handed for a fantasy novel, I know, but I’ve always thought that as artists it’s kind of our job to alter people’s perceptions for the better by reflecting the world back to them through the lens of our art. This is me doing that, as pretentious as that sounds.
Born and raised in a small town near the Chesapeake Bay, Lou Wilham grew up on a steady diet of fiction, arts and crafts, and Old Bay. After years of absorbing everything, there was of fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi she was left with a very serious writing/drawing habit. Leading to a need to tell stories through art and writing. These days when not daydreaming up new characters to write or draw, she can be found crocheting, making bookmarks, binge-watching whatever catches her eye, and chasing her Basset Hound named Sherlock.
You can find more about Lou by visiting HERE