Please welcome Gwen Perkins!

Please welcome Gwen Perkins to our blog. I have had the pleasure of speaking with Gwen a few times now, and also the pleasure of reviewing her book 'The Universal Mirror.' The first in a series of novels. Here we can get to know Gwen a little more and find out about her life and future projects. You can also view my review of 'The Universal Mirror' which will be posted later. 

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

To tell you a little bit about myself, I live in Tacoma, Washington with my partner and our three children.  So far as writing addictions go, my sole vice is coffee as one might expect from a Northwesterner. The coffeepot rarely shuts off at the Perkins house!  I'm also fond of music while I write and frequently switch musical genres, depending on the scene that I'm writing.

I work in a local museum which is wonderful for ideas—I spend a lot of time listening to people tell stories and unearthing lost tales myself to share them with others.  (What a day job for a writer!)  My educational background is in military history.  I hadn't intended my education to complement my writing, however, I've found that it definitely enriches it.  This has been particularly true as I work on my second novel which focuses on more martial characters than the first.

Other than writing, what else are you passionate about?

History!  I love history, particularly biographies and I admit to a certain secondary love for what I call "tabloid history."  What I mean by that is all the sordid little rumors and quirky stories that are so prevalent in the past but that are so very rarely taught in school.  (Mind, I prefer that which can be verified to have some basis in fact!)  I relate well to people with flaws and learning this kind of backstory brings history to life for me rather than keeping it as something dry best left in a textbook.

I also love art though I'm not an artist and never will be.  On occasion, I do create glass beads (though I would not consider what comes out at the end art).  I also attempt to bake pies quite often (though again, I would not consider this baking).  All in all, I must admit that any crafting ability I possess only comes from an interaction with a keyboard.

Describe your novel in five words.

Love.  Revenge.  Betrayal.  Buy it.

Who is your favourite character and why?

I only get to pick one?

It would likely be Asahel though Felix comes a close second.  (If you pick up The Jealousy Glass in November, you'll see why.)  I love Asahel because he's flawed.  He's not handsome, he's not in good physical shape, and he lets people push him around.  In no way is he the typical fantasy hero and yet, somehow, he manages to find his own source of strength.  His story is one of learning to stand up for yourself.  I admit that it's a slow process for Asahel and one that will take him a few books to complete.

What are your current / future projects?

I have two.  The Jealousy Glass, the sequel to The Universal Mirror will be coming out in November.  I'm working on a third book to follow, tentatively called The Oracle Bones.  I'm not in love with the title so if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears!  (Though do remember, all of the books are named for artifacts.)

The other project that I'm working on is a bit mysterious and not quite ready to be revealed to the world.  I can tell you this, however—it's going to be amazing.  My co-creator, Wilson Fabián Saravia, is a brilliant conceptualist and we've been plotting across countries to craft a novel that will intrigue readers.  It's quite unlike anything I've ever even imagined before.

How did you decide on your book's title? 

This is a good question.  The title actually comes from a phrase in the book where one character tells another that death is the universal mirror.  What he means by this is that everyone, when faced with the possibility of their own demise, begins looking at themselves and their actions in ways that they had not done before.

Is there anything in your novel that would embarrass you if your Dad read it?

Not yet.  I guess I'll have to work on that for the next one.

How do you react to a negative review of your book?

Honestly?  I learn from it.  You know, I do read my reviews and I think about them carefully.  Not every reader will like the stories that I write.  No book is for everyone.  Perhaps there might be something wrong if one was, in fact, given how many different kinds of people are in the world.

When I read a negative review, one of the things I always remember is that this person cared about my book enough to take the time to write down something they felt about it.  Even if they hated it, that's an honor.  How much of our lives do we go about simply letting things slip through the cracks or not caring about the things that we read?  The fact that I've affected someone enough to where they felt compelled to put a pen to the page to tell people about the book…that's powerful and humbling for an author, whether the review is good or bad.  And I owe it to that person to take what they said very seriously and to see what I can learn.

On the flipside, I would add that I also learn from my positive reviews.  What am I doing right?  What characters do people love and want to see more of?  While I do have a story I need to tell, I admit that I can be coaxed into showing a little more of a minor character (cough-Felix) if I get an overwhelming amount of fan mail or comments concerning them.

Cartoon Gwen!

If I asked you to include the phrase ‘A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.’ Somewhere in your next book, would you?

Yep, why not?  As long as no one else has yet.  I'd hate to plagiarize.  (And I'm a sucker for in-jokes.  Unfortunately, I have a dry sense of humor so I'm not sure people realize it.)

Lindsay - I have a very dry sense of humor, so I think we would get on great!

Where can readers find you and more about your book(s)? Where can they purchase your book(s)?

They may visit my website!  http://theuniversalmirror.com

They can purchase the book online from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Powell's.  (In Kindle or a lovely paperback edition.)  

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Universal-Mirror-ebook/dp/B006VYHLNS

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Universal-Mirror-ebook/dp/B006VYHLNS

Chocolate or ice cream?

Lemons.

If you could have dinner with anyone famous, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

I guess if I had it with Teddy Roosevelt, I wouldn't have to provide the meat.  With Ernest Hemingway, I wouldn't have to provide the alcohol.  And with Dorothy Parker, the wit would be taken care of.  Plus, I'd love to see THAT three in a room together.  (And no, I'm not going to follow this up with a game of "Cliff-Shag-Marry."  But I'll let you guess at my answers.)