I was lucky to get an interview with Jacquelyn Hagen, the author of The Wickwire Watch, and a finalist in this year’s #SPFBO9.

Why should I buy your SPFBO9 entry?
It’s a gaslamp fantasy about a boy who finds himself being hunted by dark spirits, only to find that his best chance of survival means joining up with a small band of fugitives. If you’re interested in mystery, adventure, a bit of steampunk and horror, and you’re a fan of character-driven stories, you should definitely give this a look.

What got you into writing? And how long have you been doing it?
Like many of my fellow indie authors, I’ve been writing since I was a kid. It began as short stories and skits recorded on cassette tapes, then turned into poetry and fanfiction, and eventually screenplays. I’ve always loved stories but it took me a while to finally find the right format through which I could be a part of them.

Why did you choose to write fantasy?
I love fantasy because there are really no boundaries. You’re not limited by any conventions or traditional parameters. You can make up anything, dream up anything, and make it come to life in a setting of your own choosing—without it raising too many eyebrows, if any. There’s wonderful freedom in fantasy. As for my own series, I decided to set it in a Victorian-like setting simply because I’ve always loved that time period, and throwing magic into the mix was an immensely exciting prospect for me.

Which other author has had the biggest influence on your writing?
C.S. Lewis. I think he’s a masterful storyteller, not only in his Narnia series but in many other works as well, such as The Screwtape Letters and ‘Til We Have Faces. His writing can be incredibly insightful and pack a punch, but it can also take on a wonderful whimsical quality. He was also a man who had a great sense of humor, and it shows in his work. I think a good deal of stories these days take themselves far too seriously. Even though he often dealt with heavy subjects, Lewis never stumbled there, in my opinion.

What challenges did you face during the writing or publishing process, and how did you overcome them?
I began writing The Wickwire Watch in 2009. It wasn’t published until 2022. It went through a lot of drafts and revisions in between, and I spent a lot of time studying the craft of writing as well. I also wrote three sequels. But I never quite knew what was going to happen with my work. I flirted briefly with trying to get myself a literary agent—got a few requests for manuscripts—but it ultimately never went anywhere. I might have kept pushing in that direction, but the ultra-competitive world of traditional publishing never really appealed to me. I much preferred writing for myself, and for friends and family. It wasn’t until 2021 that a good friend encouraged me to look into indie publishing, and I’m so glad I did. But in those 13 years of working on the series, I thought many times of giving up. I thought no one would really be interested in it. Ultimately, I wouldn’t have made it to this point without the encouragement and support of my friends and family. And of course, the characters wouldn’t leave me alone. They nagged at me incessantly to discover the rest of their stories and write it all down. In a way, they left me no choice!

Do you have any tips or an author app, tool, or resource that you can really recommend we try?
The #1 author tool for me has been craft books. The Elements of Style by Strunk & White. On Writing by Stephen King. Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland. The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes. There are so many great books out there. I always have at least one in my rotation, and there are so many more I want to read! Find the ones that work best for you and never stop studying them.

And now it's time to yank out your Palantir! Let’s talk about the future. What new projects are you working on?
My Palantir shows the next book in The Riverfall Chronicles—book four. It’s slated to be released in spring of 2024. After that, I’ve got three more Riverfall books to write to finish up the series.

Do you have any dreams you’d like to share?
I have one major goal left to accomplish in life; to have a hobby farm in the mountains (possibly Tennessee). I want pygmy goats and chickens and miniature donkeys (yes, they’re a thing!) and llamas and whatever other animals strike my fancy. And I must always have dogs. The dream of living in the mountains is still perfectly viable, but by the time I get there I think I might be too old to be hauling sacks of feed and bales of straw. Oh well. The dream is still nice to have.

Anything else you would like to say before we close?
I have been so blessed by SPFBO9. It has introduced me to so many fantastic people—readers, fellow authors, reviewers—who have been so supportive of me, even though I’m still quite a newbie in the publishing world. My deepest thanks to everyone who has reached out, given my books a chance, and best of luck to everyone in the competition.

I wish you the very best in the SPFBO. I hope a lot of readers discover your writing.
Thanks for doing the interview.