Interview 107 – Boston Metaphysical Society Author, Madeleine Holly-Rosing, Part 3

Welcome back for part three of our chat with Madeleine Holly-Rosing, author of Boston Metaphysical Society.

Read Part One here.

Read Part Two here.

 

 

Airship Ambassador: What was the publishing schedule like for you?

Madeleine Holly-Rosing:  All of this has stretched out over quite a bit of time. The outline for the entire six issue series was written quite a while ago, then I wrote each issue based on when my artist was available and when I had the budget for it. As I began to use Kickstarter, launch dates became my hard deadlines. However, I do several drafts then send the script to beta readers, do another round of rewrites then send it to the artist. As art comes in, I continue to hone the dialogue until everything is ready to go to the letterer.

AA: That sounds a bit like the process for animation – record the dialog first then create the artwork to match. Although in your situation, you are able to more finely tune the union of both. This is more than just a text story, it’s a graphic novel. Who is on your team for art, color, and lettering? How did you meet and choose them for this ongoing project?

MHR:  For the original series: Art by Emily Hu. Coloring by Gloria Caeli and Fahriza Kamaputra. Lettering by Shawn Aldridge and Troy Peteri. For The Scourge of the Mechanical Men, the art, inking, and coloring was done by Gwynn Tavares. Lettering by Troy Peteri.

 

I met all of them through mutual friends.

 

AA: It’s interesting how our network of friends and associates can lead us to the right people. You have launched a Kickstarter for the next chapter. You’ve done this before, successfully, too.

In fact, you’ve done a number of successful Kickstarters that now you teach other people how to be successful in crowd funding campaigns.

MHR:  Yes, the Kickstarter for the new book will launch on Jan. 31 and run until the end of Feb. I also teach and do crowdfunding consulting as well as written the only Kickstarter book for independent creators. It’s aptly titled, Kickstarter for the Independent Creator. I started teaching at Pulp Fiction Books and Comics three years ago and used that to develop the book which is now in its second edition. I’m honored that it’s gotten so many good reviews and helped a lot of people navigate the process.

AA: Definitely a resource anyone planning on doing a crowdfunding campaign should read. On such a campaign, on any platform, what is one thing that should be done, or avoided?

MHR:  Have a fan base and a mailing list to them before you launch. Don’t think just because you have launched the world will come. Running a crowdfunding campaign is a second full time job. When you launch, don’t tag everyone you know repeatedly on every Facebook post. It’s really annoying.

 

AA: Spam is not a good thing. If someone likes “X”, then they’ll like Boston Metaphysical Society. What is “X”?

MHR:  League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

 

AA: I loved the graphic novels and the movie, too. What do you think puts this story on someone’s must read/have list?

MHR:  It’s different. There are no superheroes, just a world of flawed people who reach beyond themselves to make a difference and sometimes fail.

 

AA: These days, that seems to be a good formula for success. Heroes and villains aren’t the two dimensional characterizations of yesteryear. If Boston Metaphysical Society were made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?

MHR:  This is a total fantasy but, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Don Cheadle.

AA: Good choices! You have written some other stories, too. What are some of them that readers can add to their reading list?

MHR:  Boston Metaphysical Society: Prelude is an anthology which has seven short stories and novellas based in the BMS universe, including Steampunk Rat which is the fan favorite. I also have a BMS short story called Here Abide Monsters in the Some Time Later anthology from Thinking Ink Press. And I have five sequential art short stories (Non-BMS) coming out this year in various anthologies. They are:

 

• The Airship Pirate. A cute short story that will be part of the Rum Row (Think 1920’s Speakeasies on airships.) On Kickstarter in 2018.

 

• The Marriage Counselor. A story about two Lovecraftian old gods trying to save their marriage. Part of the Cthuhlu is Hard to Spell, Ain’t It Look for it on Kickstarter in Sept. 2018.

 

• The Masque of the Red Death. A story inspired by the Poe classic. Part of The Edgar Allen Poe Project Look for it on Kickstarter in March 2018.

 

• Saturday Night Fever. A story set in The Enyes Anthology about a family who has a long history with monsters. On Kickstarter in 2018.

 

• The Scout. A story that deals with bees and pesticides. Part of The 4^th Monkey To be published in 2018.

 

Last but not least, Kasai: The Homecoming. I was hired by Evoluzione Publishing to write a four issue mini-series about a half-human half-fire demon pro-wrestler who returns home to Kyoto on a forced vacation only to face a greater challenge then she ever did in the ring – her family.

 

It’s my first superhero comic and I love writing it.  The first issue will be available on Kickstarter starting Jan. 17 and running until Feb. 15. As of writing this, it is over 40% funded and climbing!

 

AA: Someone’s reading list just got longer. What has your overall publishing experience been like?

MHR: Exhausting. And I’ve made lots of mistakes, but that’s how you learn. I’m primarily self-published though I have short stories that were traditionally published.  The traditional publishing is easier on some levels though getting in is the hard part. Self-publishing is quite the endeavor as you have to handle every aspect of the business plus produce material.

 

Good lessons in every endeavor. Including persistence, which means waiting while we break here in our chat with Madeleine.

Join us for the conclusion when she talks about more lessons, writing, and other interests.

Until then, keep up to date with news on the Boston Metaphysical website, and get your copy to read here.

THE STEAMPUNK ROAD TRIP MANUAL

By Professor Elemental

 

So, you’re considering a Steampunk road trip are you? Jolly good. The open road, the wind in your hair, the bugs in your teeth,* the locals staring at you when you stop somewhere for a tinkle. All jolly good fun I’m sure, but HOLD ON. What if it goes horribly wrong? It’s all fun and games until someone’s home made mechanical wings get caught in a revolving door or you end up stranded in Swindon without your disco trousers.**

You need help. And advice. The kind of advice that only a seasoned traveller with miles on the road and bags under his eyes can give you.

Here then, is everything you need before embarking on the road.

Destination

It’s worth having somewhere to go, otherwise you’ll drive until you run out of petrol or drive into the sea- but before embarking, do check that the place that you are going is worth your while. Make sure you know someone putting on the steampunk event or that you’ve have heard it’s good from someone else. Ensure that, if performing or selling stuff, the event has got the basics in place. Getting to a convention to headline a show and then finding that not only do they not have a sound man, but are also lacking a sound system is not a lot of fun**.

If, after careful research, I find my destination sounds a bit rubbish, I tend to go there anyway- but I take extra care to ensure the journey includes some lovely roadside attractions*** and some luxury when I arrive. You can’t guarantee every steampunk event is good, but you can make sure you sleep somewhere with nice pillows.

Companions

I quite like people, but can usually only stand them for short periods of time before they begin to annoy me. And I’ve been told it’s rather bad form to throw a companion out of a moving car because they are telling you a really long story about their gall bladder operation. That’s why I tend to travel alone****. You might be different. Maybe you have friends whose company you enjoy over long periods. Hang on though, think carefully: Are any of them prone to random acts of flatulence? Have they ever expressed a liking for the music of Robbie Williams? Do they enjoy eating pickled eggs wherever they go and always carry their own jar? Have they got a really weird laugh? If the answers to any of these questions are yes, well, personally I think it might be time to move house and find some new friends, but outside of that, for goodness sakes don’t travel about with them. Make sure you thoroughly vet all travel companions for general decency (or indecency, depending on your preference).

Car games

Are shit. Don’t bother.

Good Music

That’s more like it- certainly essential for any journey from epic adventure to a walk to the corner shop. I could use this section to direct you to my patreon, (https://www.patreon.com/professorelemental ) where for a simple dollar a month you get access to 12 compilations of great tunes I’ve got in my collection. However, this isn’t the time or place to promote myself or indeed my own collection of excellent travelling music all available at reasonable prices at www.professorelemental.com. No, that would be crass. You make up your own mind as to whether you choose my music or something not as good.

Equipment

If you are a cosplayer or a band on a budget, then you are probably better at packing a car tightly then any of us will ever be. Get those wings folded down, the corsets strapped in and the top hats on top, keep to the essentials- usually just a couple of tea pots is enough for a small group, so long as you have enough hot water and milk. Personally I travel so lightly that I frequently forgot half of my outfit, leaving me to make desperate begging posts on facebook for trousers, like some kind of Steampunk tramp. Which in many ways I am.

Road Food

Gone are the days when all there was to eat on the road was a dry egg samwich or a pickled egg from that weird friend’s jar. These days, you can get a decent thai curry on the m23 or Vegan platter in a little chef*****. There is no excuse for bad eating on the road, which is a shame, because the combination of boredom, tiredness and journey length makes eating bad food so damned tempting. That’s another adventage of travelling alone, no one can see your secret shame when you devour an entire box of Cadburys celebrations meant for a family of eight, in a single sitting.

So there we have it. Keep safe, take lots of breaks, avoid the pickled eggs and don’t forget your trousers. My whole year is spent bouncing from one steampunk shindig to the next and they are always worth it, so make sure you go somewhere new this year. I’ll see you there. Well, either there on in the car park asking random strangers if I could borrow their trousers.

*Motorbike road trips only

**True story

***Strange backwater home-made raccoon zoo if in America, National trust park if in England

****Well, that and the fact that I am a solo performer and none of my friends really ever want to see me perform Cup of Brown Joy ever again.

*****This might not be true, but none of you are going to go to a Little Chef****** to tell me otherwise.

******American readers, Little Chef in this instance refers to a very 1980s chain of roadside cafes where, if you were a lower middle class kid in the 80s, your dad might sometimes take you as a ‘meal out’ and you could eat egg and chips amongst dead eyed lorry drivers. It does not refer to a dwarf in a chef’s hat with a tiny little roadside café inside a spotted red mushroom, however adorable that might sound.