So I had a chance to sit down (virtually) with J.M. Aucoin the other day to talk about the release of his new historical adventure, Honor Among Thieves.  It was a fun hour and I wanted to share it with you.  Please give a very warm welcome to him and be sure to check out his books and his blog using the links below the interview.

Nan:  J.M. Aucoin – thanks so much for taking the time to meet with me today! It’s great to be able to sit down in real time and talk with you.

J.M. Aucoin: Likewise! Thanks for having me.

Nan:  So your new book, ‘Honor Among Thieves‘, officially released Tuesday. You’ve got to be excited. Can you tell us a bit about the book?

J.M. Aucoin:  I am! This book has been a long time coming. ‘Honor Among Thieves’ is a 17th Century historical adventure, taking place in France about two decades after the French Wars of Religion came to a close, and about ten years before the Musketeers were a thing. In the book we follow Darion Delerue, a former soldier turned highwayman, and Jacquelyna Brocquart, a lady-in-waiting for Queen Marie de Medici. Darion and Jacquelyna are both thrown in a political plot to undermine the crown. Their actions could throw France back into civil war. I also mix historical events and figures with my fictional plot, so folks looking for some history lessons will get that, too.

Nan:  So clearly lots of fun and some hard work for you as a writer as well! As you mention, ‘Honor Among Thieves’ is a historical adventure and your Jake Hawking series is also a historical. What draws you most to particular periods in history? What makes you love the 17th century, for instance? And how do you embody the things you love most about the time in the characters you create?

J.M. Aucoin:  I’ve always been a big fan of the swashbuckling genre. I grew watching reruns of Guy William’s Zorro, for instance. So I tend to be drawn to periods where carrying a sword was popular. The 17th Century falls into this category pretty easily. My love for the Three Musketeers know no bounds!

As for characters, I try to mix and match the traits of my favorite characters and hopefully come up with something relatively new and exciting. I want the characters to feel real and be memorable and have readers wanting to keep following their lives. Giving them a sword is an added bit of entertainment for me and ups the fun factor for readers, too.

Nan: Well, you’ve certainly succeeded on both counts with ‘Honor Among Thieves’! So if you could live back in that time period what do you think you’d be doing? Would you try to become a Musketeer? A pirate? Or would you end up being something more prosaic like a blacksmith or an innkeeper?

J.M. Aucoin: I think a musketeer. I’m an awful swimmer so I don’t think being a pirate would be all that great. Also the life expectancy is pretty bad… though their pension plan is pretty rocking. Hmm… But yea, definitely a musketeer. I dig the clothing. I dig the dashing. The serving the country. Swords, fight and carousing. Sounds like a blast!

Nan: Sounds like a perfect plan. I’m afraid, since I’m blind as a bat with no manual dexterity, I’d be best off as an innkeeper or a bard. Either way, I’d be telling the tales of all you more adventurous types!

Now I know you are a fencer yourself and you’re active in SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). When creating the fight scenes – which were nicely choreographed, by the way — did you and your swordsmen buddies ever test out the fight scenes in the book in real life? I only ask because if I were a fencer, it’s something I would totally want to do, just to check for realism – and for fun of course! In fact it occurs to me that I might need to hire you and your friends to vet the fight scenes in my upcoming fantasy series!

J.M. Aucoin: Sure! We work for cheap, too.  Haha! I’d say the fight scenes in my book are a bit more dramatic than a real-life sword fight. Along with studying and practicing historical swordsmanship, I’ve also studied stage combat, which is choreographed fights you’d see in the movies or in live theater. I add a bit of realism to the moves and in the injuries of my fight scenes, but overall I’d say I’m writing something closer to stage combat than a real duel. It’s more entertaining that way. Real sword fights would be brutal, bloody, and lacking the emotional punch I’m going for in my stories.

Nan: Makes sense. And the emotional punch is definitely there! You mention in the backmatter of the book that a great deal of the backdrop of ‘Honor Among Thieves’ was drawn from actual historical events. How do you choose the real-life events that you wrap your own fiction around? What kinds of events do you gravitate towards and why?

J.M. Aucoin: So ‘Honor Among Thieves’ revolves around a visit from Don Pedro de Toledo of Spain. He’s there to try to work a double marriage with France as a way to unite their two countries and turn France against the Low Lands. I chose this period because I wanted to write a 17th Century French swashbuckler, but I didn’t want to overlap with The Three Musketeers. At least not right off the bat. So I turned back the clock. From there it was just reading a bunch of history books and seeing what was happening during then. I tend to gravitate to moments in history that aren’t necessarily major turning points, but smaller moments that I can picture my characters being a part of. Moments that might be turning points in their own lives. Political schemes, even small ones, are pretty good starting points for adventure novels.

Nan: Interesting. And a whole lot of work, but obviously well worth the effort! Darion Delerue, your hero, is a character of remarkable depth and substance. How did Darion develop? What was his genesis and what sorts of questions did you ask to get you from that first seed of an idea to the well-developed fully-fledged human being he became?

J.M. Aucoin: So I’ve always felt a kinship to d’Artagnan from The Three Musketeers. The young upstart with a combative personality but a good heart. I’m also a big fan of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s Captain Alatriste series. In those books, Alatriste is a Spanish sword-for-hire who gets wrapped up in a bunch of different plots. So my starting point for Darion was to combine the two. We get the young, prideful personality of d’Artagnan with the quiet resolve of Alatriste, and then some of his own original traits. But he’s basically the imaginary lovechild of d’Artagnan and Captain Alatriste. As for getting the depth, I’m not really sure, honestly! I just tried figuring out basic stuff like what his profession was and how/why he joined a band of highwayman. And that led to more questions about his past, so those holes needed to get filled. But for the most part I think Darion wrote himself.

Nan: I love it when that happens! You were definitely writing in the sweet spot. I think he would make both d’Artagnan and Alatriste very proud parents! Although I wonder who would have worn the baby sling…

J.M. Aucoin: I’m gonna say d’Artagnan, though I can see Porthos and Athos babysitting a lot!

Nan: Whoo hoo! Good news indeed. And where’s the love for Uncle Aramis? I think he would have made an admirable babysitter… er, playmate.

J.M. Aucoin:  Aramis is too busy womanizing all the noblewomen of France to play uncle seriously… though he might use baby Darion to meet women? Who knows!

Nan:  I can definitely see that.  The perfect chick magnet.  Now… Without giving any spoilers, what does the future look like for Darion and crew? Will we get to read more of Darion’s adventures?

J.M. Aucoin:  We’ll definitely see more of Darion, Peppin, Jacquelyna and Lecroix! I have the first four books more or less lined out in my head but am hoping there’ll be more than that. There’s no shortage in good historic moments and schemes for Darion & company to get involved in. Things are going to get pretty hairy for them.

Nan:  And now, I want to switch gears just a bit. As you know, I first became a fan of yours from reading the Jake Hawking stories. Anyone who has even limited contact with me knows I’m a HUGE pirate nut, so reading the Hawking adventures was and still is great fun for me. Are there more Hawking adventures on the horizon? I admit, I’m pining a bit for Jake – he’s been away at sea too long.

J.M. Aucoin:  I definitely want to do more Hawking stories, and longer than short stories. Maybe something more in the novella range. My plan is to write about three or four Hawking books and then do a Little Queen spin off for a few titles.

Problem is I have more ideas than time to write. If I could just make this darn fiction writing a full-time gig I could bang a Hawking and Darion book out a year, I think. One day, perhaps.

Nan: Well, I hope that day comes sooner rather than later! Is there anything else in the works that we can look forward to – that is when you either invent a time machine or find a way to clone yourself?

J.M. Aucoin: Outside of Darion and Hawking, I’m also world-building for a fantasy series and also have a pretty cool idea for a steampunk series. The latter has me really excited, so I might start doing some research for that while I work on the next Darion book. Maybe I’ll give it a go in the fall or whenever I inevitably hit a roadblock with the next Hope & Steel novel.

Nan:  Awesome! I can’t wait for whatever you serve up next.

J.M., thanks so much for agreeing to meet with me today! It’s been a lot of fun getting into your head! I can’t wait to buy my very own copy of ‘Honor Among Thieves’! Having had the privilege of reviewing the book before its official release, I can say truthfully that I highly recommend it, as I do the Jake Hawking stories as well.

J.M. Aucoin: Thanks for having me!

Nan:  The pleasure was all mine! And because no interview would be complete without a little shameless promotion – to learn more about Mssr. Aucoin, be sure to visit him online at the links below. Now go, my readers! Scurry! Be off with you to Amazon to buy your own copy of ‘Honor Among Thieves’ – you’ll want to say you’ve already read the book when it gets made into a Hollywood blockbuster!

Links to J.M. Aucoin:

http://jmaucoin.com/

Honor Among Thieves on Amazon

https://www.facebook.com/JustinMAucoin

https://twitter.com/JMAucoin_Writer

It has been one of those weeks.  Lots of pressure at the EDJ (Evil Day Job), my daughter brought home what my pop would have called the galloping crud (horrific cold), and passed it first to her father and then to me.  AND I’m working on a revision of a novel when I’d rather be writing the SHINY new idea I have.

But wait.  It gets better.  Husband is working this afternoon, so child, who is still sick and STILL stumping around on her broken foot, has no way to get home from school other than to walk.  Now, it’s not terribly far – a little over a mile – but she IS sick and her foot still isn’t completely healed.  But I work 35 miles from home and there was no way I could take off early to pick her up.  I felt guilty, she looked miserable when I dropped her off this morning, but there it was.  We were both going to have to deal with it.

Then, at 2:35 (about the time said child would have started walking home), as I’m sitting in my office, I notice this sound overhead.  A sound like demons from a variety of hells are trampling across the roof of my building along with their pet wildebeests.   I stand up, go towards the windows at the front and see that the skies have opened up and rain is falling like a recreation of the biblical flood.  All I can think is that my poor baby is walking home, sick, feverish, with a broken foot… IN THE POURING RAIN!

Clearly I am The Worst Mom Ever.

But I’m caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.  I could not have left work early, nor could I have kept her home from school just because she might have to hoof it.  So for a full hour (until she called to tell me she was home), I sat and stewed about it, lost productivity, and felt huge amounts of working mother guilt.

Kind of like when I finally find an hour free of other people’s obligations and I realize I can sit down to write.  Suddenly, I’m wracked with guilt about not taking the laundry out of the dryer or addressing those Christmas cards (from last year) or weeding the garden or walking his Admiralship.  So I sit in front of my lap top and dither.  And fret.  And wring my hands.  Well, okay, I probably don’t actually wring my hands, but you get the point.  So my hour of writing time dwindles to nothing and not only do I not get much writing done, I don’t get any of those other tasks done either.

The thing I need to learn is that feeling guilty never gets anything done.  You make the best choices you can, and then you just need to commit to whatever it is you’re doing at that moment.  Instead of wringing my hypothetical hands, I could have been doing something that would have made a difference.  Today, that would have been earning my paycheck.  Other times, I could have finished a chapter.  As it was, I got nothing accomplished besides aggravating my ulcer!

As it turned out, the child is smarter than I give her credit for.  She found a friend whose mom offered to drive her home.  She was tucked up in the house before the rain even started.  So I worried and felt guilty for no reason at all.

I’m a mom – so I suppose I’ll always worry.  But next time, I’ll leave the guilt monster out in the rain.

Illegitimi non carborundum!

The Geek in her natural habitat: participating in HallCon at GeekKon

Sorry for being away for so long.  Between an illness, getting the girl-child ready for 8th grade, the girl-child breaking her foot, and preparing for GeekKon, it’s been a heck of an August.  But what a way to end the summer (GeekKon, that is, not the foot-breaking thing).  The picture is of me, a stranger we met, and my dear friend and fellow author Susan Wachowski, participating in HallCon.  This was on Sunday in the afternoon, and if we look all wrung out, it’s because we are.  The picture was taken just as we found a spot on the floor while waiting for a panel to start, giving our poor aching dogs (and I’m not talking about Nelson) a welcome rest.

And in case you’re not familiar with cons, HallCon is basically just what it sounds like… where you find a spot on the floor along the wall while waiting for panels to start because you’re too damn tired to stand.  You meet the most amazing people that way.  I’ve had conversations with authors, actors, and wonderful, friendly and interesting strangers doing just that.  Then there’s LobbyCon, which is the same only different. 🙂

So I spent three fabulous days totally geeked-up in lovely Madison, WI, surrounded by my Nerd Herd – hundreds (thousands?) of people who are exactly like me, who grok what I grok, who speak every dialect of nerdy fandom.  It was glorious.  Sue and I attended a slew of panels on writing (props to the highly talented author Alex Bledsoe), some costuming panels, wandered the vendor hall and artist alley, belly laughed through the hysterical panel called “Who’s Line Is It Anime?”, and basically reveled in being part of a rarified atmosphere that was steeped in geekiness of every flavor:  Steampunk, Anime, SF, Doctor Who, fantasy, Star Trek, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings… on and on.  Sheldon, Leonard, Raj and Howard should have been there, they’d  have grokked it too!

My Fellow Nerds: Howard, Raj, Leonard and Sheldon

But now I’m back.  Back at home.  Back at work.  Back to being a *gasp* norm.  It feels stifling.  Kind of like wearing a Victorian-era boiled collar.  I feel oddly disingenuous, as though I’m pretending to be someone I’m not and waiting for the other norms to find out and stone me.  Well, okay, they probably wouldn’t stone me, but they might discontinue my gainful employment.  Then again… one  never knows with norms.

I have this almost unconquerable desire to wear my favorite G-shirt (Geek T-shirt) to work.  You know, the one that says:  Reality is a crutch for people who can’t handle role-playing games.  I want to talk incessantly about the new Doctor Who (the awesome Peter Capaldi) and these totally cool steampunk goggles I’m saving up for and how amazing urban fantasy author Melissa F. Olson was to meet in person (you’ve GOT to read Dead Spots, like, today)!  But if I did, most of the people I work with (with a few exceptions, and you know who you are!) would cock their heads like confused puppies and stare at me funny.

Say what? (Image Courtesy of C-Monster at Flkr Creative Commons)

It’s such a bummer being all geeked-up, back here in the world of norms.  So I’m planning my next trip into Con-Land.  WindyCon is in November.  That’s even local enough that I don’t have to book a hotel – although I might anyway.  Being there, in the middle of it all, being part of my “tribe”, is so rejuvenating that I want to soak up every minute of it.

So who is your tribe?  I’d love to hear about it!  Do you get to spend quality time with them?  If not, I highly suggest you find a way to do so!  That feeling of connectedness, of being completely understood and accepted, is worth more than gold.

Until next time,

Illegitimi non carborundum!

What routines are trapping you from living your life more authentically? I challenge you to read this, then go out and break free!