I posted about the novel earlier, and now I have the wonderful opportunity to talk about the Kickstarter campaign and the novel with the author, K.R.R. Lockhaven. Lockhaven is no stranger to the readers of this blog (and I anticipate that will continue to be the case). I hope you enjoy this and decide to contribute. This is a selfish request on my part–I want this cover on my shelves. Even if you’re not that interested, kick in for my sake, will you?

Here’s another quick look at the camptaign

And now…a few quick questions about The Mrs. Covington’s Kickstarter:

I think the big question that everyone who’s read your twitter feed and/or your last two books has—and the curiosity will only grow once they’ve read this one—what’s with your fascination about the capybara?
The easy answer is that I just love them. But the deep, philosophical answer delves into how capybaras behave, and how they can be seen as examples that people might want to emulate. You may be shocked to hear this, but I’ve never actually seen a capybara in real life (yet!). But from what I can gather, they are the kindest animals on the planet. I love seeing pictures of a monkey riding a capybara’s back or a bird standing on a capybara’s head. Capybaras have a very chill vibe and seem to get along with everyone who isn’t trying to eat them. I just really dig that vibe and think it has a ton of crossover potential with the cozy fantasy genre.

You’ve talked in various places lately about cozy fantasy, but what I don’t think I’ve seen is you talk about why you wanted to write one now? Is the draw toward cozy for you as a writer different than the draw for you as a reader?
I’m currently in the middle of writing a fantasy series called The Azure Archipelago. There are two books out now, with the third to be published early next year. Those books have been described as having cozy elements, but not being cozy stories, and I totally agree with that assessment. I found while writing the series that I got the most enjoyment out of writing the cozier parts. I love writing characters getting along and being nice and supportive to each other. So, like many writers, I started formulating an idea when I probably should have put it on the backburner until the series was finished. But the idea grew and grew and forced its way to the front of my mind, so I wrote it.

I think the draw toward cozy is the same for me as a reader or a writer. There’s just something about characters being decent to each other that checks some kind of box for me.

It’s got to be quite the balancing act trying to decide what parts of contemporary “bar culture” (for lack of a better term) to import into your fantasy world, and what would be a step too far. I’m only going to mention nachos as an example because you’re using them in your pitch for the book—were there things you thought about and then rejected because it would be a step too far? Similarly, why were nachos used? I’d think part of it would be from how low-tech they are—really easy for any generic fantasy world to make. Are you just a big nacho eater in the first place? (I hope so, because I’m pretty sure you’re going to have to be in the future, they’re part of your brand now)
The Occam’s Tortilla Chip explanation is that, yes, I just like them. And if I have a brand, I’m glad it includes capybaras and nachos! But, yeah, I find that the balancing act is always difficult in my writing. I have a silly side that just doesn’t care if a fantasy world could possibly have nachos and/or karaoke, but my more serious side wants to make sure that, at the very least, the things in my books are believable. Walking that line is tough, but my editor on this project, Nathan Hall, really helped me ground the story. There were several things that he found to be a step too far in terms of silliness, but as far as innovations in a fantasy world, I stuck to just nachos and karaoke. He helped me show these things being invented organically and believably.

This is similar to my first question, but far-less-tongue-in-cheek. I know (and am relieved by it) that I wasn’t the only reader who had to look up ciguapa when you introduced the species to your Azure Archipelago series. Of all the various fantasy races out there to choose from, what about them made you want to feature them? Now that you’ve started using them, are they going to be around as much as the capybara?
Because my books are set in a very Caribbean-like world, I wanted to have a fantasy race based on Caribbean folklore. I loved the name “ciguapa,” but the actual ciguapa of folklore ended up being far from the ciguapa people you’ll see in my books. My writing often has a multiverse element to it, and originally, I wanted to have ciguapa as a misunderstood race from another world that interacted with Earth from time to time. This evolved over time until the beautiful ciguapa people I write about were born. If I ever write something that isn’t in the same world, I’ll probably leave the ciguapa behind to live in peace.

Can you take a minute to talk about the cover art for this book and the artist behind it? You’ve always had good covers in the past, but…wow. This is a giant leap forward.
The cover artist is Daniel Wekellis, who I met at my one and only book signing when he attended with his wife, Lilly from the Fiction Fans Podcast. My wife and I hung out with them that night. They gave us two bottles of wine from their little home operation that had these wonderful labels that we came to find out Daniel had made himself. I either asked him about doing cover art sometime during that night, or after they had gone home. My memory of our night out is a little fuzzy. He agreed and I couldn’t be happier with the result!

The whole point of this Q&A was to help promote the Kickstarter campaign, so we’d better talk about it a little — How’s the campaign going (especially compared to what you’d expected/hoped)? What do you want people to know about the campaign that you haven’t already said?
At the time of this interview, it’s sitting at 57% funded with 75 backers and 18 days to go (72% with 92 backers and 13 days to go when I put the last touches on this post). To tell the truth, I really didn’t know what to expect. I hoped it would be one of those Kickstarter projects that gets funded in a matter of hours, but it appears I’m going to have to grind this one out. I’m optimistic, though. In the coming weeks, it’s going to be featured on several blogs and a local newspaper, so I hope that can build a little momentum. The main thing I want people to know is that there are many different options available—from eBook to naming a capybara in the story—and that I don’t think they’ll be disappointed if they join me on this journey. I am SO thankful to the 75 backers who have joined so far and look forward to getting across the finish line with them!

Why did you decide to go with Kickstarter this time around? Are you thinking about using it in the future (or does that depend on how the next couple of weeks go?). What have you learned about crowd-funding that you wish you knew a month ago?
I’ve wanted to try a Kickstarter project for a while. I think it’s a good idea to diversify as much as possible, and running a Kickstarter seemed like a good way to put my work out there where it may not have been before. I figure if people like Mrs. Covington’s, they might be interested in my trilogy, and vice versa. When (I’m using the power of positivity) this project gets funded, I think I’ll have to strongly consider doing another one someday.

I wish I would have prepared a little better. I wish I would have fought the relentlessly positive, don’t-worry-this-will-get-funded-in-a-matter-of-days side of my brain a little harder. I didn’t reach out to book bloggers/YouTubers/podcasters (besides the people I knew really well, like you) until the campaign was 10 days in! That kind of air-headedness is probably best avoided. I also thought that the “Project We Love” label was the golden ticket to success. It turns out, unfortunately, that it isn’t. When I got that news, I was jumping up and down thinking that I had been blessed by the Kickstarter gods and that it would be smooth sailing from there on out. It’s hard to determine how much of a boost it gave me, but it didn’t catapult me to the finish line quite yet.

Thanks for your time—and I do hope to see that campaign reach the magic number so we can see Mrs. Covington out in the wild!
Thank you for this interview and the wonderful continued support you’ve shown me throughout my writing career! I really can’t express enough gratitude to you