Back in September (about the time I should have been sending him my part of this Q&A), J.M. Gulmire stopped by with a Guest Post, “Shaping Smiles with Kay-9 The Robot Dog,” giving a little BTS about the book I posted about this morning. Last week, I finally got around to sending the questions that have been rattling around in my brain since then–and he was gracious enough to get the answers back right away, so I can talk about this charming book a little bit and bring you this post. I hope you enjoy.

Why don’t you take a moment to introduce yourself to the readers, and tell us about your path to publication?
Sure sure. Well, I’ve been a storyteller for about 300 years now, it feels like. About a dozen years ago I started querying agents. I submitted mountains of work as I kept writing during this period, and got some great responses praising my work but no takers. I usually received comments about how great my stories are but that they’re not what agents are looking for.

I fell in the “too different” category. That tends to happen when you live with elves and have conversations with your dog.

So last year, the elves and my dog demanded to read my books in book format and that drove me to test out self-publishing.

My first title, “A Vacuum for my Birthday” hit #1 in its genre on amazon and since then I’ve released two other books that have all become Amazon bestsellers.

In addition to writing, your other big artistic endeavor is claymation. What kinds of things have you learned from claymation that have helped your writing—and vice versa?
I love swimming in clay. When I decided to self-publish a little birdie told me that marketing is super tough and that I’d have to do something different so I decided to practice making shorts so I could create my own book trailers. I grew up on Will Vinton and always had a strange obsession with claymation and stop motion work.

Claymation is super tough. The elves lent me some play-doh and I started writing scripts. Script writing helps get right to the action. It keeps things moving and filming reminds writers that timing matters. Thankfully I’m now actually working with clay, which doesn’t dry out as fast!

On the opposite end, writing has helped me realize my characters and bring them to life onscreen. The shorts I created for my “Kay-9 the Robot Dog” trailer were so fun to make, even when the clay took on a mind of its own.

So every book I’ve read for the MG audience about a kid who creates a robot/super-computer/etc. focuses on the end result—and the creation (or most of it) happens “off screen” or in the literary equivalent of a montage. But you don’t take that approach—the book is almost all about the creation-stage. Was that a conscious choice on your part to depart from the norm, or was that just the way it came about?
That was a pure choice. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

One of my elves asked me to get them a robot dog book, but I couldn’t find one. Worst of all, most of the robot books were all about the robot’s experiences instead of its creation.

I was overly aware of this while writing “Kay-9.” Thankfully the subject was so fun and my dog offered a few suggestions because I love finding untold stories. That old saying, “every story has already been told” or something like that was created to be proven wrong. I think Mark Twain or some old timey author started that rumor just so people would work harder to make something new.

There’s a recurring theme (at least I think there was) about what makes a good parent running throughout the book. Frequently it’s Ryan’s mother telling/reminding him something like “I’m your mom, of course I’m going to ____.” Was that something you set out to layer in or did it just come up organically and you decided to run with it?
I’m so glad that came through. Yes. Raising a house full of elves and critters, I know how often little ones need to be reminded that they are supported by their family, especially their parents.

I also hoped that the children who read “Kay-9” would feel more connected to their parents through Ryan’s relationship with his mom, and how important his connection with his dad was even though he was gone.

What was the part what was the biggest surprise about the process of writing Kay-9? Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”?
I found myself spellbound at how desperately the book seemed to want to be written. I would sit down and write and it poured out so well and so fast that I had to slow down and stretch my fingers to keep from losing my head. I didn’t want to rush it but knew that I was on to something.

This is typically where I ask about what’s next for an author, but your next is already here—tell us a little about Monster Camping Trip.
Yay. Thank you! “Monster Camping Trip” is my third best selling Amazon new release.

This one didn’t exactly know what it wanted to be called. The original title was, “Too Many Kids” because it’s about the ups and downs of being part of a big family, but it’s also about how families support each other even if they’re a little crazy at times.

This one sets Ava on a search for a mysterious cryptid that lives in Wisconsin. She learns about the legend of the hodag and ends up going on an adventure with her twin brother in search of it on their family camping trip.

And there’s no end to writing with me. I plan to release my fourth book, “Keku’s Mission,” in September. It’s my Lord of the Rings, but with all animals and a lot less wandering through the forest because the animals are small and can’t go as far. Imagine Frodo as a girl toad who is on a mission to find a plant that will heal her friend who is sick.

All of my books are about overcoming the odds and the importance of supporting others and being supported. They all have jokes and silly situations in them as well, because I don’t like cough medicine but laughter (and pineapple juice) are the best cure for everything.

Thanks for your time and participation! Thanks also for introducing me to Ryan and his friends/neighbors!
THANK YOU so much!! I love writing and am always happy to spend time giving my manuscripts time to cool off. LOL

Readers, go check out all of Gulmire’s books at Amazon!
A Few Quick Questions