Patricia Loofbourrow is the author of the mystery steampunk novel The Jacq of Spades. You can check out her blog at PattyLoof.com or her other blog about self-actualization through Master Key. You can also find her on Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and so many other places talking about so many other topics. She keeps busy, but she found time to stop by Aeronautics Anonymous so that we could get to know her a little better!
Perkins: Thanks for joining us us! What is the first mystery you remember solving?
Loofbourrow: Probably one of the Sherlock Holmes ones.
Perkins: Do you ever skip to the end to find out or do you prefer the journey of getting there?
Loofbourrow: No, I don't skip to the end.
Perkins: I remember when The Sixth Sense came out, it was only fun if you or someone with you didn't know the twist. Do you think a mystery can still be entertaining once you know its secret, or has its luster been tarnished?
Loofbourrow: It's funny you mention The Sixth Sense. I didn't watch it until years later, and I thought it was great. Even knowing the ending, I enjoyed the dialogue and clues.
Perkins: I'm a sucker for spoilers, honestly. I usually always find out all the twists and turns but I don't care when the story is still enthralling anyway. What was your biggest surprise at the end of a story? One that really caught you off guard?
Loofbourrow: I loved the last episode of the Alias series. Did not see that coming. Sloane got exactly what he deserved. :) Too bad you had to slog through years of bad writing to get to it.
Perkins: But Alias was a masterclass in dropping clues. Everything was a clue. Not every clue led to a revelation or discovery that paid off, but everything was tinged with suspicion to keep you in perpetual mystery. It clearly kept you watching until the end, so it must've worked, or did you feel betrayed by the sensationalism of the perpetual twists?
Loofbourrow: It got repetitive. When Sydney needed to be successful she could fight through twenty men. When the plot needed her to be captured, one guy could overpower her. One thing I did not want is for Jacqui to be an action figure or the plot to be driven by fight scenes.
Perkins: What is your favorite steampunk "classic"?
Loofbourrow: In that time period I like Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea the best. The giant octopus. I loved the submarine, too. I'm a big fan of underwater stuff.
Perkins: I thought you'd say Sherlock Holmes. Maybe too easy. But that makes me wonder, aren't there really two kinds of mystery stories? The kind that have plots to uncover, usually about murder or a thief; and then the kind that create a sense of wonder and curiosity and unknown, which is certainly the case with much of Jules Verne's work.It's the difference between Law & Order and Lost, perhaps. Which style of mystery do you prefer?
Loofbourrow: I like both! But I think I'm probably more of a Lost writer - with hopefully much better plotting ... and a much more competently written ending! Argh, I'm still angry at what they did to Lost.
Perkins: Personally I refuse to believe the interpretation they are all dead. Outside of Alias and Lost, what's a good "modern" mystery you'd recommend?
Loofbourrow: I'm liking True Detective quite a bit.
Perkins:Did you think Season Two was as good as Season One?
Loofbourrow: Actually, I'm watching it with my son on HBOGO - haven't gotten that far yet.
Perkins: Well, I won't spoil it for you! Outside of film and TV, what sort of research do you do for your work?
Loofbourrow: I've researched the Mafia quite a bit. And last summer, I took the Summer of Darkness online course on film noir, which was very fun. Also, I've studied late Victorian and Edwardian manners, as befits a proper steampunk lady.
Perkins: What's your favorite bit of research that played an unexpected role in your novel?
Loofbourrow: Most of the stuff I learned about is film noir, really. It's been fun trying to reproduce textually in the novel things like distorted images through glass and lines of shadow.
Perkins: What was the key inspiration for your novel The Jacq of Spades?
Loofbourrow: A couple of sentences that came to me. :) I recently wrote an article about that very topic.
Perkins: I love those first couple sentences you referenced in the article. Why didn't you open your novel with that? Are you saving it? Or is it just for you?
Loofbourrow: Those are the opening lines to Part 6, actually. Got a few books to go to get there. :)
Perkins: I guess I'll have to hold my breath. Is there a favorite line from this one you can tease us with?
Loofbourrow: I'm fond of several lines in The Jacq of Spades; I think my favorite is, "Perhaps the villains took the day off."
Perkins: Very quippy. Describe your creative process for how you construct a story?
Loofbourrow: This is a mystery which spans a whole series, with smaller mysteries in each book. I began with the big mystery and went backwards.
Perkins: Once you know the ending do you plot out the clues ahead of time and where they will be found, or do you drop them in spontaneously as you write?
Loofbourrow: I've been doing both - the big clues, of course, are plot points, but for the minor stuff (foreshadowing) I've been dropping in as I write.
Perkins: If the series catches on, do you have an end point or could it just keep on going?
Loofbourrow: Well, actually, I'm writing a novel in another genre under a pen name about what happened to two of the characters who survive all this. It's set in another city, decades later. But to answer your question, I have an end point to this series, but there could certainly be another series. There are a lot of city domes to explore.
Perkins: Pennname?! Here I thought I was getting to know the real you. How do I know Loofbourrow is your real name? Now that I think of it, it does seem pretty steampunky...
Loofbourrow: LOL. Yes, it's my real name. My married name, actually. Whether that's a real name or not depends on how radical your feminism is ....
Perkins: I'll let the readers decide! Is your real life as mysterious as your stories?
Loofbourrow: Hardly.
Perkins: What can fans look forward to in the next installment?
Loofbourrow: Well, Jacqui has some serious problems here: the out-of-the-ordinary things she's done and some fairly bad decisions she made in the first book are coming back to bite her. I like to give my characters the consequences of their actions, and life as she knows it is beginning to unravel.
Perkins: Sounds enticing. I guess I'll have to keep my eyes peeled. Last and most important question: Matlock or Perry Mason?
Loofbourrow: Perry Mason. I actually have never seen Matlock. But I like Perry Mason. He's a good guy who believes in the people he's helping.
Alright future fans, that's it for this week! If you've got questions or follow-up for Mrs. Loofbourrow feel free to keep the conversation going below!
Loofbourrow: Probably one of the Sherlock Holmes ones.
Perkins: Do you ever skip to the end to find out or do you prefer the journey of getting there?
Loofbourrow: No, I don't skip to the end.
Perkins: I remember when The Sixth Sense came out, it was only fun if you or someone with you didn't know the twist. Do you think a mystery can still be entertaining once you know its secret, or has its luster been tarnished?
Loofbourrow: It's funny you mention The Sixth Sense. I didn't watch it until years later, and I thought it was great. Even knowing the ending, I enjoyed the dialogue and clues.
Perkins: I'm a sucker for spoilers, honestly. I usually always find out all the twists and turns but I don't care when the story is still enthralling anyway. What was your biggest surprise at the end of a story? One that really caught you off guard?
Loofbourrow: I loved the last episode of the Alias series. Did not see that coming. Sloane got exactly what he deserved. :) Too bad you had to slog through years of bad writing to get to it.
Perkins: But Alias was a masterclass in dropping clues. Everything was a clue. Not every clue led to a revelation or discovery that paid off, but everything was tinged with suspicion to keep you in perpetual mystery. It clearly kept you watching until the end, so it must've worked, or did you feel betrayed by the sensationalism of the perpetual twists?
Loofbourrow: It got repetitive. When Sydney needed to be successful she could fight through twenty men. When the plot needed her to be captured, one guy could overpower her. One thing I did not want is for Jacqui to be an action figure or the plot to be driven by fight scenes.
Perkins: What is your favorite steampunk "classic"?
Loofbourrow: In that time period I like Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea the best. The giant octopus. I loved the submarine, too. I'm a big fan of underwater stuff.
Perkins: I thought you'd say Sherlock Holmes. Maybe too easy. But that makes me wonder, aren't there really two kinds of mystery stories? The kind that have plots to uncover, usually about murder or a thief; and then the kind that create a sense of wonder and curiosity and unknown, which is certainly the case with much of Jules Verne's work.It's the difference between Law & Order and Lost, perhaps. Which style of mystery do you prefer?
Loofbourrow: I like both! But I think I'm probably more of a Lost writer - with hopefully much better plotting ... and a much more competently written ending! Argh, I'm still angry at what they did to Lost.
Perkins: Personally I refuse to believe the interpretation they are all dead. Outside of Alias and Lost, what's a good "modern" mystery you'd recommend?
Loofbourrow: I'm liking True Detective quite a bit.
Perkins:Did you think Season Two was as good as Season One?
Loofbourrow: Actually, I'm watching it with my son on HBOGO - haven't gotten that far yet.
Perkins: Well, I won't spoil it for you! Outside of film and TV, what sort of research do you do for your work?
Loofbourrow: I've researched the Mafia quite a bit. And last summer, I took the Summer of Darkness online course on film noir, which was very fun. Also, I've studied late Victorian and Edwardian manners, as befits a proper steampunk lady.
Perkins: What's your favorite bit of research that played an unexpected role in your novel?
Loofbourrow: Most of the stuff I learned about is film noir, really. It's been fun trying to reproduce textually in the novel things like distorted images through glass and lines of shadow.
Perkins: What was the key inspiration for your novel The Jacq of Spades?
Loofbourrow: A couple of sentences that came to me. :) I recently wrote an article about that very topic.
Perkins: I love those first couple sentences you referenced in the article. Why didn't you open your novel with that? Are you saving it? Or is it just for you?
Loofbourrow: Those are the opening lines to Part 6, actually. Got a few books to go to get there. :)
Perkins: I guess I'll have to hold my breath. Is there a favorite line from this one you can tease us with?
Loofbourrow: I'm fond of several lines in The Jacq of Spades; I think my favorite is, "Perhaps the villains took the day off."
Perkins: Very quippy. Describe your creative process for how you construct a story?
Loofbourrow: This is a mystery which spans a whole series, with smaller mysteries in each book. I began with the big mystery and went backwards.
Perkins: Once you know the ending do you plot out the clues ahead of time and where they will be found, or do you drop them in spontaneously as you write?
Loofbourrow: I've been doing both - the big clues, of course, are plot points, but for the minor stuff (foreshadowing) I've been dropping in as I write.
Perkins: If the series catches on, do you have an end point or could it just keep on going?
Loofbourrow: Well, actually, I'm writing a novel in another genre under a pen name about what happened to two of the characters who survive all this. It's set in another city, decades later. But to answer your question, I have an end point to this series, but there could certainly be another series. There are a lot of city domes to explore.
Perkins: Pennname?! Here I thought I was getting to know the real you. How do I know Loofbourrow is your real name? Now that I think of it, it does seem pretty steampunky...
Loofbourrow: LOL. Yes, it's my real name. My married name, actually. Whether that's a real name or not depends on how radical your feminism is ....
Perkins: I'll let the readers decide! Is your real life as mysterious as your stories?
Loofbourrow: Hardly.
Perkins: What can fans look forward to in the next installment?
Loofbourrow: Well, Jacqui has some serious problems here: the out-of-the-ordinary things she's done and some fairly bad decisions she made in the first book are coming back to bite her. I like to give my characters the consequences of their actions, and life as she knows it is beginning to unravel.
Perkins: Sounds enticing. I guess I'll have to keep my eyes peeled. Last and most important question: Matlock or Perry Mason?
Loofbourrow: Perry Mason. I actually have never seen Matlock. But I like Perry Mason. He's a good guy who believes in the people he's helping.
Alright future fans, that's it for this week! If you've got questions or follow-up for Mrs. Loofbourrow feel free to keep the conversation going below!