Author Q&A: Jamie Pacton's world of 'whimsy, imagination and ... - Madison.com
Wisconsin author Jamie Pacton loves nothing better than taking some nugget of history and incorporating it into her novels. This is certainly the case with her latest, "The Vermilion Emporium," a cozy, romantic young adult fantasy published in November. She'll discuss her novel during an event at Mystery to Me in January.
Q: Congrats on your new book. Could you start by talking a little about your background? You've had some interesting odd jobs on the way to becoming a writer.
A: Thank you so much and yes, although I've been writing stories since I was a child, it's been a long, strange journey to publication. I currently work remotely for Arizona State University as an English teacher, but when I started college, I wanted to be a brain surgeon or a marine biologist. Eventually, I pivoted away from that, ending up with degrees in English and minors in history. After college, while I was still writing, I worked as a Montessori teacher, nanny, pool attendant, art museum guide, pen salesperson and bookseller. Many of these odd jobs find their way into my books, and I learned a lot from them, which has helped in my writing career.
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Q: After college you went to graduate school, started a family, wrote for magazines and started working for universities online. When did you start writing full time?
A: Although I still don't write as my full-time job, I got serious about writing around 2013. At that time, I was balancing a lot between teaching, parenting and writing, but I had completed a young adult fantasy dystopia novel and sent it off to a contest. I placed as a finalist, and I flew out to Seattle for a writing conference. At that conference, I met agents, editors and other authors. This gave me the push I needed to complete more books. I signed with my first agent in 2015; then I signed with my second agent in 2018, for what became my debut novel, a young adult contemporary called "The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly," which published in 2020. My second novel, "Lucky Girl," published in 2021, and then my latest book, "The Vermilion Emporium" came out in November 2022.
Q: Do you have other novels planned?
A: Always. The companion novel to "The Vermilion Emporium" is called "The Absinthe Underground" and it will publish in winter 2024. It's a young adult fantasy novel inspired by the Belle Epoque and the "Posters of Paris" exhibit I saw at the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2012. I also have another unannounced young adult contemporary book publishing later in 2024 and many other projects in the works.
Q: "The Vermilion Emporium" is your first young adult fantasy book. What made you want to write fantasy?
A: I always tell people I'm a fantasy writer who stumbled into writing contemporary novels and found success there, but writing fantasy is my first love. I read extensively in the genre and I love building magical systems and creating worlds full of whimsy, imagination and adventure. I also love that writing in a fantasy world can allow you to speak about real-world issues, but in a way that allows readers to reimagine or better understand our world. Also, I just really like writing stories full of dragons, sword-wielding lady knights, magical curiosity shops, Fae kingdoms and epic adventures.
Q: Young adult fantasy has such strong and wide appeal for readers of all ages. Why do you think that is?
A: There's a lot of exciting work happening in the young adult fantasy space. Diverse books are being published there by authors from marginalized communities, which is hugely important and I think many readers appreciate books that can be both mirrors and windows for their own and others' experiences of the world (even in a fantasy space). Also, I think young adult fantasy can offer a fun escape. I still remember what it felt like to be 17 — a time full of potential, hope, worry and anticipation — and I love reading and writing about characters who are on the cusp of adult life and diving into adventure.
Q: Part of your dedication in "The Vermilion Emporium" is to the "Radium Girls." "Radium Girls" were female factory workers who painted radium on watch dials in the early 1920s using radium, and as a result contracted radiation poisoning. How does that tie into your novel?
A: Although "The Vermilion Emporium" is full of romance, magic and whimsy, the tragic story of the Radium Girls is woven throughout it. I originally started trying to write their story as a historical novel, but I found myself unable to let my characters die in such agony, and so I recast their story into the fantasy world of "The Vermilion Emporium." In my story, two misfit orphans meet outside a magical curiosity shop, where they discover the coveted and deadly secret to weaving starlight lace. I won't give anything away, but there's a direct correlation between where the starlight comes from and the toll it takes and the story of the Radium Girls.
Q: Beyond the Radium Girls is there any other history woven into "The Vermilion Emporium?"
A: This book is suffused with historical tidbits and inspiration. Just to name a few: One of the main characters is a photographer's assistant, so I did a lot of background research on photography in the 19th century for it. There is also an entire plotline inspired by the history of Venetian lacemakers who were kidnapped into royal courts in earlier (15th and 16th) centuries.
Q: Wisconsin comes up often in your books. Why is that and can you tell us a bit more about how it shows up in your stories?
A: Although I'm from East Tennessee, I've lived in Wisconsin intermittently since 1997. In my debut, "The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly," which takes place in the Chicago suburbs, my characters spend a day in Milwaukee, visiting the Joan of Arc chapel at Marquette University and hanging out by the lakefront. In "Lucky Girl," the characters live in a small town between Madison and Milwaukee, and they spend time in both cities. Wisconsin readers will recognize many familiar landmarks in "Lucky Girl," from Willy Street and Capitol Square in Madison to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Pfister Hotel. In "The Vermilion Emporium," Wisconsin is not directly mentioned, of course, but I drew inspiration from a small store in Fort Atkinson for both the title and the magical curiosity shop aspect of that book. It's my great honor to live and write in Wisconsin, and I love to share that with my readers.
"I still remember what it felt like to be 17 — a time full of potential, hope, worry and anticipation — and I love reading and writing about characters who are on the cusp of adult life and diving into adventure."
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