Engelmann Marries Fiction and Fact
in The Stockholm Octavo

An exclusive Authorlink interview
with Karen Engelmann, author of The Stockholm Octavo

By Ellen Birkett Morris
December 2012

Designer and Author Karen Engelmann has constructed an elaborate and visually compelling tale in The Stockholm Octavo. Fictional and historical characters interact against a backdrop of love, magic and political intrigue. She sat down with us to discuss the process of developing the book.

AUTHORLINK: When and why did you decide to pursue writing fiction?

ENGELMANN: As a writer, I went from poetry directly to longer work, and the first piece I attempted to write was a memoir. I found myself wanting to stretch, mangle, or amplify the truth beyond recognition to make the story better and by the time I got to the fourth or fifth draft, it was definitely fiction. It was so much more fun to make things up! I had found my form.

AUTHORLINK: You’ve worked in design and this book is a well designed on many levels. What elements do design and fiction share?

ENGELMANN: At the core, both design and fiction aim to communicate. They both seek to guide a participant to a particular place (emotional, physical, intellectual) and evoke a response. I think the two are teamed up beautifully in TSO, which is a very satisfying experience for me and hopefully for the reader.

AUTHORLINK: We live in a world where people are used to visuals and being able to interact with their media. How do you think the Octavo works for readers, both visually and as a narrative device?

ENGELMANN: The Octavo provided me with a narrative framework and was the transformative force for the main characters, so it was a crucial part of the novel. Being able to show the cards, the Octavo spreads, and the various forms of the Mrs. Sparrow’s “Divine Geometry” take the reader deeper into the book; in a sense, “seeing is believing” — the Octavo as a philosophy and cartomancy practice feels more “real” even though it was created for the novel.

AUTHORLINK: You have an mfa from Goddard College. What did the program do for you? What weren’t you able to get through the program that could only be gained in other ways?

ENGELMANN: The MFA provided me with many tools like text analysis, understanding narrative and voice, creating structure, etc. and wonderful colleagues and advisors. More importantly, the MFA program at Goddard has a motto: “trust the process.” This was not something I had been willing to do before, and my novel was a true test. I had to learn to trust myself, and be willing to embark on the mysterious journey that any creative endeavor demands. After the MFA, publishing taught me an enormous amount about the business of books, the value of rigorous revision, and the art of editing. That process took as long as the degree, and was just as valuable.

AUTHORLINK: Where do stories begin for you? character? plot? image? first line?

ENGELMANN: They’ve begun in all kinds of ways, from names to objects to smells. This is where “trust the process” comes in! Being open to inspiration is the key.

AUTHORLINK: Tell me about how you developed the premise for the book.

ENGELMANN: TSO began with three main ingredients: Gustavian Stockholm, folding fans, and the number eight. This was a fairly strange mix, but I was willing to see where they led. The period itself (late 18th century Stockholm) is full of drama, so I used history as the basis of the story. The eight emerged first as eight distinct characters, one of them a rabid collector of folding fans. The narrator, Emil Larsson, and the structure using the fortune telling spread emerged slowly — they didn’t arrive fully until the revision process.

AUTHORLINK: How long did it take you to write The Stockholm Octavo?

ENGELMANN: The first draft took two years. It was my MFA thesis, which means I was doing a great deal of additional critical writing alongside the creative work. Revision took another two and a half years. There were down periods during the entire process, and I was also working part time as a designer/copywriter, so I wasn’t writing full time — but I was always thinking about the book!

AUTHORLINK: Tell me about your research. What resources did you draw on when developing the novel?

ENGELMANN: The research started with reading books about the 18th century from a broad European perspective, and I read what books I could find about Sweden during the reign Gustav III. There was more information online in Swedish, and two friends supplied me with books in Swedish about the period, which were superb if slow reading. Then I got into the details: loads of books and articles about folding fans, herbology, art, music, literature, drama, playing cards, fashion, furniture, architecture, and so on from the 18th century. I also spent time in museums looking at period rooms, paintings and objects. Research was a real education in itself.

AUTHORLINK: Talk about the joys and challenges of blending fact and fiction.

ENGELMANN: I wanted to create a plausible historical setting for the reader to inhabit and remain true to the larger events of history, but I also wanted the freedom to create a totally new narrative, so the fictional and factual do a kind of dance in this novel. There are readers who want historical fiction as close to the archival record as possible, but TSO is not that kind of book. It may need a label on the cover: “Warning: Contents Highly Fictionalized!”

AUTHORLINK: What challenges did writing this book pose and how did you overcome them?

ENGELMANN: TSO is an intricate construction, with a large cast, loads of historical detail, and a puzzle of a plot. Keeping all the parts straight while creating a narrative that was clear and well paced (at least, I hope it is clear and well paced…) was the work of revision and excellent editing. Adding in the graphic elements of the Octavo and the Divine Geometry was another element to contend with, which took hours of design time. Overcoming all of these issues was really the old B.I.C rule in action: Butt In Chair.

AUTHORLINK: How did you secure your agent?

ENGELMANN: I secured my agent the old fashioned way: a well-aimed and professional query. I spent about five months writing queries, and made sure the agents I approached represented authors that had some connection to my work. I set a weekly goal and kept a record of responses. During this period I also attended a pitch slam (which I highly recommend) and got some very good response from that as well. Eventually I got two offers of representation, met with both, and made a decision that was absolutely right.

AUTHORLINK: Who was your editor? What was it like working with him or her on this book?

ENGELMANN: My editor was Lee Boudreaux at Ecco. Her enthusiasm, belief in the book, patience and artful editing made all the difference. In fact, the entire Ecco team was fantastic. The editing process was Socratic, in that it was based on questions (What does this mean? Where are you going with this? Why is he/she doing this? What the #$% is going on? Can you explain? Have you thought about this?) It was not always easy, but it was always respectful. There were many, many cuts made — much of it historical detail that bogged down the story and was unnecessary to the reader but I thought was cool. There were at least two scenes and several characters I loved that got cut, but none of the writing was lost, and none of it was wasted effort. It all served the narrative and I just might insert some of it in another project someday.

AUTHORLINK: What advice do you have for first time novelists about writing?

ENGELMANN: Always think of your reader — they are offering you their precious time and energy, so give them everything you’ve got. Find honest and careful response for early drafts. And be patient; it’s better to take the time to craft a very good work than rush to get a mediocre piece into the world.

AUTHORLINK: What advice do you have for first time novelists about breaking into publishing?

ENGELMANN: Be persistent and keep working. This is my debut novel, but it took me several drawer novels, years of writing groups and an MFA to hone my craft to the point where it was competitive in traditional publishing. And remember that every published writer has a unique story — sometimes it takes six weeks, sometimes sixteen years to get that yes. Either way, you have to write your way there.

AUTHORLINK: What are you working on currently?

ENGELMANN: I have a really terrible first draft of a novel I am ready to tear apart. It is a more contemporary setting (New York in the 1980s) and greeting cards are at the center of the story (love them or hate them, they are really fascinating.) I started it as soon as the first draft of TSO was completed, and worked on it on and off when the TSO manuscript was in for revisions. I cannot wait to get back into it fulltime.

Karen Engelmann is a writer and designer. She was born and raised in the American Midwest, then moved to Sweden after completing university studies in drawing and design. The city of Malmö was home base for eight years, but she now lives just north of New York City.