By Annette Trossello

In Vesper Strand’s Lady Killer: The Near Assassination of Lee Kitchimoto, the year is 2069 and the location is Liberty Island, created when “…the Ring of Fire lit up the world and caused that great split.” The world Vesper Strand has created is an interesting one. There are geishas, an oracle, and people with special powers. All the characters are unique. There’s Leela Matthews, a geisha with an interesting benefactor, Orion, a revolting oracle, and Mr. Martinez, a man from the main land. There’s also the title character, Lee Kitchimoto, a government liaison with blue prints for a controversial energy resource, the WHEEL. Not everyone wants to see the WHEEL built and one man has been sent to kill Lee. But will he be able to succeed with former mercenary and proprietor of Boji-tei (“Liberty Island’s sociopolitical hub”) Katerina Santiago on the lookout for him? The only way to find out is to order your copy of Lady Killer: The Near Assassination of Lee Kitchimoto on www.vesperstrand.com (an e-book version of Lady Killer is now available for $5 rather than the retail price of $12 for a hard copy).

Pulse sat down with Vesper Strand, a nom du plume for this Boxborough resident and Framingham State College student, to find out more about the story, her writing process, and what she’s working on next.

Although Strand always did well on papers in high school and college, she didn’t become interested in writing until recently. The idea for Lady Killer “…started off as in idea for a graphic novel.” A fan of the comic book stories Watchmen and Sin City, Strand wanted to create a graphic story that would “…get to you and make a mark inside you.” Unfortunately, while Strand could see the dark world and vivid, memorable characters in her head, she is not an artist and could not do the drawings herself. Though she initially attempted to work with artists, none of them produced quite the look she was going for. Plus, they all wanted commission for the work, something she wasn’t able to provide yet.

It was at this point that Strand decided to write down the story as a novel, to at least get it all down on paper. She then began to contact literary agents and publishers and see if anyone were interested. After about “20 rejections,” she decided to self-publish the book. Though she had some problems with the first company she worked with, she eventually found Infinity Publishing, a print on demand publisher that has been very helpful and reasonably priced.

She also recently found an artist friend to create the drawings for the book. Together they created a comic book featuring one of the main characters. The story is a memory of one of Lady Killer: The Near Assassination of Lee Kitchimoto’s main characters and it shows her sadistic nature. In April, they showed the book at Boston Comic Con. They hope to use the comic books to get interest and attention so they can eventually create a graphic novel.

Strand really enjoys the process of writing; she loves picturing what it would be like to do something that she would never get to do in real life. The most difficult part for her is the editing, because she finds it challenging to look at her own work objectively. This is why she welcomes comments and criticism from all her readers. She tries to write regularly, so if she knows she has Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off, Strand would say, “Dirty house be dammed!” and just write all day.

Her advice for other writers is to “Do your homework” when it comes to self-publishing companies and to not give up on submitting to agents and publishing houses. She adds, “Ultimately you are the one who has to be responsible for every aspect of your book; writing, editing, publishing, and marketing. AND you will have to be creative there too. Get ready to work.”