Welcome, friend! A few months back, Lindsey Bakken had shared her favorite indie recommendations on the blog. Today, I am chatting with her about her YA Fantasy, The Invisible Circus.
Get to know the author: Lindsey Bakken
Welcome back, Lindsey!
So glad to be here!
I’m a Midwest girl—I grew up in ND and moved to MN for college, where I’ve stayed since. I work as a creative consultant, which mostly involves writing for large and small companies. I feel really blessed that I fell into a career centered around words—I’m literally always typing something, so I’m just waiting for the carpel tunnel to kick in 🙂
My dearest cat Franklin and I started post-college life in a one-bedroom for four years, where we hosted a lot of parties with our friends. Luckily, most of these friends have stayed in the area… having a support system makes all the difference when writing books and questioning my sanity/skill.
Two summers ago, I met the love of my life. So Franklin now has a father and I have an amazing partner who supports my writing dream.
What inspired you to write this book?
Normally, ideas come to me through daydreams. Like, just picturing a scenario I find interesting or want to happen in real life. I call these my “mental movies” because I can create anything in my mind, it’s just TBD if there’s enough passion to create a real book out of it. With The Invisible Circus, I knew I had to give the story a chance to grow.
I’ve always been drawn to YA, but I like to bring a spin to things that I haven’t seen before. They always say “write the book you want to read!”
This specific plot called to me because I wanted to mix magic and mystery. Though there are fantastical undertones throughout the story, I really wanted to bring magic to the “real world.” What I mean by this is that my book doesn’t have all the tropes that mass-market books do. The characters aren’t heroic or perfect, they’re reflections of average people doing their best in a setting I’ve always found interesting—the circus. I don’t know where my infatuation first started. Possibly Dumbo. But Water for Elephants kicked it up a notch.
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
I started this book during the pandemic, and I fell in love with the story—knocking it out in a little under three months. Of course, with beta reading, editing, and all the fun stuff, it took almost two years to have it in a good enough spot to share! Now that it’s polished and pretty, I can’t wait to see what readers think.
Who would enjoy reading your book?
If you enjoy a tangible, real world that’s slightly more magical, then the romance and adventure in this book will steal your breath! It’s a unique mix of genres that fits the young adult audience. But adults are welcome, too!
It’s great for fans of The Greatest Showman’s flashiness and those who loved That Dark Infinity for the layers of characterization and experiencing life on-the-go!
Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?
I love this scene between Mikey and her faux-father because it shows a tender, vulnerable side of our main character and the sweet side of the stoic mentor, Chewy:
Chewy is more than happy to take me home. I invite him inside and pour myself some champagne while he rubs his eyes. I can tell he wants to go to sleep, but I’m feeling uncharacteristically needy and don’t want him to go.
I make small talk until he calls it a night. “What do you want to talk about instead?” I’m more begging than asking.
“Sleeping. It’s three in the morning.”
I’m perched on the edge of my bed, balancing the champagne flute like it’s the most important thing in the world. He sighs and crosses the room to take it from me. He puts it on the nightstand and gently takes off my shoes. His large fingers fumble at what requires delicate practice, but he tugs the straps off and finds a robe from the bathroom.
Chewy releases a large sigh, setting the robe on the bed next to me and moving to leave. “Put that on and go to bed.”
These little moments of care warm my otherwise frozen heart. “Chewy,” I choke out. He swivels back to me and I run over to hug him. “Thank you.” I don’t mean to, but I cry. He gives me a tight squeeze and eases up to leave, but I trap him there by nudging closer.
After a long while, he pats my head with a big, warm hand. “It’ll be okay, Kid.”
The Invisible Circus is the first of a trilogy. Can you tell me more about the series and your vision for it?
Definitely! There’s a vast array of characters, each with their own quirks and problems. With each book, a vital new character will be introduced. In book two, I won’t spoil who he is, but this new fella gets his own point of view. In book three, we’ll add another fierce, fun female into the mix. These extra pairs of eyes add important observations and layers to the circus world.
As Mikey, our main girl, grows in her powers, new challenges arise within her community and the world at large. The meteor strike that gave Mikey her gift is not the only meteor strike. And as these attacks grow more frequent and casualties rise, the world is in grave danger.
Experience first-hand how each character faces the coming doom and reacts to the circus spotlight in the time being. It’s really a shift, throughout the series, from the tangible rewards of performance to those more important. It’s survival instead of showmanship.
What is something you have learned on your author journey so far?
Just keep trying! Being an author, especially a self-published one, is a game full of constant learning. It can be hard, but it’s infinitely rewarding to create a book full of people that didn’t exist before! What a magical, beautiful thing to do.
This is my fourth book. I’m always doing things through trial and errors, but my confidence grows with each one. I tell myself that if I could do it before, I can do it again!
Another favorite mantra: I don’t know how to do this, but I know I can figure it out.
What’s the best piece of advice you have received related to writing?
You can’t edit a blank page!
The Invisible Circus
YA Contemporary Fantasy, 2022
The world as you know it, but with a dash of the fantastical.
When Michelle (Mikey) leaves home to work a circus job for the summer, she dreams only of shaking the depression that haunts her. But she gets more than she bargained for after a freak accident leaves her with the power to turn invisible.
Desperate to carve a future for herself as a performer, eighteen-year-old Mikey must learn to control her dark emotions and mysterious gift. But not everyone is glad to have a new performer, and Mikey must balance being “other” in a world dominated by flashy promises and hidden secrets.
Between a suspicious death no one talks about, guys vying for her attention, and her boss’s hidden agenda, Mikey has her work cut out for her.
As her life and power spiral out of control, she’ll have to choose carefully who to give her loyalty—and love—to.
Content notes include mental health, mentions of suicide, mild substance use.
Book Excerpt from
The Invisible Circus
I tap my temples, trying to get myself under control. I can’t quit. Quitting is my first instinct. It’s what everyone wants and expects me to do.
I have to fight the discomfort if I want to be treated with respect and feel better about myself. But how can I battle something that I can’t see? The grief for my father hangs around me, an invisible fog that grows closer and occasionally relents. I can’t control it. Some days are so foggy that it’s hard to breathe.
After a few hours, Chewy calls my name. I rustle some branches to get his attention, then resume my ball at the base of a tree. He leans against the closest one when he finds me, waiting for me to speak. He’s patient like my father was, and that breaks what’s left of my heart.
I think I’m at a loss for words, but I finally say, “I have to leave the circus.” Defeat and shame color my movements, my slouch. I’m giving in far sooner than I expected.
“What happened?” Chewy asks. He’s concerned, and I know he can see the remnants of my breakdown. He stays a careful, comforting distance away but leans forward as if he’s ready to provide his warmth if I should need it.
As he waits, the sky goes from blue to black. The stars are out, but the air is heavy and the moon missing. With all the hubbub about the meteor shower, I look for a sign that something special is up there. Save a twinkling star, there’s no movement. If these space rocks do have supernatural abilities, it makes my limited worldview even smaller.
I like that. The fact that I, curled up on the floor, am just a small piece of a much bigger, more elaborate puzzle. It takes the pressure off. I’m not that important.
Chewy looks off in the distance, still as a statue.
The air, already heavy, threatens to suffocate me.
I gasp to get more.
There’s a whirlwind around me, tightening, even though I can’t see anything. Chewy’s light eyes finally jerk up. He points above us and squints. I can’t hear what he says next. His eyes widen and he runs toward me.
He’s a few feet away when the pressure builds until it’s unbearable. There’s a flash of light, a crack, and I’m thrown into darkness.
***
Bright lights surround me. First red. Then white. Almost like a Christmas party. There’s a shape of someone. More than one someone? Flashes of light and feet fill the slit in my eye. It hurts to keep them open, and I worry they’ve been taped shut.
I can’t feel my body or hear anything. A light warms my face, probes behind my eyelids.
Then the sound barrier breaks all at once, and deafening sirens fill the space between my ears. A large shape to my right yells at me to hold on. The voice tickles me and itches some part of my memory, but it means nothing to me.
Other voices tumble together in one long mumble.
Annunciate, I say, but my mouth doesn’t move.
I search my head, but there’s nothing. Not this large man’s name. Not my own name. It’s blank.
A finger on my wrist. “She’s still with us. We don’t have long.”
She? Me?
Wheels squeak, and my body jerks. I move my feet to help, to walk to wherever we’re going, but my eyes fade to black and I can’t tell if I’m making any progress. Someone curses. “Is she alive? What happened?”
“Back up! Everyone back up!”
“Is she dying? Please, God, no. Don’t let her die!”
It grows quiet. No one will answer if this unfortunate girl will live past the night.
Interested?
Find The invisible Circus on Goodreads and IndieStoryGeek. Here is the buy link.
Thank you for hanging out with us today! Connect with Lindsey on her website, Instagram and TikTok! To get updates about books, along with bookish entertainment, sign up for her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/hBGjfX.
If you are an indie author and would like to do a book excerpt, check out my work with me page for details. Check out other book excerpts here.
Cover image: Photo on Unsplash
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