Do you ever get blocked in the middle of a story? How do you get around it?I usually take a break and write something unrelated, like a short story or a poem. Going back to it with fresh eyes usually helps me figure out where it’s going.Do you listen to music while you're working? What are some of your favorite bands?
I don’t usually listen to music while I’m composing the first draft, but listening to mindless pop music helps me focus while I’m editing or rewriting. What do you like to do when you're not writing?I am an animal hoarder in training, so when I’m not writing I’m usually walking a dog or cleaning out a litterbox or guinea pig cage.
If you weren't a writer, what would you be now?Miserable.
If a ten year old child approached you and said, "I want to be a writer when I grow up," what would you say to him or her?I’d high five them and say, “So do I!”
Tell us about your latest work. Wow us with it.My latest published work is entitled Star Pack, and it’s about werewolves in space. A planet of shape shifters learned how to travel between the stars as a way to escape the tyranny of the moon, and they wind up on Earth going, “Wait, have we been here before? These people seem to know about us.”
What were you most afraid of as a child? Has that changed?Deep water scared me half to death, and it was everywhere in upstate New York where I lived. The first time I visited a commercial beach I was blown away by how not-scary it was to go swimming.
I still don’t like it. When you can’t see the bottom, anything could be down there.
If you threw a dinner party for your literary heroes or inspirations, who would you invite and what would you serve?I would invite Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, and Joyce Carol Oates. And maybe it’s mean of me, but I’d be tempted to invite EL James in the spirit of Dinner For Schmucks.
I don’t know what I would serve. I’d probably hire a caterer, bc I would already be freaking out over just having those people in my home.
What are some of the themes and questions of your stories? Are there any themes that recur throughout your work?
My themes tend to be about surviving the past and questioning the status quo. Star Pack takes an innocent-eye perspective towards social mores like organized religion, pop culture, and environmental protection as a way for me to think about them from an outsider’s point of view. Its main characters all have their own past troubles that they’re trying to escape by traveling through space, but they figure out pretty quickly that wherever you go, you take yourself along.
How old were you when you wrote your first story?Maybe six? Then I started submitting and collecting rejection slips when I was 16, and I published my first story at 35. It’s not a profession for people in a hurry.
Best-selling author of Wake the Dead! On Amazon Kindle here!
All Artwork and covers of my works by William J. Kenney & Carlos Cara
All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2014 unless otherwise noted.
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