Welcome to the first of what will hopefully become many interviews with some of the truly kickass indy author folks that I know. Today, we're talking to Amanda Mabry, author of the recently released short fiction collection Darker Daze. Without any further guilding the lily, let's get to it!
-Tell us a bit about Darker Daze
Darker Daze is collection of short stories that share a theme of
suffering, told from various perspectives. Each story is gut gripping in it’s
on way and is meant to give voice to the voiceless. The fact is, not everyone
gets a happy ending. That’s real life. A lot of people get the extreme opposite
of happy endings and their stories are important too.
-So what made you decide to get into
this tilting at windmills that we call writing?
I have always loved writing but I strayed and stumbled back
to it. Throughout my teaching career I was using my writing without even
thinking about it. I wrote stories, and songs, and even a whole curriculum.
Then, when I was struggling with being a special needs parenting I discovered
the special needs blogging community. From there I found fiction writing
prompts and then a group and BAM, here we are.
-If you could hang out with any
other author, living or dead, who would it be?
My
knee jerk answer would be Stephen King but honestly, it would be Lovecraft.
They both have a writing style the is so like the way my mind works. I would
love to really interrogate them and find those few key details that separate my
writing from theirs. (Theirs being amazingly phenomenal and mine being...mine.)
-What’s your normal writing process like?
Where do you usually write? Sitting in a castle tower room lit by one candle as
the breeze fetchingly blows your hair back? Starbucks?
I
write when and where I have the opportunity. Sometimes, but rarely, that is
actually sitting at my desk in my home office. We’ll call it a castle for
clarity. But, more often it typing while curled up on the couch or in bed.
SOmetimes, it is using a voice recorder or dictation while in my kayak..or in
the shower...or grocery shopping. My life is literally so crazy busy I will
take whatever I can get!
-What’s one thing that people should
know about you?
The
one thing people should know is that I cannot think of impressive or
interesting facts about myself under pressure.
-When you’re afflicted with a severe
case of ButtOnSofa, how do you break yourself out of it and get back to work?
Is
this similar to DepressionInBed? If so, I usually hit the point of panic where
I realize I risk losing everything I have worked for and start working on
digging myself out of the hole I created.
-When your brain decides to be a
jerk and let the evil Kobolds of Doubt whisper in your ear that, “YOUUU
SUUUUCCCKKK!! YOU WRITE CRAAAAAP!!!” what do you do to get them to shut their
filthy mouths and go away?
Wait,
you can do that? I mostly just argue with them and try to write over their
annoyingly high pitched voices. Seriously, I live with Imposter Syndrome daily.
I am pretty sure what is epic in my head is crap in theory but I keep trying.
-What fictional characters would you
put on your Zombie/Monster Hunting team?
Buffy
Ann Summers, Dean Winchester, Scooby Doo, Rupert Giles, and Piper Halliwell.
-If you could spend a two-week
vacation in a fictional universe of your choice, which one?
I
really WANT to say the Hellmouth but that would probably be a super stressful
vacation, no? Let’s go with Avalon.
-Anything coming up soon from your
lovely brain and writing fingers?
I
am currently working on two pressing projects both due out this fall. One is a
Cinderella reimagining. Cinder Baby paints poor Cindy as a desperate victim of
the cruel Prince Charming. Will the Stable Boy seal or fate or change it? This
short story will be in OWS Ink’s 2018 Anthology, Class & Ashes. Also, I am
working on rewrites for Soul Purge. It was slated for release this Spring but
we found a glaring plot hole that had to be rectified. So, it will be epic and
it will be released during my Birthday Bash Bonanza in October.
-Anything else you’d like to plug?
I
would like to thank all the wonderful people at the academy...wait...no...um,
all the people at OWS Ink who help make dreams come true every day and who
promised me a puppy for shouting them out!
*whispers*
Also, visit me at http://authoralmabry.com to find all my social media
channels and keep up with my consistently inconsistent workflow!
Well, there you have it, folks. Many thanks to Amanda for letting me put her in the lukewarm seat today. Hehe. Go check out Darker Daze in spots such as Amazon, Smashwords, and Goodreads, and be sure to follow Amanda on all your favorite social media apparati.
