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Raymond Parish, author of The Last Step
What inspires you to write? I created the Hank Anderson mystery/thriller series in the pen name Raymond Parish at the intersection between my years of writing nonfiction as a mental health professional and my lifelong love of mysteries. As I was completing the first Hank novel, Overnight Delivery, a second plot came to mind. I…
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Asha Nyr, The Mistake and the Lycan King
What inspires you to write? My novels are exposure therapy for the physical abuse, psychological abuse, and sexual assault I survived when I was a child. Years into therapy, I learned about exposure therapy, which is when you gradually expose yourself to the element of your trauma in order to desensitize yourself. For example, if…
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Annika Pampel, author of Death of a Nightingale
What inspires you to write? I tend to gravitate toward true stories or tales with a core of truth. The stickier the better for me. If it’s something that challenges my own moral codes or questions of ethics, I tend to be intrigued. I just want to know more, and that usually leads me to…
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Ali Ashhar, author of Across the Shore
What inspires you to write? I consider myself an inquisitive soul who’s seeking the definition of life, and everything coming in its way. Being an introvert, my aura and art is often honed by inquisitiveness I follow in solitude. What have you written so far? I am the author of two poetry collections: Mirror of…
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Enid Langbert, author of All Shook Up
What inspires you to write? I write to understand and to remember. Thoughts pass quickly. At least, for me. Even if I try to “ponder.” It is not until I begin to explore an idea on the page, wrestling with it, re-writing it, re-thinking it, that I begin to reach any real clarity. When I…
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Elizabeth Harlan, author of Becoming Carly Klein
What inspires you to write? In a word, LIFE inspires me to write. Early on, I discovered that expressing in writing my impressions and feelings deepens and enriches my experience. I’ve always wanted to make living and writing companion pieces of my existence, and becoming a professional writer enabled me to forge this alliance. When…
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It’s a Black Queer Thing: Four Black Queer SFF Novels
Happy Pride Month and Juneteeth! If you regularly follow Waking Writer, you know that I’m an indie author of fantasy, paranormal, and sci-fi novels that center queer Black women. I’m hyper aware of how invisible Black queer authors are, whether indie or traditionally-published. But we’re out here, y’all, if you look hard enough. The fact…
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Calen Walker, author of Frost Rising
What inspires you to write? I started out writing after I came back from deployment overseas. I would write short stories and change certain characteristics or certain decisions so the outcome would be something different than what really happened. It was a coping mechanism. Only a few very close friends were ever allowed to read…
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Verlyn Flieger, author of Spiderweb Alley
What inspires you to write? Enjoyment. I get pleasure from words and combinations of words. And if they find a shape and turn into story, so much the better for both of us (me and the words). Why did you choose to write in your particular genre? I chose fantasy because it frees me from…
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LaToya Lawrence, author of Inherent, The Birthright
What inspires you to write? I have a natural tendency to write. There is an energy from within that stimulates me into action. It is also a passion and joy that comes from it. When did you first consider yourself a writer? As a youngster. At ten years of age, I had a counselor who…
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By Berneta L. Haynes
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