Hi Abigail, wonderful to meet you! Let's start with you telling me a little about yourself!
I live in Savannah, Georgia and I love the area, there’s so much mystery and magic here. Old cobblestone streets and Spanish moss in the trees, horse and carriage rides and graveyards that are hundreds of years old. I’m a wife and a mother (which is why I plan to write more than I actually write). And my hobbies are way too numerous (and messy) for the space I live in. I sew, and paint, and make things out of bone or bullet casings or junk, I scrapbook and junk journal, screen printing, and just whatever crafty nonsense pops into my head. I am absolute creative CHAOS! I’m also a huge reader! And a gamer.
Wow, a lot of talent Abigail! Can I say where you live sounds wonderful. What got you into writing?
Well, I’ve always wanted to write but honestly, I never trusted myself. I never thought that I would have a talent for it or mostly doubted I’d ever actually finish a full manuscript. I think it was my husband that showed me that I actually could. Once I got the idea for Tea With Death fully in my mind I was determined to stick with it all the way through.
What’s the main thing you love and hate about writing?
My driving force is the idea of touching someone else’s heart with my words. If I can touch just one person for real, to their core, then I will feel I have succeeded. I hate the time it takes. Not just the writing and editing but the publishing, printing, advertising. I have 0% natural patience. Any kind of patience I have is hard-earned and constantly worked for. I just happen to have fallen in love with a career that takes the most monumental patience and perseverance I could have ever imagined. (the Universe is kind of a d*ck)
I think every single writer, myself included hates that part, editing is always griped about! You're not alone Abigail. Who is the worst villain you’ve ever written, and why?
In Tea with Death, there is a poem called The Terror of the Threshold, in the poem a demon comes from hell to kill a small girl child. There is nothing more evil, in the world than to harm a child. The terror of the threshold is a phenomenon where a very spiritual person is, more or less, fought over by light and dark forces. This poem is based on real experiences.
What is next on your list to write/publish?
I have a series of small books that are in the works (think Edward Gorey!). I’m working on the 2nd poetry collection, that one will be- Let’s Eat Cake, it goes nicely with Tea with Death. Then the 3rd will be either, Dig My Grave or Find MyGrave. So that all three combined (years from now) will be- Tea, Cakes & Graves. I’m working, slowly, on dark dictionary-that will be a dictionary with only dark words and will have their definition, macabre use of the word, its origin, and a few language translations. It’s mostly a novelty but will be pretty cool. I have many other things I’m working on but my “want to” list is probably in the hundreds!
I love the sound of the dark dictionary, and your poem series sounds wonderful. Who is your favourite author, and why?
Neil Gaiman. He’s just amazing.
Are you as avid a reader as a writer? I definitely read more than I write. Now if I was actually completing all the projects I that I want to that would not be the case. But while I have young children literally crawling on my head (toddlers are crazy!!) my own writing is slow and only done in stolen little moments between the chaos.
What’s your favourite genre?
Historical fiction!
Do you listen to music when you write?
No, I don't. But I mostly write while doing other things. Like I have little notepads spread all over the house and in all my bags because I just write while I’m at the gym or making dinner, or rocking the baby, or driving (which is probably worse than texting and driving, eek). An Ode to Wine was written in its entirety at stoplights.
If you could interview any famous author who would it be and why?
Christine McConnell~hands down. Maybe a cookbook doesn't make her an “author” but I’m just crazy about her.
Tell me a secret that none of your fans know! Do you like to cook or perhaps only wear a certain colour sock!
I don't match socks, ever. Not mine, not my kid’s. I think it’s the most tedious thing in the world and I just refuse.
Tell me what your main character would say about you!
Probably just that I’m a closet eccentric, who’s waiting until I make enough money that I no longer care what people think to really let me freak flag fly
on a daily basis. Corsets, gloves, hats, full-on southern belle hoop skirts- the works!
That sounds wonderful, I'd dress like that too! Finally, any words of advice?
If you want to write- settle in for the long game and do not give up. I wish you the very best of love and luck.
Thank you, Abigail, for talking with me today, I'm going corset hunting now! To keep up to date with Abigail please follow her on the following links,
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