Author: ironfaerie

ONCE Mini Author Interview : Andra Dill

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We’re joined today by one of the author’s of ONCE… Andra Dill. Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions for us!

When did the writing bug first bite?

Seventh grade, my Language Arts teacher let us write stories for extra credit. He probably meant it as a one-time thing but I bet I wrote a dozen stories (or more). Wonderful teacher! He read and commented on each one.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

Watching a seed of an idea grow into a full-fledged story. (And finishing the story is tremendously gratifying.)

What do you like most about Speculative Fiction?

It allows me to play. I enjoy the freedom of letting my imagination run wild. I can create a world, fill it with colorful creatures and individuals, and see where it all leads.

Which authors have influenced your writing along the way?

So many! This is not all of them but we don’t have all day to listen to me roll-call my favorites so here’s the abbreviated list: Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Kelley Armstrong, Joey W. Hill, Lexi Blake, Nalini Singh, Tiffany Reisz, Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, Chloe Neill, and Anne Bishop.

Have you ever used a word or said a word aloud so many times it’s lost all meaning?

Does the f-word count?

Has there ever been a book you couldn’t finish? Why or why not?

Yes. I give a book about 60 pages to hook me. Usually I give up because the story hasn’t gone anywhere. It may be beautifully written but if it is all exquisite detail and nothing happening…I stop reading.

What’s the best piece of advice you could give someone who is just getting started on their author journey?

Don’t delete! I keep a word doc filled with cut scenes, conversations, etc. Sometimes about halfway through writing I will think “oh the original was smoother or made more sense or was crafted better” so I can retrieve what I had cut and put it back into the story. I’ve also found that sometimes the things that I cut out of one story works for a new story.

And just for fun. Who is your favourite fairytale Princess?

Princess Buttercup

If you haven’t picked up a copy of ONCE you can purchase it through Amazon Right Here! Your support means a great deal to our authors.

 

Hawthorn & Ash #8

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Welcome to this week’s installment of many micro stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 500 words.

With each story we hope to deliver a little whimsy into the lives of our readers.

Idore

Idore. He murmured her name as he dreamed.

She’d left four days ago, and he hadn’t heard from her. Had she taken her spell bag? He couldn’t find it in the cabin.

After a restless sleep, he went outside. The sun was rising; it looked like a nice day. He put on gloves and started digging in the garden.

He heard her voice on the wind–she was back! He looked up at the sky, but to his horror, she was walking.

“Where are your wings?!” he cried.

She shrugged off his concern.

“I don’t need magic to be happy.”

Kelly Matsuura writes diverse YA, fantasy, and literary fiction.

She is the Creator of ‘The Insignia Series’ anthologies (Asian fantasy themed) and has had stories published with Ink & Locket Press, A Murder of Storytellers, Visibility Fiction, and many more.

Kelly lives in Nagoya, Japan with her geeky husband. She loves traveling, knitting, cooking, and of course, reading.

Visit her at: http://www.blackwingsandwhitepaper.com https://www.facebook.com/writerkmatsuura/

If you enjoyed this drabble you can find it and more in the Hawthorn & Ash 2019 anthology.

AVAILABLE HERE!

 

Hawthorn & Ash #4

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Welcome to this week’s instalment of many micro stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 500 words.

With each story we hope to deliver a little whimsy into the lives of our readers.

The story below is a drabble sized retelling of Sleeping Beauty.

Briar Rose

Delicate vines of pink and white roses snaked their way over the casket.
The girl inside lay frozen, it was as if time had stopped still. She hadn’t aged a day in twenty-five years. And the faerie who had cursed the girl hadn’t been seen in just as many years.
Twenty-five down, seventy-five to go. One hundred years was a long time to lay as if dead while those around you went on living.
The King and Queen didn’t give up, they kept searching, perhaps in vain for the evil faerie who had cursed their only daughter.

Stacey Jaine McIntosh was born in Perth, Western Australia where she still resides with her husband and their four children.

Although her first love has always been writing, she once toyed with being a Cartographer and subsequently holds a Diploma in Spatial Information Services.

Since 2011, she has had over two dozen short stories, drabbles and poetry printed for online consumption and in various anthologies, both in print and forth coming.

Stacey is also the author of Solstice, Morrighan & Lost and she is currently working on several other projects simultaneously.

When not with her family or writing she enjoys reading, photography, genealogy, history, Arthurian myths and witchcraft.

You can find her online at http://www.staceyjainemcintosh.com