How did you become a writer?

My family moved a lot, and I wasn't a robustly healthy kid - for about three years I spent more time sick on the couch in our living room than I did in school. I had all my work from school, of course, but one of my mom's rules was no tv if you were home sick. Even with older siblings willing to forage in libraries for me, there were only so many books my family had time to lug around; and I'm old enough that there were no ebooks. I didn't feel good enough for active play, but I could write down my make-believe. When we moved, when friends were scarce, I always had books and writing. By high school I was carrying a notebook or clipboard everywhere. I didn't start writing toward publication until I was in my 20s, but I've been working toward that ever since.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.). 

The list is looooong! It amounts to almost fifty years of reading across pretty much every genre, plus a degree in English lit; so far too many to list here. Reading across a broad range of styles helped me hone in on the things I wanted to write. 

When and where do you write? 

If I'm at home, I draft at my desk on a good ergonomic keyboard. If I'm out and about, there are equal chances I'll write longhand - I love fountain pens - or work on my tablet with a flat keyboard. I wrote The Bone Orchard largely at night, though now my best hours tend to be very early in the morning when no one is up and around.

What are you working on now?

A dark fantasy with a setting drawn from the Early Modern period instead of the 19th century Modern Era. I love it madly, and I can't talk about it quite yet!

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Sort of. Sometimes I can see a plot isn't working, and I have to stop beating my head on the wall for a bit to get a better perspective. And sometimes the well is just dry. Sometimes life takes so much out of you that you don't even have the energy for escapism, and that's okay. Read some books, watch some shows, take some walks. Let the well refill.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Success in writing comes from a variable ratio of skill, persistence, and luck. You can only affect the first and the second terms. Honing your craft, and keeping at it makes the best of your odds.

What’s your advice to new writers?

I know this is where one is supposed to say “Keep going, you'll get there,” and that's true, but my honestly best advice is please, while you're getting there, be nice to your hands and wrists. You're going to need them.

A seamstress and horsewoman, Sara A. Mueller writes speculative fiction. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family, numerous recipe books, and a forest of fountain pens. In the course of a nomadic youth, she trod the earth of every state but Alaska and lived in six of them. She’s an amateur historical costumer, gamer and cook. The Bone Orchard is her debut novel from Tor, coming March 22, 2022.