Candice Wuehle

How did you become a writer? 

By trying to be something else again and again. 

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

The poet Mary Szybist was my mentor in high school. She pulled me aside one day when I was seventeen to tell me I was a good writer and should think about college. My life took a new course after that. There have been many times over the years when I’ve felt pathless and have thought back to Mary. Joyelle McSweeney is also a major writing influence. I aspire to have even a little bit of her energy, style, curiosity, intelligence, and sense of the beyond.

Other writers: Edith Wharton, Ottessa Moshfegh, Jane Bowles, Tara Isabella Burton, Raven Leilani, Mona Awad, Rachel Yoder, Esi Edugyan, Clarice Lispector, Chelsey Minnis, Olivia Cronk, Kate Chopin, Lucy Ives, Virginia Woolf, Jessica Knoll, Carmen Maria Machado, Henry James, Shirley Jackson, Lauren Berlant, Gillian Flynn

When and where do you write? 

Usually my campus or home office during the late morning into early afternoon. If I’m working intensely on a project, I’ll go to the university library stacks to try to convince myself the day has reset. 

What are you working on now? 

Too many things! A prequel to MONARCH that traces MKUltra’s origins from WWII into American universities. Another novel, tentatively titled ultranatural, that’s sort of like Blonde (Joyce Carol Oates) or Rodham (Sittenfeld) in that it follows a celebrity reminiscent of Britney Spears. Finally, my partner and I are in the planning stages for a legal thriller about the opioid crisis inspired by living at the edge of Appalachia.  

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

I’ve experienced writer’s rest for longer than I allowed myself to feel was acceptable. At the time, I thought it was writer’s block but now I see that it was just a dormant phase. Much of the media and literature and art I took in during that phase absorbed deeply and eventually emerged when I began to write again. I suppose I think feeling as if one is experiencing “writer’s block” is like a butterfly thinking it’s having a “creation block” because it’s in a cocoon. 

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

Probably Joan Didion’s advice in “On Keeping a Notebook”: “I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be whether we find them attractive company or not.” Of course, Didion suggests doing this through the keeping of notebooks. If I hadn’t remembered and kept space for many different versions of myself, I wouldn’t have written a lot of what I’ve written.

What’s your advice to new writers?

My practical advice is to find a job that doesn’t involve looking at a screen. Professional writing is so much more physical than I had ever imagined. My more holistic advice is simply to get curious about what you think is a mistake, to follow it to its mysterious core.

Candice Wuehle is the author of the novel MONARCH (Soft Skull, 2022) as well as the poetry collections Fidelitoria: Fixed or Fluxed (11:11, 2021); 2020 Believer Magazine Book Award finalist, Death Industrial Complex (Action Books, 2020); and BOUND (Inside the Castle Press, 2018). She holds an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Kansas. Candice currently teaches in the Jackson Center for Creative Writing at Hollins University.

Alma Katsu

How did you become a writer?

Like many writers, I started when I was young. Pre-teen, in my case. I wrote to amuse myself and my friends. Since writing was what I enjoyed the most, it made sense to try to make a living at it. I was a newspaper stringer for a while but just as I was entering the workforce as an adult, I decided to try something completely different and took a job in intelligence, with the National Security Agency (and later CIA). I thought I’d stay for a couple years for the experience of doing something so different and ended up with a 30+ year career.

I stopped writing shortly after I joined NSA because at the time the Intelligence Community didn’t like you doing anything that got your name out there.

I got back into writing fiction later in life, sold my first novel at 50 and now, in my early 60s, have published seven novels, and have a property in pre-production for a TV series. It’s been a wild and unexpected ride.

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

I was lucky early in life to study as an undergrad with John Irving. I loved literary fiction but also liked genre, particularly speculative fiction (Poe, Shirley Jackson). I think that’s resulted in my writing being a mix of the two.

I also studied fiction at Johns Hopkins. It’s a great master’s program but I wouldn’t say you need a master’s degree to write.

When and where do you write?

Now that I’m retired from my career, I have the luxury of writing full-time from home. We recently built a guesthouse for visitors, and I use it as an office. I try to be disciplined and keep to a schedule, but you need to learn to be flexible in order to stay productive. Generally I work seven days a week.

What are you working on now?

I’m about to hand in the second book in my spy novel series, RED LONDON (GP Putnam’s Sons), which will be published in 2023. This is the property that is being turned into a TV show. My next historical horror, THE FERVOR (also Putnam) is six weeks from publication as I write this, so my time is split between working on promotion for the new book, polishing up a couple small projects, and thinking up the idea for the next historical horror.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Luckily, I can’t say that I have. I have a strong fear of not getting another contract and that serves as great inspiration.

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

Treat it like a job because that’s what publishing is. Writing is great, but it takes discipline to turn a love of writing into a business.

What’s your advice to new writers?

The standard: write, write, write and read, read, read. Read books that will inspire you to be a better writer. Write through the hard parts until you get them right.

Alma Katsu is the award-winning author of seven novels. Her latest is The Fervor (GP Putnam’s Sons), a reimagining of the waning days of WWII with a horror twist. It’s been called “a stunning triumph” (Booklist, starred) and “a must-read for all” (Library Journal, starred). Red Widow, her first spy novel, was a NYT Editors Choice and is in pre-production for a TV series with FOX. 

Sara A. Mueller

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.