#writer interview

Thanks for the tag @ace-malarky

When did you start writing?

I guess around 10-12, although I really didn’t do much until my late teen years.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I don’t know if there is too much of a difference. But then again I don’t really notice much.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

No. At least not intentionally. Though I’m sure there are some things that bleed over. At some point, I expect someone to say that my obsession with worldbuilding would rival that of Professor Tolkien.

Can you tell me about your writing space?

Well, it is usually my room. It could also be in the park, on the bus, a cafe, or anywhere really when inspiration strikes. I always have a notebook and/or my laptop on hand in case something comes to me.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Sometimes ideas float into my head. A few times an idea came to me in a dream, but mainly it is writing things down and hoping there is something there that I won’t delete/erase.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

I have noticed that there is quite a bit of hurt/comfort, not to mention found family and accepting ones’s self.

What is your reason for writing?

Reason? Because I can? But also, there is something that I want to share with the world.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

It always feels good when someone says they enjoy what I wrote, that it was engaging and they want to know what’s going to happen to the characters next.

How do you want to be thought of by your readers?

As someone who made their day/ wrote the story they enjoy.

How do you feel about your own writing?

Sometimes I think it’s crap, sometimes I think it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever written (and occasionally I feel both at the same time).

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I’m not really one to follow the trend. If someone likes what I write, that makes me smile.

Tagging @inspirationallybored @did-i-do-this-write @akindofmagictoo @cheerfulmelancholies @asher-writes

I had the honour of being invited to give an interview to @baldursmouth.bsky.social in their August 2025 edition, which you can find online, free!🥰

Thank you for the tag @akindofmagictoo!! I love yapping about myself!

When did you start writing?

I honestly can't remember. I've been telling stories for as long as I can remember (me and my sister had elaborate political plots going on with our toys), but actually writing them down, I don't know when that started. I remember typing some things on the family computer when I was young, but I don't remember how old I was. (I also don't remember what any of them were about.) I stopped for a while, then did quite a bit of writing in middle school. (The one I remember was a story about a guy who was immortal and I had a whole bunch of adventures planned for him but the one I started with was him accidentally causing the Black Plague. He would go into the houses and take care of the animals after everyone had died, bc he was immune (his punishment. He caused it and now he has to watch everyone else die.) and baby Morri liked animals better than people. But he found a kid who was the only survivor of her family and kinda-sorta got adopted by her, and then he got kidnapped by his evil brother(?), and was going to get tortured. I spent much longer than I should have researching medieval torture devices at the age of 11-12.) Then I stopped writing for many years until I got to my junior year of high school and started working on All the Queen's Horses. While I haven't touched that WIP in a while, it's very very special to me, because it's what got me back into writing after not doing it for 3+ years. Once I made it to college and was able to play, I fell head over heels in love with dnd, and well, that's where my creative energy has been focused for the past 2-ish years.

As per usual, I practically wrote a novel for this, so it's going under the cut.

@dyrewrites tagged me in one of these, and as you may have surmised by reading my blog i fucking love talking about writing, so let's do this!

When did you start writing?

Before I knew how to read, actually. Well kind of. I would dictate to my paternal grandfather and he'd write them down in these little pamphlet books. Not my best work as you can imagine, but I enjoyed making them. It's been on an off since that. On the level I operate on now, though, I started getting quote-unquote serious about writing ca 2018.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Oh for sure. Part of what I look for when I read are perspectives that are different than my own. I am, however, often writing the kind of book I'd like to read if I could find it, usually because there's just not enough queer genre fiction out there.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I never try to emulate any specific writers these days, but I do try to crib the occasional stylistic element. I love the way Paul Tremblay builds tension out of ambiguity, the way Thomas Olde Heuvelt places the horrific in the everyday, the way Hailey Piper interrogates Lovecraftian tropes, the way Arkady Martine writes Anxiety and Politics, and the gentle but firm way Rebecca Sugar incorporates queer themes, to name a few. These are all things I try to let my writing be inspired by, but I'm not sure it's working. As for comparisons, I don't get compared with authors too often. One I do remember and cherish, though, is that one reader told me the chaos of Thereafter felt somewhat Ankh-Morpork-esque, which is high praise indeed. I do consider my style of humor greatly influenced by the late Terry Pratchet (GNU,) and I hope I can project even a little bit of the humanist rage that underpins a lot of his best work.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I do most of my writing these days in my cellar apartment. Usually I'll write on a desktop PC I built myself, using the secondary monitor to play music or some kind of second screen entertainment. The last few months, though, a herniated disk in my spine has had me sitting upright a lot less. As a consequence I write more on my laptop, and while this isn't quite as efficient as my dual monitor setup, I do have a lot more time left over to write these days, so it just about shakes out.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

I don't super believe in inspiration as a concept. I come up with ideas and concepts bit by bit over a lengthy period of time and at some point it becomes a question of writing the damn thing or thinking about plot points three books deep in the series in the small hours of the night when I can't sleep. That said, a cup of coffee and some nice background noise (Daft Punk's Alive 2007 is a current favorite,) usually does a good job getting me in the mood to put some words on the page.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

A bunch, and I'm cognisant of most of them, I think. On the political side of things, I'm staunchly left-wing in my writings, and a lot of how I tell stories revolve around discussing the difference between Communities of Strength and Communities of Weakness, as well as a kind of anarchist "what is authority anyway" kind of discussion. On the more personal category of themes, I do write a lot about loneliness and belonging, which is perhaps not a surprising thing for a lonely boy growing into a lonely man to have on ones mind. Looking back, I also see that I've been writing about disappointment a lot. The Thereafter crew all feel like they've fallen short of their potential in the wake of their initial portal fantasy adventures (yes, even Felipe.) Jake of The Clockwork Boy is all about being a bright mind dulled by a world bereft of empaty, 13 escapes to freedom only to drown in the uncaring chaos of everyday life. Oscar in His Impossible Brushstrokes doesn't really know what he expected the mysterious painter Tomasz Gildebrant to be, but without spoiling anything it wasn't what he got. As for Tomasz himself, hoh boy I do not have the time to get into the daisy-chained self-loathing and imposter syndrome that boy has going on. This theme of Disappointment I think comes from two places. One is my reoccuring frustration with how unreasonable the world seems to me these days. The other is related, but more personal. Things haven't really worked out for ol' Peebs lately, and it is hard for me to not feel like I fucked up somewhere in character creation, to borrow game nomenclature for a second. I will, however, maintain that it's more that society has failed me, but it feels more like a political conviction than a personal if that makes sense? Regardless of where the "blame" for my less than ideal situation shakes out, though, I've felt a lot about how it feels when things don't work out, and I channel a lot of this into my writing.

What is your reason for writing?

I mostly do it to help my mental health these days. This started as an idle observation by a former therapist of mine that I seemed the most engaged and least depressed when I just came back from a vacation, and when I was writing a book. Seeing as constant vacationing is off the table both for economic and carbon footprint reasons, I found that "just always have a writing project to work on" was a much more achievable way of helping my mental health. In short, I would say writing does a good job of keeping my brain active and enriched. My earlier problems with rumination and anxiety spirals are way down, and while it has re-introduced the problem I've come to call "fastbrain," it does help a little on the old depression to have a narrative to work on.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

I'll take anything that tells me people have read my stuff, but I'll tell you my absolute favorite comment I have ever recieved on anything I've written. It was on a short summary of the character of Mara from His Impossible Brushstrokes, and her relationship with protagonist Oscar in particular. This comment said that these two (Oscar and Mara) seemed like the queerest "straight" (well m/f anyway) relationship ever. I was like "Oh shit, they are," and it brought me no shortage of joy.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

That's an interesting question. I have no interest in being some kind of all-knowing authority on my works, because I am adamant that audience digestion of any work of art is instrumental, even if it is kinda scary. That said, I want to be viewed more as, I don't know, an enthusiastic tour guide, or a kooky professor leading a pack of excitable undergrads in fieldwork? The metaphor is kind of the same. I want to discover the totality of these stories together with my readers. They'll learn a lot, and although it may seem like I know everything, I'm (maybe not so) secretly learning a lot myself.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I'm good, arguably very good at plots. Some of it is instinct and heurestics my brain has come up with to transform ideas into plots, but a lot of it is also not thinking of Plot and Character as separate fields. In short, Plot is Characters. The tension between what the characters want (Goals) and what stops them externally (Oposition) and internally (Ghosts*) from getting it makes for the opening tension, and how they overcome oposition and negotiate their ghosts becomes the plot and development. I wouldn't say that this approach is without its fault and limitations, like any Plot-primacy approach to writing, it's not quite as organic as a pants-y approach. That said I think this approach "scales" quite well with larger casts, as a larger group of people going through this journey does a decent job of simulating versimilitudinous chaos. * The "Ghost" is perhaps the least intuitive part of my understanding of Plot, and I could get into it further at a later date, but the short version is that it's the neuroses, trauma, fears and phobias that stop the Character from being happy or achieving self-actualization. Ghosts are often mirrored by Oposition, where the Oponent is the Ghost made External, but the Ghost can also be the way in which the protagonist becomes notably different from them ; See Agent Smith and Neo in The Matrix, or Norman and the Witch in Paranorman, for example.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I am working very hard to transcend what I've come to call the "Brennan Lee Mulligan Loop," i.e thinking "it has to be perfect to make up for the fact that it's mine/I made it" about stuff I make. I would be lying if I said I do it no problem every time, but I am a least mindful of the thought trap, and that's a start. This is all to say that I think my writing is pretty good. It's a shame I can't go into it blind like I do the other fiction I'd read, but that's just Nature Of The Beast, y'know?

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I hope that what I'm writing is appealing to anyone that isn't me, but I am first and foremost writing the story that I want to write. This may not make me an instant publisher's darling, but considering I'm trying to write the kind of books that I can't find in traditional publishing at the moment, it would be mighty odd of me to aim for that, don't you agree?

I tag @owlsandwich, @ace-malarky and @runner-owen, and why not, I also leave the tag OPEN. Tell them Peebs sent ya.

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I dunno if I've done this but @oh-no-another-idea got me with it here so let's try!

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When did you start writing?

Actually putting words on paper? Twelve. I was making up stories since the age of maybe six though. Elaborate backstories and adventures for my stuffed animals and hamsters, mostly.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I love to read absurd fiction. Things that push genre boundaries, break established rules, speak directly to the reader. I don't write a lot of that, but I love reading it.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I have no one I want to emulate, no. I feel a writer's voice is a unique thing and should remain so. As for comparison... I don't know. Someone said I was like George RR Martin once, another said Anne Rice, and one of those analysis things said I was Ursula K Le Guin (which is flattering). I don't think any of those overlap so I'm just confused over here, writin' my little words.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

Sometimes it is a desk covered in stuffed animals and stickers with a drawing tablet taunting me from the right side and a microphone taunting from the corner. Othertimes it is a laptop and a somewhat comfortable chair or couch with a pillow as desk and a cat as armrest.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Watching horror or fantasy films or shows tends to do it with enough regularity. Even if 'spite' is the actual source of inspiration as I often end up terribly disappointed and want to try it myself.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Trauma is the big one, grief is another, with belonging/acceptance right up there with them. I'm not surprised usually, but it is funny where all they pop up.

What is your reason for writing?

"The voices", no...but really. I have a lot in my head all the time and I have to get it out. Whether it's emotions or memories or worries or ideas or traumas made manifest as personalities and voices refusing to shut up until I give them an outlet...I have to get it out. I do hope my sharing it helps others get theirs out, or at least not think of it as a hindrance but more a facet of who they are which deserves as much love and acceptance as they do.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Keysmashes get me every time. Someone so excited, so moved, they have no words but they want to share something so it's just a bunch of letters and love.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

Weird... but fun.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I hate this question. >.< Description? Let's say that.

How do you feel about your own writing?

My self esteem is such that I am convinced I would never personally read my stories if I did not write them. Yet I often find myself reading them instead of revising or editing when I go in to do that. So... I feel it is engaging. If nothing else. It is engaging.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I'm not thinking of the reader, I'm not even thinking of myself when I write. It is whatever the story demands, whatever the characters want (that the story allows). Everything else is secondary. When revising I consider the reader, which is why a lot of revision is spent on clarity, but it's still for the story first.

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Tagging: @rowancampbell-author @bellascarousel @chauceryfairytales @transman-badass @pb-dot and YOU (open tag)

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Tagged by @wanderingaldecaldo! Thank you!

I'm tagged out for the weekend. So if you read this and are interested in doing it, please feel free to tag me and I'll come read yours!

When did you start writing?

2022. After spending most of my formative years thinking that I hated writing. (Turns out, I just hated being forced to write analytical essays on things I wasn't interested in.) 

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Most of what I read these days is non-fiction lol. It’s great for generating ideas and brainstorm fodder, though. And it’s really funny that I write in a fandom for a sci-fi genre when I rarely, if ever, read sci-fi. When I do read fiction, I tend to go for fantasy. Short stories are my favorite way to consume horror.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I’ve never been compared to another writer before. Honestly, I think my writing is kind of odd to begin with, it’s mega sensory, and even I come up blank when I try to think of anyone else who does that. I’ve gotten a couple mentions on my writing feeling like a comic book, which I love since I grew up reading them, and I get a lot of storytelling inspo from film and animation.

I absolutely adore Robin Wall Kimmerer’s writing. It’s just straight up beautiful, and she has such a profound understanding and sense of place that she’s able to transcribe into words. Something to aspire to. 

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I write in my office/art room a lot. Which has my computer desk and then my art/craft table. Lots of bright light, plants, spooky/nature themed art on the walls. I write in my yellow reading chair when I don’t want to be at my desk. Besides my office/art room I also write: on my front porch, at the kitchen table, on my couch, at work when I’m by myself and not totally slammed with work things…

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

My muse strikes at random, as does my motivation, so I just sit my ass down whenever I have time/bandwidth and write as much as I’m able. Whether I added 1,500 words or subtracted 500, doesn’t matter. Like anything, writing is about showing up and being consistent. You put the time and effort in, it’ll get done eventually.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

All of my interests have leaked into my fics, so I’m not surprised about any of the themes or motifs. Really love action, so there’s always tons of that. Intricate plots, mysteries, thrillers, dramatic tension, culture, bureaucracy, guilt, grief, love. Comparative skeletal anatomy and road kill. Manual labor and all the weird shit I do out on the prairie. Putting my anthropology background to good use doing research. Is it possible to escape a culture that revolves around the perpetuation of individual and systemic violence? Y’know, light and cheery topics lol.

What is your reason for writing?

I think I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. Or that I could learn to do it. As I mentioned, I used to despise writing growing up, especially for school. Me getting into writing fan fic was completely left-field. I do aspire to haunt people in this life, so I suppose this is another way of going about it. 

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Any and all nice comments are great! I love them all! But extra love for the ones that dive into what they connected with or what in my writing stood out to them. I've not had a dedicated beta reader and don’t always get a lot of feedback on my writing in general, so when I post, it’s always a shot in the dark and I have no idea how folks are going to react. Hearing that I accomplished what I set out to do with my writing is just validating.   

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

That I’m a good writer? That I’m not intimidating? That they can talk to me without repercussions? (My irl initial intimidating vibes have also bleed over into my internet persona… Making friends is hard.)

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Outlining, plot integration, action sequences.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I love my writing. It’s full of shit I love and typos. I don’t commit anything to paper that I’m not proud of, and I stand by all my writing. My editor could perhaps stand to have a firmer foot and say “no” more often. And I’m actually really glad I got into writing later on in my life. I’m a bit more world-wise at this point and I would not have been able to write the stories I’m writing now back in my teens or twenties. I did not have the perspective or the knowledge that I have now. My writing has certainly evolved over the past few years though, so right now, I feel like I’m also trying to go a bit more back to my roots? Get back to basics and refine my style more.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

We are back with another guest interview episode and are joined again by writer Jeremy Russell. So in today’s episode Rachel and I ask and Jeremy answers: “Who Is Jeremy Russell?” Episode 267 What We Cover: His writing processes and writing style Writing by hand Favourite character and more! About Jeremy Russell Jeremy Russell writes Middle-Grade fiction for people who like an anxiously…

Thanks @twinkboimler and @ncc1701ohno for the tags <3

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 29, plus my Spring Fever stuff ;)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 224,097 but about 125,000 of that is from September 2024 and after

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

-A Lesson in Patience (The Adventure Zone, Explicit) 341 kudos

-Late Spring (Star Trek TOS, Mature) 296 kudos

-Praise (The Adventure Zone, Explicit) 270 kudos

-How Wisdom Might Be Loved (Star Trek TOS, Explicit) 263 kudos

-Just a Pretty Thing (Star Trek TOS, Explicit) 236 kudos

4. What fandoms do you write for? Right now, just Star Trek! I see myself writing Star Trek fanfic for a long, long time.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I do!! Comments are very exciting to me--it tells me that someone likes my work enough to go the extra step of saying something. Sometimes I just respond with a "thank you," but I mean it!!!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't do angsty endings very often... Maybe The HIghwayman??? (The Adventure Zone, Explicit)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? For as angsty as the fic is, I think Late Spring had a really satisfying and happy ending

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not hate. Occasionally I get a comment telling me I used a word wrong or something.

9. Do you write smut? I... write a lot of smut.

10. Do you write crossovers? I love to take my favorite characters and put them in a different media's setting! I haven't done any for Star Trek, but for TAZ I wrote:

-Blupjeans Unsolved Supernatural (A collection of two works, both Teen and up)

-Fantasy Mortgage or Marriage (Teen and up)

-Relic! The Balance Opera (Teen and up, unfinished)

I guess technically these are more AUs than crossovers, but it's the closest I get lol

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I sure hope not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Relic! was co-written. I also occasionally take ideas from RPs with my wife and turn them into fics

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? My OG favorite ship is Taakitz from The Adventure Zone--it's what got me into shipping in the first place. Nowadays, I'd say my favorite is any iteration of McSpirk.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I was writing a Bread and Circuses jail cell smut fic, but I got a little lost in what my plan was. It wouldn't take long to finish, but I keep pushing it aside for other stuff.

16. What are your writing strengths? I really take a lot of pride in making sure my characterization is accurate. I'll study specific episodes and scenes to make sure I'm getting their mannerisms, emotions, and dialogue correct.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Editing!!! I think I'd be a much stronger writer if I could figure out how to edit on my own. I rely a lot on my wonderful beta readers because I get kind of blinded to my own work. I also randomly mix up words sometimes, even though I know the correct one. If they sound similar, my brain will scramble them.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic? I used to be fluent in Spanish. I wish I was still fluent in Spanish. I've considered trying to write in Spanish to get back into it. But I think it's hard to make things sound natural and native.

19. First fandom you wrote for? I only got into fandom 6 years ago. My first fandom was The Adventure Zone.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written? I think it's gotta be Late Spring! I had sooo much fun writing it, to the point where it was hard to finish it and move onto something else. It's the longest fic I've ever written, too, so it feels like a huge accomplishment.