Hi Liam, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
My dark Drabble, "Drowning", is inspired by a painting at the Tate Britain by Frederic Leighton.
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/leighton-and-the-sea-gave-up-the-dead-which-were-in-it-n01511 Apparently, it was considered too dark for the original commission, (AKA "unsuitable for a Christian church"). So yes, I tend to write on the darker side, where there are, allegedly, cookies. But really, that's no surprise. Story writing is a lot about conflict, which is why a genuine Utopia is so rarely written. And such darkness, even at times like this, tends to be mostly speculative. And my attention span is not... what was I saying? Ah yes, it seems inevitable that I write dark, speculative, short stories, and who am I to deny the hand of destiny? (I just have to keep ignoring the people who ask if I've written a novel yet. La-la-la... I'm not listening!)

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
This time of the year is always pretty good for writers of dark speculative tales. I've recently been published in Crone Girls Stories We Tell After Midnight 2 and AMInk's Shadowy Natures, I have a Frankenstein-based story in audio form due out on Gallery of Curiosities, and another spooky tale of Hide and Seek scheduled with 34 Orchard. I'm also pretty stoked that I have a second short story forthcoming in Analog, alas, I don't yet know when, it might not be until next year!

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
2020 is going to break all sorts of records, and not all in a bad way. Most submissions and most submitted words are the more easily tracked ones (yes, I too can use Excel.) But that's just writer admin, if you like. I'm just about on course to meet the goals I set for words written this year, so there are plenty of stories in the pipeline for the immediate future, if I can just convince publishers to do the right thing!

Where can we find out more about your work, Liam?
If you want to see everything I have published in one place, try https://happyendingnotguaranteed.blogspot.com/ If you just want to connect and see them as they come out, I'm a moderately active doomscroller on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LiamJHogan

Thanks, Liam. Sounds like we'll see a bit of your work next year. Looking forward to it.

Liam's story "Drowning" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. 

Hi Alicia, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
Thanks for asking me to participate in an interview. My name is Alicia Hilton, and I’m an author, law professor, arbitrator, actor, and former FBI Special Agent. I grew up in Oregon, and I currently live in a suburb of Chicago. When I write fiction, I tend to borrow from my own life. I’ve never killed anyone, and I don’t have supernatural powers, but I’ve seen a ghost, and I know how to use weapons. If I’m going to write about a real place, I always visit that location so I can incorporate landmarks and learn about the flora and fauna. Supernatural forces often creep into my writing. Most of my fiction is weird—a blend of fantasy, crime fiction, science fiction, and/or horror. I’ve been writing poetry since I was twelve. Writing poetry helps me to connect with nature and explore strange aspects of human nature. 

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
In 2020, my first standalone book was published by Demain Publishing UK. Moonlight, Gunshot, Mallet, Flame is two stories about dangerous women confronting supernatural forces. In the title story, Laura is a hitwoman who murdered men to avenge and protect innocent victims, but her violent past catches up to her after she kills her nephew.  In the second story, “A Little Death,” an internet date unites two monsters. Moonlight, Gunshot, Mallet, Flame is available in eBook and paperback, https://www.amazon.com/Moonlight-Gunshot-Mallet-Flame-Shocks-ebook/dp/B083S11174/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QKETENX5M1RE&dchild=1&keywords=moonlight%2C+gunshot%2C+mallet%2C+flame&qid=1602525867&sprefix=moonlight%2C+gunshot%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1

Other writerly highlights:
In 2020, Brick Moon Fiction podcast two of my stories. “Nocturne in Black and Gold” blends fantasy, horror, and science fiction. Most of the action takes place in an operating room, and the surgeon is a tiger. “Fairy Tales and Selkie Tails” is an epic fantasy story about coming-of-age, bravery, love, and transformation. Listen to the stories for free, https://brickmoonentertainment.com/?s=Alicia+Hilton
 
Daily Science Fiction published my story “A Glorious Chapeau.” The story began as a poem and morphed into flash fiction. “A Glorious Chapeau” is a fantasy story about magic and hope. Read the story for free, https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/magic-and-wizardry/alicia-hilton/a-glorious-chapeau
 
Red Room Press has reprinted two of my stories in Year’s Best Hardcore Horror. “Monkey See, Monkey Do” was reprinted in YBHH Volume 4. “MRSA Me” was reprinted in YBHH Volume 5, http://www.redroompress.com

Upcoming publications​:
“MRSA Me” will be reprinted in Best Indie Speculative Fiction Volume 3 from Bards and Sages Publishing.
 My story “Evolution” will be published in Annihilation Radiation, an anthology from Storgy Magazine.
 My story “Stellar Nucleosynthesis and the Infinite Power of Love” will be published in Tales from OmniPark, an anthology from House Blackwood.
Two of my poems will be published in Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine.
 
Where can we find out more about you, Alicia?
For news of my upcoming publications, speeches, and other events, please follow me on Twitter @aliciahilton01 and visit my website, https://www.aliciahilton.com.
 
Thanks, Alicia, for stopping by. That's a pretty amazing portfolio outside the writing one! And the writing one is pretty good too! Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Alicia's poem "Sleeping With the Dead" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. ​

Hi Aristo, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I grew up in Durban, South Africa, before moving to Johannesburg, where I still live, for high school and university. As far as my writing, I aim for horror – how close I actually get to it is up to the reader. But being Greek, and having lived in South Africa, I always try to pull influences from one of the two, or sometimes both. Ultimately, if someone enjoys something I wrote, I count that as a win, if I scare them too, that’s a bonus.
 
Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
Every acceptance is a highlight for me. My first printed publication was actually with  Things in the Well, in Beneath The Waves – Tales from the Deep. It was a story titled ‘The Natloer’, which shows the South Africa side of my influences, while this one, ‘A Light For The Grave’ shows the Greek.
 
This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
Well on a personal note, this year I asked the love of my life to marry me –  and for reasons known only to her she said yes. So as far as highlights for me go, that’s pretty hard to top – even if this year has felt a little like the world is falling apart at times, I’ve been walking around with a big smile on my face (behind my mask of course).
 
You can find Aristo on Twitter @AR1sto

​Thanks, Aristo, for stopping by. And congratulations - that is indeed awesome news for 2020.  

Aristo's story "A Light For the Grave" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. 

Hi Kellie, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I’m a committed Canberran—grew up here, as did my parents and two of my grandparents. I’ve left a couple of times, for study (in Japan) and work (in Newcastle and again in Japan) but not for long and always came back. My two favourite things to do are dragon boating and scaring myself stupid on ghost tours.
Dragon boating, with my wonderful team Dragons Abreast Canberra, has taken me to Florence, Italy where we raced on the Arno River—there is nothing quite like the exhilaration of a dragon boat race, whether we’re in Canberra, interstate or overseas, or the whole body fatigue at the end of it!
As for ghost tours, or anything spooky, icky or supernatural I come across in reading and random googling, these provide stimulus and motivation for my writing. As a child, and also as an adult, I loved watching scary movies—not the blood and guts horror, but the psychological and twisted suspense stuff—but I tend to watch from behind a barrier, whether it’s a cushion or my fingers. It really is my favourite genre to write though. I’m not sure if it’s the escapism I like, or if it’s the scary dark side of me coming out, but I am most engaged when I write along the paranormal theme. My YA works and short stories all follow this path. On the flip side, I also write froth and bubble for kids.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
After boring my teachers silly in primary school with long, long, long pieces of creative writing, I really didn’t write anything creative again until about five years ago when, on a whim (and after deciding to go part-time in my primary school teaching job) I enrolled in a ‘writing for children’ evening course at the Canberra Institute of Technology. I don’t know why I stopped writing creatively, because I loved it as a kid, although I suspect the focus in high school on assignments and essays probably had a lot to do with it. I started off writing picture books and short stories for kids, then my mentor suggested I turn my 2000-word short story into a novel. It went from a piece about a girl who sleepwalks (me!) to a dark and deadly YA novel—which I’m still shopping around. I’ve placed in a few competitions, been shortlisted and had four stories published in anthologies—all for the age 8-12 market, but the selection of my story for Trickster’s Treats #4 – Coming Buried or Not is my first for the older, adult market and, quite honestly, the one I’m most excited about. It’s funny how, as writers, our focus can change. I feel like I’ve found my niche and am planning on refining my skills in this genre, with hopefully much more to come in the next few years and beyond. 

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
As just mentioned, my selection in Trickster’s Treats is a definite highlight of 2020 for me. However, this was the cherry on top of the sundae which was finding my wonderful critique group (which we’ve named ‘Prompts Plus’) as it was this group who encouraged my writing in this genre, critiqued it, encouraged me some more and gave me the confidence to submit in the first place. I love my group and, like I feel I’ve found my niche in genre, I also feel I’ve finally found my tribe.
Another writing-based highlight of 2020 has been working with my amazing ASA mentor, Rae Luckie on my narrative non-fiction memoir ‘thingy’. My son has Asperger’s and years ago, I started a blog about our journey. It was basically a venting platform for me (I see that now) but I did get quite a few followers and one of them suggested I should turn it into a book. At the end of 2019, applications for the Anne Edgeworth Fellowship opened and I thought ‘why not!’. I banged out an application – and won it! Never have I been so surprised. Part of the fellowship enabled me to engage Rae’s services and together we’re turning this memoir into a bit of a butt-kicker when it comes to the lack of understanding of autism, particularly in education.
On a personal/work level, a massive highlight has been my decision to leave teaching (after 25 years!) and focus on my editing and writing business. Scary, but liberating.

To find out more about Kellie:
Business website: https://justrightwords.com.au/  (my other passion is promoting local authors, there’s a page for this)
Blog site: https://inmyaspergersworld.wordpress.com/

Thanks so much for chatting with us, Kellie, and sharing a bit about yourself. Congrats on the Fellowship - an awesome achievement. Also a brilliant achievement writing something that raises autism awareness. Looking forward to seeing what you do next.

Kellies story "Till Death Do Us Part" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. ​

Chris, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I’m Chris Mason and live in Adelaide, South Australia. I predominantly write horror but sometimes include fantasy and SF in my work. I write with a fair dose of humour and my characters love to chat. I grew up in the '60s so I tend to hark back to that time when I was discovering the world and realising not everything was as happy and safe as it seemed. Innocence corrupted is a recurring theme in my work. 

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
I have had stories in all four editions of Trickster’s Treats and was absolutely delighted to have "Digging up the Past" included in this last one. Trickster’s has a special place in my heart, as it is one of the first places I was published. Continuing my wonderful association with Things in the Well, I also have stories in the recently released Outback Horrors and the soon to be released Tales of the Lost V2. Smiling at my name sitting alongside Joe Hill and Neil Gaiman on the ToC will never get old. Looking forward, I have a lot of new work bubbling away, some of which I hope will go into a collection next year. I’m a pantser through and through so who knows what else I’ll be doing in 2021.

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
Who knew 2020 would be the year to renovate. I finally found the time to turn the spare bedroom into my own writing space. Instead of having books scattered throughout the house, most of my collection is now contained in the one place, and my sticky notes, mountains of notebooks, and general brain vomits onto any writable surface, have a new home. The laptop is still free to roam, but I’m hoping my considerable mess will keep to the one room from now on. On the writing front this year: I co-edited the anthology Burning Love and Bleeding Hearts with Louise Zedda-Sampson (we had so much fun), two of my stories were nominated for awards – "Vivienne and Agnes" winning the Aurealis award for Best Short story – and several short stories were picked up for publication.

Where can we find out more about you, Chris?
You can find me at facebook.com/chrismasonhorrorwriter or on twitter@Chris_A_Mason where I tend to post a lot of pictures of books I’m reading, and animals doing cute animally things.

Thanks, Chris, for stopping by. Looking forward to the collection. And yes - doing an anthology in 6 weeks was a bit of a challenge, but it was a hoot working with you! Steve Dillon obviously knew we'd get along.

Chris's story "Digging up the past" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. 

Amanda, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I'm from a small town in Kentucky, U.S. and write mostly horror and speculative fiction/poetry. I've always had a love of dark things and I tend to explore the afterlife a lot in my writing. 

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
My second book of horror poetry, Tall Grass, made the shortlist for a Bram Stoker Award nomination and was also nominated for an Indie Horror Book Award. My short fiction has been published in Dream Noir, The Hellebore, and Eastern Iowa Review, among others. In 2022, my middle-grade novel Where Wild Beasts Grow will be published by Fitzroy Books.

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
2020 has been a strange year for me creatively. I tend to have a hard time writing when my anxiety is amped up, but since March I've experienced the exact opposite, and I've written quite a bit - including two novels. 

You can find Amanda's work here:
Poem: https://ghostcitypress.com/poetry-71/2019/3/2/amanda-crum
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tall-Grass-Amanda-Crum/dp/1083086685

Thanks, Amanda, for talking with us. Two novels. Amazing work.

Amanda's story "To Leaven His Bones" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. 

Kali, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I live in Meanjin Brisbane, but my soul resides in Western Australia. Before writing and mothering and settling down, I was an anthropologist, initially in Bangladesh and then in Native Title in the Mid-West on the lands of Yamatji Peoples. I have an MPhil in creative writing and an MA in writing, editing, and publishing from UQ. I started writing fiction in 2014 following a public service redundancy. My first manuscript was selected for the Queensland Writers Centre/Hachette Australia Manuscript Development Program. Both this manuscript and my second were longlisted in the Bath Novel Award in 2016. The second was eventually published in 2018 as The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge by Hachette Australia and Little, Brown Book Group. At this point, I mainly read and wrote historical fiction. After a string of unpublished full-length historical manuscripts, I decided to try something new. I’d never written short fiction before, so took a workshop with Dr Angela Slatter to ‘write a short story in one day’. And that I did. I then applied successfully for a grant from the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland’s Individuals Fund for a short story writing mentorship to continue developing my craft with Angela. With such a gifted and generous mentor, I felt encouraged to explore more speculative, dark, and witchy themes in my fiction. 

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
The highlight of my writing and publication career is having my short story “Needles” published in The Dark, in July 2020. It was the first place I’d submitted that story. I still pinch myself that I landed it in such a prestigious publication. Then I was fortunate to have “The Little Helper” accepted by Louise and Geneve for Trickster’s Treats #4. Incredibly, in 2020 I will have a third story published. “Let Shadows Slip Through” will appear in the second issue of New Gothic Review on 23rd October. While I have ideas for historical novels, I really enjoy writing speculative and Gothic short stories, so I reckon I’ll continue with these into the foreseeable. 

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
​I have been very fortunate in 2020, with a job that transitioned to working from home. The period when Brisbane was in lockdown and the children were home from school was probably the most well-balanced my life has been in fifteen years. I live in a semi-rural area, mostly off-grid, with a veggie garden and chooks. Getting back to my permaculture principles has been the highlight of 2020. I did a Permaculture Design Certificate in 2013, but the demands of work, kids, and writing (if I’m honest) meant that I had largely let this go.

You can find out more about Kali here:
I am on social media far too much, so you can find me on Twitter @KaliNapier, on Instagram @kali.napier, and on Facebook @KaliNapierAuthor. I have a website that needs a drastic overhaul: https://kalinapier.wordpress.com/. My novel The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge can be purchased at the usual online book retailers. “Needles” can be read and listened to here: https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/needles/. 

Thanks, Kali, for talking with us. Fabulous. We can thank that redundancy for seeing your stories in the world. Looking forward to what we see next.

Kali's story "The Little Helper" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. ​

Hi Lucy Ann thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I have a B.A in English, a B.A. in Communication/Journalism, and an M.A. in Humanities/Literature and previously worked as a university English professor. I live just outside of Washington, D.C. and I love all things related to writing and I tend to be very eclectic in my story telling. I write across a large gamut from mysteries, historical and paranormal fiction to Westerns and poetry. Whether I intend to or not, many of my stories have a supernatural bent, thanks to both my previous studies in gothic literature and my long-standing love of ghost stories. I’m a big fan of reality-based ghost-hunting shows and paranormal encounter-type programming and, matched with the thought of “what if…” many of my paranormal-flavored poems and short stories are born.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
In addition to having my poem, “There Is No Such Thing As Dead” included in Trickster’s Treats, Volume 4, my other publications in 2020 include my ghostly love story, "Actions Louder Than Words", in the Bodies in the Library anthology from Flame Tree Publishing and two poems, “Night Bombing” and “Unanswered” in Door Is A Jar literary magazine, Issue 16, both of which came out this Fall.

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
I was lucky enough to work from home for six months in 2020 and not commuting allowed me a chance to spend more time with my family and also gave me more time to write. Some 2020 highlights for me included completing 11 short
stories and 17 poems over the summer, albeit some better than others so there is a bit of editing in my future. I also completed five 5K runs from the comfort of my own home, which is just the way I like it – doing something fun without having to interact in-person with strangers. I enrolled in online Italian studies and recently graduated to Intermediate level. When not writing, I was usually thinking of writing or watching movies, knocking 37 films off of my to-watch list.

I can be found online at www.lucyannfiorini.com, my home page for past and present publications. I also run a writing, travel, and food blog at https://thewriteone.home.blog, where I bounce between thoughts on writing, travel stories, and restaurant reviews although all of the latter two are based on pre-COVID travel adventures.

Thanks, Lucy, for spending time with us. It sounds like you've been very productive. Looking forward to seeing what you produce next - and well done on the Italian!

Lucy Ann's poem "There is No Such Thing as Dead" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. 

Laura, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I’ve been writing stories since I was seven years old, and the vast majority of the jobs I’ve held over the decades have either involved or been focused entirely on writing and editing. But I only started pursuing creative writing in my 40s.  Why did I wait so long?  Some of it was due to the need to focus on earning money, raising a child, volunteering in ways that were very important to me. But eventually I just couldn’t hold it off any longer.  I predominantly write fantasy and science fiction as both prose and drama, because that’s what I love to read and/or see the most, and if you were going to stick me into a subgenre, it would have to be hopepunk:  stories of courage, cooperation, love, and desperation, stories of the struggle against evil and the glorious power and beauty of the human spirit (happy endings not guaranteed, unfortunately). When I’m not writing or earning a living, I’m fencing, taking care of my geriatric racehorse, or ringing tower bells and handbells.  I live in Melbourne, although I’m still homesick for America, despite all its many flaws.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you ?
My first writerly highlight was attending the 2007 Clarion South workshop, where I arrived a tentative wannabee, and from which I emerged a Real Writer. There was also my first published story (in Antipodean SF); my first paid sale (in the Canterbury 2100 anthology); the publication of my first novel (After the Bloodwood Staff, available from Odyssey Books), which was accompanied by a three-city massive book-launch tour); working with composer Houston Dunleavy to adapt my short story “The Dancing Mice and the Giants of Flanders” into an opera and hearing it workshopped; spending six months as the poet-in-residence at a café in Wollongong (where I used to live); and receiving my PhD in creative writing from the University of Western Australia. I’m also thrilled whenever anyone performs one of my scripts, and whenever I get to teach writing.  I’m currently working on the next book in my Purple Bay University series, as well as a radio script (or maybe a series; I haven’t decided yet) involving bellringing, infernal troublemakers, and mayhem.

Thanks, Laura, for chatting. What a fabulous writing journey. Thanks for sharing it with us. Looking forward to seeing what you pen next. 

You can find out more about Laura here:
Website:  http://www.lauraegoodin.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Laura.E.Goodin.Writer
Publisher: https://www.odysseybooks.com.au/
Twitter: @lauraegoodin

Laura's story "Jimmy's Boys" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.