JESSICA GUESS: Honestly, just write what you want. Boring white men do it all the time. Don\u2019t hinder yourself by thinking, \u201cWill people get this? Will they like it?\u201d The question is do you like it? Does this story do something for you? If it does something for you then it will probably do something for someone else.<\/p>\n GEMMA AMOR: My number one piece of advice: don\u2019t compare yourself to others. My second piece of advice: other authors are not the enemy. This genre has a wonderful community that works best when we work to lift each other up, rather than tear each other down. I think as a general rule, treat others as you wish to be treated, and just try to build up as regular a routine as you can, writing every single day- it really is the only surefire way to get any significant body of work down. Don\u2019t be daunted by what you deem as the success of your peers or those around you, and keep your eyes firmly fixed on your own work, making it the best it can be. Also, promote, promote, promote- we all have to do it, there is no shame in it, and anyone who makes you feel icky about trying to sell your own work so you can earn an income from it can, quite frankly, get in the bin ( or trash can for your American audience ha). The best advice I\u2019ve ever received from anyone has been the simplest: just keep going, a bit like that fish in Finding Dory. Keep swimming. Don\u2019t give up. You may or may not be an overnight success -if you are, amazing. If not, it takes years and years to build skills and a readership. Don\u2019t be afraid to dedicate yourself to the long haul, and Just. Keep. Going.<\/p>\n L. MARIE WOOD: Write what you want to write.\u00a0 Basic, right?\u00a0 But for me no truer words have ever been said.\u00a0 Writers are often told to write to fit specific markets, to make their characters fit certain categories or to make their stories more mainstream.\u00a0 I remember that I jumped on that bandwagon once and wrote a story that I didn\u2019t enjoy \u2013 not the writing, not the editing, not the reading – not one second ever.\u00a0 The work was meh because I had been meh throughout the whole process.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to feel that way when I write.\u00a0 I want to feel excited by my characters, pleasantly surprised by their decisions, proud of the outcome.\u00a0 I think readers like to read stories that make them feel some combination of those things too.\u00a0 So, write what you want to write and see where that takes you.<\/p>\n Years ago I was told to keep writing.\u00a0 It was something that a person who had read my first few short stories said.\u00a0 We met at a signing and they were excited to meet me because they had read my work (!!!).\u00a0 At the end of the conversation, he said, \u201cKeep writing!\u201d and my mind snatched the phrase out of the air to store in my mental safe.\u00a0 His parting words make their way out of their locked box when I am busy and haven\u2019t sat down to write in a week or when I am sure I have run out of ideas to write about.\u00a0 It\u2019s the cheerleading I didn\u2019t know I needed.<\/p>\n Keep writing.<\/p>\n You betcha.<\/p>\n K.P. KULSKI: Write what makes your heart flutter in dark joy. Be true to yourself because writing fiction can be one of most honest things we can do. Also, you are the only one who gets to decide if you have a shot at your dreams, no one else can make that decision for you and once you do, don\u2019t let anyone convince you to give up.<\/p>\n I also firmly believe in pushing each other up, in publishing, as writers and as women. Celebrate the success of others, they worked hard too.<\/p>\n DONYAE COLES: My advice is that there is no limit. Write whatever fucked up thing you just thought about, write it, it’s fine. And also, go ahead and just submit that. Keep submitting, someone will eventually say yes.<\/p>\n What’s next for you? What projects are you working on now, and what do you have coming out in the near future?<\/strong><\/p>\n JESSICA GUESS: I have short stories out now in Shiver: A Chilling Horror Anthology<\/em> and We Are Wolves<\/em>. Right now, I\u2019m plugging away at another novella. I don\u2019t know when it will be done but I think it\u2019ll be a good one.<\/p>\n GEMMA AMOR: I have a whole host of projects I am working on, some I can talk about and some I can\u2019t. I\u2019m currently writing a haunted house book called Six Rooms<\/em>, due to be published by Cemetery Gates Media soon, and have another collection of travel-themed horror stories coming out as soon as I can get around to finishing it. I have some exciting things in the works with the wonderful NoSleep podcast, and various other podcasts- including working on the second season of Calling Darkness with co-creator and co-writer S.H. Cooper. I\u2019m working on some awesome book cover art for various clients and am keeping my fingers and toes firmly crossed for some exciting projects I\u2019ve been working hard on to come to fruition- half of this game is about waiting for things to land, but I\u2019m getting better at being patient (I\u2019m really not ha ha).<\/p>\n Mostly though, I am just looking forward to a return to some semblance of normality, to meeting some of the community in person, and to rediscovering the joy of writing- so I guess, watch this space, because when this is all over I am coming for you all with a huge bottle of gin in one hand, and hugs aplenty.<\/p>\n L. MARIE WOOD: So many things!\u00a0 I mentioned that The Promise Keeper<\/em> is coming out in February.\u00a0 I will also have a few other releases this year, including the second book of The Realm series called Cacophony<\/em>, which comes out in October.\u00a0 I will be presenting at the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference at StokerCon and I\u2019ll be ready for MultiverseCon later in the year.\u00a0 There are other things that I can\u2019t talk about yet (ooh, so cloak and dagger!) but check me out online to stay up to date:<\/p>\n www.lmariewood.com<\/a> (there is a blog you can sign up for!)<\/p>\n Twitter:\u00a0 @LMarieWood1<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Unfortunate-Elements-of-My-Anatomy.jpg\")
<\/a>HAILEY PIPER: Find your sisters in the genre; we uplift each other. Know that taking time and space for you to write is not a selfish thing, because inevitably someone is going to tell you it is. They’re wrong. The piece of advice that’s greatly helped me is to treat rejection as part of writing, not as an adversary. I like that better myself; I’m not about adversaries and conquering. Everything exists in cycles.<\/p>\n<\/a>ANGELA SLATTER: Gods, there\u2019s a lot but I think the following are probably most relevant at the moment:<\/p>\n\n
<\/a>LAUREL HIGHTOWER: Get involved! I realize I just got done saying you can\u2019t stay plugged in all the time, and social media isn\u2019t for everyone, but every single good thing that\u2019s happened in my writing career has been through Twitter. Join groups like the Ladies of Horror Fiction, read and plug other writer\u2019s books. And don\u2019t be afraid to embrace writing what speaks to you. Make it female as hell, make it gay, imbue it with every part of your personal experience. Make it brutal or quiet or whatever speaks to you. It\u2019s recent advice, but Tim Waggoner noted in WRITING IN THE DARK that his agent told him not to be afraid to write horror, and that was big for me. I\u2019d been twisting myself in knots trying to write something that wouldn\u2019t get endless rejections that boiled down to \u201ctoo many ghosts.\u201d Guess what? I love<\/em> ghosts, and I love horror, and it\u2019s my genre. So write what brings you joy.<\/p>\n<\/a>DONYAE COLES: As I am answering these questions I have a couple of full manuscripts that will be going on submission soon. One is a slasher, the other is Gothic. Fingers crossed, trying to get that book money. I have shorts coming out in a Cemetery Gates antho, Nightmare Magazine, Pseudopod and Fantasy Magazine so follow me on twitter to keep abreast of those.<\/p>\n