#authorinterview — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #authorinterview, aggregated by home.social.
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In my new interview with author Tim Weed, he calls his new novel "The Gatepost" a "hallucinatory thriller," a portal fantasy story, a near-future sci-fi novel, "or simply a literary speculative novel incorporating elements of all of the above."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-the-gatepost-author-tim-weed/
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#TimWeed #TimWeedInterview #TimWeedTheGatepost #TimWeedTheGatepostInterview #Books #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpeculativeFiction #PortalFantasy #HallucinatoryThriller -
Author Craig Higginson isn't the first person to write a story after taking a trip. But he may be the first to ever say — as he does in this exclusive interview — that he wrote his murder mystery / war novel "Shadow Country" after taking a trip to write a musical.
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-shadow-country-author-craig-higginson/
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#CraigHigginson #CraigHigginsonInterview #CraigHigginsonShadowCountry #CraigHigginsonShadowCountryInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #Mystery -
In writing her near-future science fiction thriller novel "Cash And Gravity," author Perrin Pring not only took influence from the classic sci-fi books she's read, but also her work as a park ranger. To find out how, check out this exclusive interview.
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-cash-and-gravity-author-perrin-pring/
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#PerrinPring #PerrinPringInterview #PerrinPringCashAndGravity #PerrinPringCashAndGravityInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #ScienceFiction #SciFi #Thriller -
ADC Interview with Author Evie Pearman! What does gothic fiction bring to the literary world? Full interview at the link. #writing #writerlife #author #authorinterview buff.ly/k6ApfaF
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ADC Interview with Author Evie Pearman! What does gothic fiction bring to the literary world? Full interview at the link. #writing #writerlife #author #authorinterview buff.ly/k6ApfaF
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ADC Interview with Author Evie Pearman! What does gothic fiction bring to the literary world? Full interview at the link. #writing #writerlife #author #authorinterview buff.ly/k6ApfaF
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ADC Interview with Author Evie Pearman! What does gothic fiction bring to the literary world? Full interview at the link. #writing #writerlife #author #authorinterview buff.ly/k6ApfaF
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ADC Interview with Author Evie Pearman! What does gothic fiction bring to the literary world? Full interview at the link. #writing #writerlife #author #authorinterview buff.ly/k6ApfaF
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How My Debut Book “Wonderment Within Weirdness” Won a 4-Star Literary Titan Award
There are moments in life that do not fully register at first. Moments where you stare at a screen, reread the same sentence multiple times, and wonder if what you are seeing is actually real. For me, one of those moments came when I found out that my debut book, Wonderment Within Weirdness, had received a 4-star silver award from the Literary Titan. Now, before anyone misunderstands what I am saying, no, the Literary Titan award is not the Pulitzer Prize. It is not one of those century-old […] -
Award-winning Historical Fiction writer John F. Andrews talks about his 2nd career as a writer and the stories that spurred his novels.
#calzone #authorinterview #historicalfiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhP6kVlbNqU -
Confabulation Episode 2: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello, on Hawaii plantations and writing
In the second Confabulation episode with author Lana Casiello, we talk some more about Hawaiian colonialism and the plantations in Hawaii. We also delve into Casiello’s stories and writing.
If you haven’t watched the first episode yet, you can catch up by watching it here.
Be sure to subscribe to my blog to follow along and get the latest updates on Confabulation episodes. Episodes are also uploaded to my Instagram and Facebook accounts, if you want to follow along there.
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Confabulation Episode 2: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello, on Hawaii plantations and writing
In the second Confabulation episode with author Lana Casiello, we talk some more about Hawaiian colonialism and the plantations in Hawaii. We also delve into Casiello’s stories and writing.
If you haven’t watched the first episode yet, you can catch up by watching it here.
Be sure to subscribe to my blog to follow along and get the latest updates on Confabulation episodes. Episodes are also uploaded to my Instagram and Facebook accounts, if you want to follow along there.
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Confabulation Episode 2: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello, on Hawaii plantations and writing
In the second Confabulation episode with author Lana Casiello, we talk some more about Hawaiian colonialism and the plantations in Hawaii. We also delve into Casiello’s stories and writing.
If you haven’t watched the first episode yet, you can catch up by watching it here.
Be sure to subscribe to my blog to follow along and get the latest updates on Confabulation episodes. Episodes are also uploaded to my Instagram and Facebook accounts, if you want to follow along there.
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Confabulation Episode 2: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello, on Hawaii plantations and writing
In the second Confabulation episode with author Lana Casiello, we talk some more about Hawaiian colonialism and the plantations in Hawaii. We also delve into Casiello’s stories and writing.
If you haven’t watched the first episode yet, you can catch up by watching it here.
Be sure to subscribe to my blog to follow along and get the latest updates on Confabulation episodes. Episodes are also uploaded to my Instagram and Facebook accounts, if you want to follow along there.
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Confabulation Episode 2: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello, on Hawaii plantations and writing
In the second Confabulation episode with author Lana Casiello, we talk some more about Hawaiian colonialism and the plantations in Hawaii. We also delve into Casiello’s stories and writing.
If you haven’t watched the first episode yet, you can catch up by watching it here.
Be sure to subscribe to my blog to follow along and get the latest updates on Confabulation episodes. Episodes are also uploaded to my Instagram and Facebook accounts, if you want to follow along there.
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Take Five Interview: Rachel Toalson and MY BROTHER OLIVER
We don’t know about you, but we are feeling SO inspired by our WU contributors this weekend! Particularly by today’s featured author, Rachel Toalson. You’re invited to take a sneak peek at Rachel’s newest book, MY BROTHER OLIVER, which releases this Tuesday, May 19th. The book has already earned THREE starred reviews, and heaps of praise, including this:
” Told with tension and excellent pace, this is a heart-wrenching tale about the most difficult kind of forgiveness: forgiving oneself.” ― –School Library Journal, (in one of the aforementioned starred reviews)
Are you as anxious to hear more as we were? Here’s Rachel!
Q1: What’s the premise of your new book?
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/17/take-five-interview-rachel-toalson-and-my-brother-oliver/ -
Take Five Interview: Rachel Toalson and MY BROTHER OLIVER
We don’t know about you, but we are feeling SO inspired by our WU contributors this weekend! Particularly by today’s featured author, Rachel Toalson. You’re invited to take a sneak peek at Rachel’s newest book, MY BROTHER OLIVER, which releases this Tuesday, May 19th. The book has already earned THREE starred reviews, and heaps of praise, including this:
” Told with tension and excellent pace, this is a heart-wrenching tale about the most difficult kind of forgiveness: forgiving oneself.” ― –School Library Journal, (in one of the aforementioned starred reviews)
Are you as anxious to hear more as we were? Here’s Rachel!
Q1: What’s the premise of your new book?
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/17/take-five-interview-rachel-toalson-and-my-brother-oliver/ -
Take Five Interview: Rachel Toalson and MY BROTHER OLIVER
We don’t know about you, but we are feeling SO inspired by our WU contributors this weekend! Particularly by today’s featured author, Rachel Toalson. You’re invited to take a sneak peek at Rachel’s newest book, MY BROTHER OLIVER, which releases this Tuesday, May 19th. The book has already earned THREE starred reviews, and heaps of praise, including this:
” Told with tension and excellent pace, this is a heart-wrenching tale about the most difficult kind of forgiveness: forgiving oneself.” ― –School Library Journal, (in one of the aforementioned starred reviews)
Are you as anxious to hear more as we were? Here’s Rachel!
Q1: What’s the premise of your new book?
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/17/take-five-interview-rachel-toalson-and-my-brother-oliver/ -
Take Five Interview: Rachel Toalson and MY BROTHER OLIVER
We don’t know about you, but we are feeling SO inspired by our WU contributors this weekend! Particularly by today’s featured author, Rachel Toalson. You’re invited to take a sneak peek at Rachel’s newest book, MY BROTHER OLIVER, which releases this Tuesday, May 19th. The book has already earned THREE starred reviews, and heaps of praise, including this:
” Told with tension and excellent pace, this is a heart-wrenching tale about the most difficult kind of forgiveness: forgiving oneself.” ― –School Library Journal, (in one of the aforementioned starred reviews)
Are you as anxious to hear more as we were? Here’s Rachel!
Q1: What’s the premise of your new book?
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/17/take-five-interview-rachel-toalson-and-my-brother-oliver/ -
Take Five Interview: Heather Webb and THE HOPE KEEPER
We are thrilled to bring you an advance look at the upcoming book from longtime WU contributor Heather Webb. THE HOPE KEEPER releases next Tuesday, May 19th, and is already receiving loads of pre-release buzz, including this:
The Hope Keeper is an Editor’s Choice for the Historical Novel Society Review, and Library Journal says, “Readers will be dazzled by Webb’s well-researched and well-written novel.”
Ready to hear more? Here’s Heather!
Q1: What’s the premise of your new book?
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/16/take-five-interview-heather-webb-and-the-hope-keeper/ -
Take Five Interview: Heather Webb and THE HOPE KEEPER
We are thrilled to bring you an advance look at the upcoming book from longtime WU contributor Heather Webb. THE HOPE KEEPER releases next Tuesday, May 19th, and is already receiving loads of pre-release buzz, including this:
The Hope Keeper is an Editor’s Choice for the Historical Novel Society Review, and Library Journal says, “Readers will be dazzled by Webb’s well-researched and well-written novel.”
Ready to hear more? Here’s Heather!
Q1: What’s the premise of your new book?
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/16/take-five-interview-heather-webb-and-the-hope-keeper/ -
Take Five Interview: Heather Webb and THE HOPE KEEPER
We are thrilled to bring you an advance look at the upcoming book from longtime WU contributor Heather Webb. THE HOPE KEEPER releases next Tuesday, May 19th, and is already receiving loads of pre-release buzz, including this:
The Hope Keeper is an Editor’s Choice for the Historical Novel Society Review, and Library Journal says, “Readers will be dazzled by Webb’s well-researched and well-written novel.”
Ready to hear more? Here’s Heather!
Q1: What’s the premise of your new book?
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/16/take-five-interview-heather-webb-and-the-hope-keeper/ -
Take Five Interview: Heather Webb and THE HOPE KEEPER
We are thrilled to bring you an advance look at the upcoming book from longtime WU contributor Heather Webb. THE HOPE KEEPER releases next Tuesday, May 19th, and is already receiving loads of pre-release buzz, including this:
The Hope Keeper is an Editor’s Choice for the Historical Novel Society Review, and Library Journal says, “Readers will be dazzled by Webb’s well-researched and well-written novel.”
Ready to hear more? Here’s Heather!
Q1: What’s the premise of your new book?
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/16/take-five-interview-heather-webb-and-the-hope-keeper/ -
We all had dark thoughts during the pandemic. But as he discusses in this exclusive interview, author Andrew Dana Hudson had some especially grim ones ... which he turned into his new cosmic mystery novel, "Absence."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-absence-author-andrew-dana-hudson/
📖☀️📋
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#AndrewDanaHudson #AndrewDanaHudsonInterview #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsence #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsenceInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #Mystery #CosmicMystery -
We all had dark thoughts during the pandemic. But as he discusses in this exclusive interview, author Andrew Dana Hudson had some especially grim ones ... which he turned into his new cosmic mystery novel, "Absence."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-absence-author-andrew-dana-hudson/
📖☀️📋
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#AndrewDanaHudson #AndrewDanaHudsonInterview #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsence #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsenceInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #Mystery #CosmicMystery -
We all had dark thoughts during the pandemic. But as he discusses in this exclusive interview, author Andrew Dana Hudson had some especially grim ones ... which he turned into his new cosmic mystery novel, "Absence."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-absence-author-andrew-dana-hudson/
📖☀️📋
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#AndrewDanaHudson #AndrewDanaHudsonInterview #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsence #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsenceInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #Mystery #CosmicMystery -
We all had dark thoughts during the pandemic. But as he discusses in this exclusive interview, author Andrew Dana Hudson had some especially grim ones ... which he turned into his new cosmic mystery novel, "Absence."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-absence-author-andrew-dana-hudson/
📖☀️📋
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#AndrewDanaHudson #AndrewDanaHudsonInterview #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsence #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsenceInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #Mystery #CosmicMystery -
We all had dark thoughts during the pandemic. But as he discusses in this exclusive interview, author Andrew Dana Hudson had some especially grim ones ... which he turned into his new cosmic mystery novel, "Absence."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-absence-author-andrew-dana-hudson/
📖☀️📋
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#AndrewDanaHudson #AndrewDanaHudsonInterview #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsence #AndrewDanaHudsonAbsenceInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #Mystery #CosmicMystery -
Confabulation Episode 1: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello
https://vimeo.com/1192111445?fl=pl&fe=sh
Here is the first of three episodes where I interviewed horror author @lana_casiello. Originally uploaded in full to YouTube, I’ve decided to bring my writing world interview series, Confabulation, to other places. I’ve also decided I’ll be breaking these interviews into episodes moving forward.
In this first episode, Lana and I discuss colonialism in Hawaii and her Hawaiian heritage. More to come in the next episodes, so stay tuned. Follow the blog if you like this Confabulation series. I interview authors, publishers, and other writerly types.
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Confabulation Episode 1: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello
https://vimeo.com/1192111445?fl=pl&fe=sh
Here is the first of three episodes where I interviewed horror author @lana_casiello. Originally uploaded in full to YouTube, I’ve decided to bring my writing world interview series, Confabulation, to other places. I’ve also decided I’ll be breaking these interviews into episodes moving forward.
In this first episode, Lana and I discuss colonialism in Hawaii and her Hawaiian heritage. More to come in the next episodes, so stay tuned. Follow the blog if you like this Confabulation series. I interview authors, publishers, and other writerly types.
-
Confabulation Episode 1: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello
https://vimeo.com/1192111445?fl=pl&fe=sh
Here is the first of three episodes where I interviewed horror author @lana_casiello. Originally uploaded in full to YouTube, I’ve decided to bring my writing world interview series, Confabulation, to other places. I’ve also decided I’ll be breaking these interviews into episodes moving forward.
In this first episode, Lana and I discuss colonialism in Hawaii and her Hawaiian heritage. More to come in the next episodes, so stay tuned. Follow the blog if you like this Confabulation series. I interview authors, publishers, and other writerly types.
-
Confabulation Episode 1: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello
https://vimeo.com/1192111445?fl=pl&fe=sh
Here is the first of three episodes where I interviewed horror author @lana_casiello. Originally uploaded in full to YouTube, I’ve decided to bring my writing world interview series, Confabulation, to other places. I’ve also decided I’ll be breaking these interviews into episodes moving forward.
In this first episode, Lana and I discuss colonialism in Hawaii and her Hawaiian heritage. More to come in the next episodes, so stay tuned. Follow the blog if you like this Confabulation series. I interview authors, publishers, and other writerly types.
-
Confabulation Episode 1: Author interview of horror author Lana Casiello
https://vimeo.com/1192111445?fl=pl&fe=sh
Here is the first of three episodes where I interviewed horror author @lana_casiello. Originally uploaded in full to YouTube, I’ve decided to bring my writing world interview series, Confabulation, to other places. I’ve also decided I’ll be breaking these interviews into episodes moving forward.
In this first episode, Lana and I discuss colonialism in Hawaii and her Hawaiian heritage. More to come in the next episodes, so stay tuned. Follow the blog if you like this Confabulation series. I interview authors, publishers, and other writerly types.
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In my new interview with author S.A. Schneider, he talks about how his new supernatural mystery novel, "The Bigfoot Case" is like, "'Scooby-Doo' meets 'The X-Files' as written by Lemony Snicket."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-the-bigfoot-case-author-s-a-schneider/
📖🙈
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#SASchneider #SASchneiderInterview #SASchneiderTheBigfootCase #SASchneiderTheBigfootCaseInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #SupernaturalMystery #Bigfoot -
In my new interview with author S.A. Schneider, he talks about how his new supernatural mystery novel, "The Bigfoot Case" is like, "'Scooby-Doo' meets 'The X-Files' as written by Lemony Snicket."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-the-bigfoot-case-author-s-a-schneider/
📖🙈
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#SASchneider #SASchneiderInterview #SASchneiderTheBigfootCase #SASchneiderTheBigfootCaseInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #SupernaturalMystery #Bigfoot -
In my new interview with author S.A. Schneider, he talks about how his new supernatural mystery novel, "The Bigfoot Case" is like, "'Scooby-Doo' meets 'The X-Files' as written by Lemony Snicket."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-the-bigfoot-case-author-s-a-schneider/
📖🙈
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
#SASchneider #SASchneiderInterview #SASchneiderTheBigfootCase #SASchneiderTheBigfootCaseInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #SupernaturalMystery #Bigfoot -
In my new interview with author S.A. Schneider, he talks about how his new supernatural mystery novel, "The Bigfoot Case" is like, "'Scooby-Doo' meets 'The X-Files' as written by Lemony Snicket."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-the-bigfoot-case-author-s-a-schneider/
📖🙈
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
#SASchneider #SASchneiderInterview #SASchneiderTheBigfootCase #SASchneiderTheBigfootCaseInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #SupernaturalMystery #Bigfoot -
In my new interview with author S.A. Schneider, he talks about how his new supernatural mystery novel, "The Bigfoot Case" is like, "'Scooby-Doo' meets 'The X-Files' as written by Lemony Snicket."
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-the-bigfoot-case-author-s-a-schneider/
📖🙈
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
#SASchneider #SASchneiderInterview #SASchneiderTheBigfootCase #SASchneiderTheBigfootCaseInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #SupernaturalMystery #Bigfoot -
Author Spotlight: Gothic Horror author Julie Lew
Julie Lew (she/they) loves all things fantasy and horror, the darker and queerer the better. They are the author of adult gothic horror novel, THE WIVES OF HERRICK HALL (May 2026), and the YA fantasy mystery, DEATH IN VERSE (Fall 2026). She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her partner, and when she’s not writing books about the magical and the monstrous, she’s likely playing endless games of fetch with her chihuahua-terrier mix pup Kody.
AUTHOR LINKS:
Website: www.julielew.com
Instagram: @julielew
Links to books: linktr.ee/julielew
BOOK PITCH:
Herrick Hall doesn’t let anything go without a fight. Least of all its masters’ dead wives…
After a dalliance with another woman leaves her reputation in shambles, Josephine Carter is banished to the isolated manor to serve as lady’s companion to Herrick’s mistress. Lady Nora Blake is a headstrong, capricious woman, who spends her days convalescing from a mysterious illness—and her nights witnessing her imminent death over and over. Shackled to her side, Josephine is certain life could not get worse. But then she meets the Herrick wives.
Ghosts veiled in shadow stalk the halls and trespass into Josephine’s dreams, trapped forever in the fury of their last dying wish: to destroy Herrick and everyone beneath its roof. Josephine determines to escape by any means necessary. Until she and Nora fall in love.
Together, Josephine and Nora must confront Herrick’s curse to battle their way to freedom. But Herrick has already claimed them as its next ghostly brides, and neither the house nor its vengeful wives will relinquish them without bloodshed…
Wives of Herrick Hall by Julie Lew, published by Quill & CrowThe Wives of Herrick Hall is your Gothic Horror debut novel, released in May 2026 by Quill & Crow. Can you tell us where the seed for this novel came from, and what came first – setting, character, premise, or something else?
The seed for The Wives of Herrick Hall was planted way back in 2019, while I was balancing working in the entertainment industry by day and attending film school at USC by night. Back then, I wrote screenplays during my free time (like literally everyone else in LA!), and after watching Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” and then Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” I began toying around with an idea about two women falling in love in a cursed house.
I’ve always adored sweeping historical romances and eerie gothic tales (both as a reader and moviegoer), but as a queer person, it’s always been hard to find myself in those stories—that someone like me could conquer evil or find joy or deserve a happy ending. I knew I wanted to play in that sandbox and that my protagonists would be sapphic, but I struggled breaking that story out as a screenplay. I kept wanting to slip inside my protagonist Josephine’s mind and explore what she was thinking—something that’s more difficult to get away with in a visually-driven form like screenwriting. But when I decided to tinker with the idea as a novel instead of a screenplay, everything just fell into place and the story began to work at last.
Although it’s Gothic Horror, a major theme in this novel is Queer Joy, specifically a romance between the central characters Josephine and Nora. Can you share what you think about the importance of sapphic/queer stories in a genre like gothic horror/historical fiction, and especially in context of queer joy as a theme, rather than tragedy?
From the outset, I knew that while the book wouldn’t ignore the homophobia and discrimination queer people faced in the time period in which the book is set, it would never be solely *about* that.
Traditionally, mainstream media tends to tell queer stories (when it tells them at all) as ones predominantly steeped in trauma and tragedy. While these types of stories are absolutely valid and powerful, we deserve stories that are as diverse as we are.
Dark and horrible things can and certainly do happen in Wives, but I’ve always wanted Josephine and Nora’s romance to be the light at the heart of the book. We get to fight ghosts and the patriarchy AND win the girl at the end.
What other Gothic themes can readers expect within the book, and how does centering female characters and their experiences help to draw out these themes? (Mirroring/Doubling is a pretty Gothic thing, would you say that there is an element of this in their experiences too?)
The theme of doubling definitely appears in Wives! Josephine is well aware of her limitations as a woman in her time period, and as a newcomer to Herrick, she sees her own fate in both her mistress Nora and the ghosts who are trapped in the house.
The phantom wives and their undying fury show Josephine what she stands to lose if she remains at Herrick: she’ll be stripped of humanity, reduced to a single potent emotion, and lose complete control over herself for eternity.
Some of my other favorite gothic themes that make their way into Wives’ pages are curses and nightmares, as well as psychological stability and doubting your own and others’ minds. Josephine’s mistress and eventual love interest, Nora, has received the medical diagnosis of her female mind being unstable and untrustworthy, and so it’s easy for men (and even Josephine at first) to dismiss her—especially when she makes claims like she witnesses her death every night in her dreams.
Society tries to condition us to doubt people who are not straight, white men, and I wanted to explore this through the gothic lens of heightened emotions and the appearance of the supernatural.
Where did the concept for the ghosts come from, and what ghostly traditions were you drawing on to create/develop them?
The concept for the ghosts came about as I was thinking about the patriarchy and the entitlement men feel towards women’s bodies. What does that look like in this house that is a mirror to society?
For me, that meant the house holding onto them like property even after death. The previous wives of Herrick cannot pass or leave Herrick after dying, but are still shackled to it like the silverware in the cupboards or their portraits on the walls.
Women as victims is a common trope in classic gothic fiction, and I wanted to subvert that—yes, they find themselves trapped in a house and their circumstances don’t permit them to escape, but they are going to fight back and be their own saviors.
How did you develop Herrick Hall itself – is there a real place/places that it’s based on? How much detail did you go into to create it as a setting?
I love creating stories in isolated, contained settings like a sinister mansion or a remote boarding school. Setting becomes such a microcosm of the story’s world that puts a magnifying glass up to our own world and politics, and tension immediately becomes that much higher (how do you get out? how do you survive?).
With Herrick, I was inspired by the eerie mansions of gothic tales like Thornfield in Jane Eyre and High Place in Mexican Gothic. I wanted Herrick to feel like another character in the book, though the house remains inanimate (or does it??), another foe Josephine must contend with to win her happy ending.
I created a detailed look book for Herrick and the book’s characters, back when it was originally conceived of as a screenplay. Before every writing session, I’d listen to a few songs from my themed playlist (lots of eerie instrumental music) and revisit the look book while taking a walk. Then when I felt really immersed in the world and like I could envision the cinematic trailer in my mind, I’d hurry to my laptop to get more words on the page.
Do you have anything else to plug here that is currently out or coming soon? What should readers look out for?
I am so incredibly lucky to be publishing two debuts in 2026! My young adult debut comes out this fall, a dark fantasy murder mystery called Death in Verse.
Set in an alternate 1920s with a poetry-based magic system, it follows a nonmagical girl whose search for her missing mother leads her to an abandoned school where she and a group of kidnapped poets are tasked with finishing the final lines of a spell before the clock runs out. It’s a bit different from The Wives of Herrick Hall, but it is also steeped in a gothic sensibility and I hope readers enjoy it as well!
Get the bookLike This? Try These:
Subscribe to my newsletter to stay updated! I send newsletters around once a month. You can also subscribe to my site so you don't miss a post, but I also do a post round-up in my monthly newsletters, along with what I've been working on, what I've been reading, and what I've been watching. I will often update newsletter subscribers first with news, so stay ahead of the game with my announcements and discount codes, etc! #AuthorInterview #AuthorSpotlight #GothicFiction #WomenInHorror -
Author Spotlight: Gothic Horror author Julie Lew
Julie Lew (she/they) loves all things fantasy and horror, the darker and queerer the better. They are the author of adult gothic horror novel, THE WIVES OF HERRICK HALL (May 2026), and the YA fantasy mystery, DEATH IN VERSE (Fall 2026). She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her partner, and when she’s not writing books about the magical and the monstrous, she’s likely playing endless games of fetch with her chihuahua-terrier mix pup Kody.
AUTHOR LINKS:
Website: www.julielew.com
Instagram: @julielew
Links to books: linktr.ee/julielew
BOOK PITCH:
Herrick Hall doesn’t let anything go without a fight. Least of all its masters’ dead wives…
After a dalliance with another woman leaves her reputation in shambles, Josephine Carter is banished to the isolated manor to serve as lady’s companion to Herrick’s mistress. Lady Nora Blake is a headstrong, capricious woman, who spends her days convalescing from a mysterious illness—and her nights witnessing her imminent death over and over. Shackled to her side, Josephine is certain life could not get worse. But then she meets the Herrick wives.
Ghosts veiled in shadow stalk the halls and trespass into Josephine’s dreams, trapped forever in the fury of their last dying wish: to destroy Herrick and everyone beneath its roof. Josephine determines to escape by any means necessary. Until she and Nora fall in love.
Together, Josephine and Nora must confront Herrick’s curse to battle their way to freedom. But Herrick has already claimed them as its next ghostly brides, and neither the house nor its vengeful wives will relinquish them without bloodshed…
Wives of Herrick Hall by Julie Lew, published by Quill & CrowThe Wives of Herrick Hall is your Gothic Horror debut novel, released in May 2026 by Quill & Crow. Can you tell us where the seed for this novel came from, and what came first – setting, character, premise, or something else?
The seed for The Wives of Herrick Hall was planted way back in 2019, while I was balancing working in the entertainment industry by day and attending film school at USC by night. Back then, I wrote screenplays during my free time (like literally everyone else in LA!), and after watching Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” and then Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” I began toying around with an idea about two women falling in love in a cursed house.
I’ve always adored sweeping historical romances and eerie gothic tales (both as a reader and moviegoer), but as a queer person, it’s always been hard to find myself in those stories—that someone like me could conquer evil or find joy or deserve a happy ending. I knew I wanted to play in that sandbox and that my protagonists would be sapphic, but I struggled breaking that story out as a screenplay. I kept wanting to slip inside my protagonist Josephine’s mind and explore what she was thinking—something that’s more difficult to get away with in a visually-driven form like screenwriting. But when I decided to tinker with the idea as a novel instead of a screenplay, everything just fell into place and the story began to work at last.
Although it’s Gothic Horror, a major theme in this novel is Queer Joy, specifically a romance between the central characters Josephine and Nora. Can you share what you think about the importance of sapphic/queer stories in a genre like gothic horror/historical fiction, and especially in context of queer joy as a theme, rather than tragedy?
From the outset, I knew that while the book wouldn’t ignore the homophobia and discrimination queer people faced in the time period in which the book is set, it would never be solely *about* that.
Traditionally, mainstream media tends to tell queer stories (when it tells them at all) as ones predominantly steeped in trauma and tragedy. While these types of stories are absolutely valid and powerful, we deserve stories that are as diverse as we are.
Dark and horrible things can and certainly do happen in Wives, but I’ve always wanted Josephine and Nora’s romance to be the light at the heart of the book. We get to fight ghosts and the patriarchy AND win the girl at the end.
What other Gothic themes can readers expect within the book, and how does centering female characters and their experiences help to draw out these themes? (Mirroring/Doubling is a pretty Gothic thing, would you say that there is an element of this in their experiences too?)
The theme of doubling definitely appears in Wives! Josephine is well aware of her limitations as a woman in her time period, and as a newcomer to Herrick, she sees her own fate in both her mistress Nora and the ghosts who are trapped in the house.
The phantom wives and their undying fury show Josephine what she stands to lose if she remains at Herrick: she’ll be stripped of humanity, reduced to a single potent emotion, and lose complete control over herself for eternity.
Some of my other favorite gothic themes that make their way into Wives’ pages are curses and nightmares, as well as psychological stability and doubting your own and others’ minds. Josephine’s mistress and eventual love interest, Nora, has received the medical diagnosis of her female mind being unstable and untrustworthy, and so it’s easy for men (and even Josephine at first) to dismiss her—especially when she makes claims like she witnesses her death every night in her dreams.
Society tries to condition us to doubt people who are not straight, white men, and I wanted to explore this through the gothic lens of heightened emotions and the appearance of the supernatural.
Where did the concept for the ghosts come from, and what ghostly traditions were you drawing on to create/develop them?
The concept for the ghosts came about as I was thinking about the patriarchy and the entitlement men feel towards women’s bodies. What does that look like in this house that is a mirror to society?
For me, that meant the house holding onto them like property even after death. The previous wives of Herrick cannot pass or leave Herrick after dying, but are still shackled to it like the silverware in the cupboards or their portraits on the walls.
Women as victims is a common trope in classic gothic fiction, and I wanted to subvert that—yes, they find themselves trapped in a house and their circumstances don’t permit them to escape, but they are going to fight back and be their own saviors.
How did you develop Herrick Hall itself – is there a real place/places that it’s based on? How much detail did you go into to create it as a setting?
I love creating stories in isolated, contained settings like a sinister mansion or a remote boarding school. Setting becomes such a microcosm of the story’s world that puts a magnifying glass up to our own world and politics, and tension immediately becomes that much higher (how do you get out? how do you survive?).
With Herrick, I was inspired by the eerie mansions of gothic tales like Thornfield in Jane Eyre and High Place in Mexican Gothic. I wanted Herrick to feel like another character in the book, though the house remains inanimate (or does it??), another foe Josephine must contend with to win her happy ending.
I created a detailed look book for Herrick and the book’s characters, back when it was originally conceived of as a screenplay. Before every writing session, I’d listen to a few songs from my themed playlist (lots of eerie instrumental music) and revisit the look book while taking a walk. Then when I felt really immersed in the world and like I could envision the cinematic trailer in my mind, I’d hurry to my laptop to get more words on the page.
Do you have anything else to plug here that is currently out or coming soon? What should readers look out for?
I am so incredibly lucky to be publishing two debuts in 2026! My young adult debut comes out this fall, a dark fantasy murder mystery called Death in Verse.
Set in an alternate 1920s with a poetry-based magic system, it follows a nonmagical girl whose search for her missing mother leads her to an abandoned school where she and a group of kidnapped poets are tasked with finishing the final lines of a spell before the clock runs out. It’s a bit different from The Wives of Herrick Hall, but it is also steeped in a gothic sensibility and I hope readers enjoy it as well!
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May 30th: Armanis Ar-feinial Interview (main channel), How I Would Rework MK5 (2nd channel)
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May 30th: Armanis Ar-feinial Interview (main channel), How I Would Rework MK5 (2nd channel)
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May 30th: Armanis Ar-feinial Interview (main channel), How I Would Rework MK5 (2nd channel)
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Author Spotlight: Black Sapphic Vampire Romance author Liza Wemakor
Liza Wemakor (she/they) is a writer and a Ph.D. candidate in UC Riverside’s English Department. Her fiction has been published in Strange Horizons, Anathema Magazine, Baffling Magazine, and elsewhere. Her debut novella, Loving Safoa, was published by Neon Hemlock Press in February 2024.
AUTHOR LINKS:
Website: www.lizawemakor.com
Instagram: @lizawemakor
Bluesky: @lizawemakor.bsky.socialBook Link: Loving Safoa (Neon Hemlock)
Book Elevator Pitch for readers/book clubs
If you enjoy paranormal romance with literary stylings, you will enjoy Loving Safoa!
Get a copy from Neon Hemlock.Your novella, Loving Safoa, is out now with Neon Hemlock. What were your main inspirations behind this sapphic vampire novella?
I wanted to write a vampire story that reflected underrepresented elements of my worldview. It seemed sensible to lean into Safoa’s experience of being an undocumented immigrant in the Western world across a long expanse of time, and to demonstrate how this extended period of uncertainty and precarity forces Safoa into survival mode. Meanwhile, she is also recovering from the trauma of being held captive by a sadistic colonizer for a number of years, as well as experiencing new kinds of freedom in New York, and eventually Maryland.
Cynthia, on the other hand, feels orphaned — she is navigating adulthood without her mother or any other parent, yet becoming a maternal figure to her students. She also feels a level of insecurity about her connection to her motherland, as a Ghanaian-American woman, and faces this head-on in her relationship with Safoa, who she imagines as a pure embodiment of African identity. Safoa and Cynthia’s lives are quite complex, and together they tell a story of diasporic reunification.
The novella features woven stories from different places and time periods, from 18th-19thC Ghana to a near-future Maryland. How did you decide what segments of these characters’ lives to include, and were there scenes and times that you played with but ultimately decided to cut?
I wanted to maintain a focus on Cynthia and Safoa’s romance, so I omitted some portions of their lives before they met; I may have explored more of those past moments in a longer project, like a novel, but a novella length felt right for this story. I wanted the passage of time to be a bit surreal, because it is surreal to have lives as long as Cynthia and Safoa’s. Time itself and the details of their lives are a blur.
I was seriously toying with showing glimpses of Safoa’s life in London — her lovers, and her brief skirmishes with other European predators. I would’ve emphasized how she was simultaneously powerful and vulnerable to exploitative people, which motivated her departure to the U.S. after a few decades. I didn’t include these scenes because Cynthia may have been lost in the larger narrative — there wouldn’t have been as much of a balanced representation of their lives, and Safoa would have taken over the story.
How does vampirism and the donor concept work in your novella, and is this based on any folklore?
I was very inspired by Jewelle Gomez’s approach to vampire networks in The Gilda Stories — vampire communities that are explicitly political, and whose politics have been informed by their previous experiences of being hurt, exploited, and truly loved.
I was also inspired by Octavia Butler’s approaches to both community and feeding in Fledgling. Shori depends upon a host of human companions and vampires while navigating a white supremacist vampire hierarchy. Shori’s companions also gain a lot from her presence, in a symbiotic fashion.
Tamara Jerée wrote beautifully about these dynamics in her Strange Horizons essay, “How to Make a Family: Queer Blood Bonds in Black Feminist Vampire Novels“.
There was a hint of Ghanaian folklore in the novella, though I took creative liberties. Safoa and a character named Yaba occasionally refer to the first vampire they met as ‘ɔbonsam’ — or a demonic entity. In some Ghanaian folklore, there are vampiric, humanoid creatures called ɔbonsam or sasabonsam that have very long hair, like Safoa does at some point, and live / feed on people in the forest. I didn’t opt to include other details like sharp teeth and bat-like features in my depiction of vampires. Tongue feeding was more fun for a smutty sapphic story.
At some point in my life I encountered myths related to the obayifo (another West African vampire) as well, and I took liberties with the factoid that they are phosphorescent, i.e. when Cynthia noticed a blue aura around Safoa’s body.
Can you tell us more about Cynthia – where did she come from, and what made you set her as a schoolteacher in the early 1990s at the start of this novella? How did you develop her character, her voice, and her desires (e.g. to be an “everlasting elder”)?
I am one of those people who insists on a vaguely-defined, somewhat secretive spirituality that undergirds my writing practices. In the spring of 2021, Cynthia and Safoa appeared to me almost effortlessly, and I was compelled to write about them. Not long before that, I’d gotten into the Ph.D. program I am at the end of now, and I started writing feverishly before my time and energy became more limited. Cynthia and Safoa were fascinating to me, and their chemistry was palpable; at times I blushed when writing and editing their sex scenes, because it felt like an intrusion upon their privacy.
Cynthia’s life resembles my life in some ways, but not all. I haven’t lost my mother, and she (Cynthia) has spent more of her life in New York City and Maryland than I have, but her anxieties about her authenticity as a Ghanaian diasporan and her interest in teaching certainly resonate with me. I am sure that some of my own subjectivity informed how I wrote Cynthia, though a lot of it was subconscious.
I had a moodboard for both Cynthia and Safoa, and Cynthia’s moodboard included images of the actresses Nicole Beharie and Moses Ingram, and the model Dede Mansro. I was interested in channeling not only the softness of their appearances, but the moodiness and subdued seductiveness they are able to convey.
Regarding the choice to begin in the 1990s: it was a perfect fit both aesthetically and politically. The 90s was a period of intense political maturation for educators, artists, and the general public. There was, especially for queer black people, queer people of color, a mingling of death and renewal — an increasing awareness of identity (and its constructedness) mingling with the optimism of entering a new millenium. The perfect setting for politically conscious vampires to come into themselves.
Can you tell us more about Safoa, the vampire, her Ghanaian roots, her relationship with tattoos and her place in her communities across time as a body artist, and how she came to be shaped on the page? What was the character development process like for her, and was there research involved to craft her journey from 1799 onwards – if so, what research did you do?
A pattern that is emerging in my answers to these questions is that I placed Cynthia and Safoa in historical moments that were hotbeds for social resistance. I wanted Safoa to live through multiple eras of Black and African resistance, and I wanted readers to see her putting in the work to pursue what she saw as her purpose in life, which was being a body artist from the beginning, and then evolved, through meeting Cynthia, to include more social pursuits.
In writing Safoa, I revisited a few books from a class I took in college about pre-colonial African history, and I read a few books and articles about West African empires and West African mythology. I also made an effort to research some of the geography (landscapes and flora) of West Africa, and brushed up my knowledge of some Twi terms and phrases, which I grew up hearing from my maternal family. Ultimately, only some of these details made it onto the page, because making the world feel lived in required me to look at these landscapes through Safoa’s eyes.
What research did you do for the different settings in the novella, and what sociopolitical/ideological projections were you going with for the development of your near-future Maryland setting to avoid it being a utopia/dystopia?
I wanted each of the major settings of the novella, 19th century West Africa, 1990s New York City, and 1990s / 21st century Maryland, to reflect major political movements of their time. Safoa’s time in the part of West Africa we now know as Ghana was inflected with rising anticolonial sentiments. New York City is and was sensational for the community organizing within its boroughs, though it was not without the risk of violence (see: the 2003 murder of Sakia Gunn in the nearby Newark, New Jersey). Like New York City, the DMV is and was a major locus of queer arts organizing (especially literary arts) and queer political organizing, which I aimed to reflect in Cynthia and Safoa’s commune involvements.
I wouldn’t say I was consciously avoiding the story being classified as a utopia or dystopia, and this defiance of categories came about because I had naturalistic inclinations in the writing of this novella. I wanted my writing to reflect how deeply traumatic and how stunningly gorgeous people can be. For the Maryland commune in particular, I wanted to hint at the fact that there were conflicts commune members had already worked through before Cynthia and Safoa arrived, and working through these conflicts laid the groundwork for Cynthia and Safoa to soar, as cooperative leaders in their new community.
Would you ever consider expanding upon the story of Cynthia and Safoa, perhaps in a connected story, and/or are you moving on to other projects (if so, what’s next?!)
I would love to write a short story or novelette focused on Safoa’s time in London / Europe, when the time seems right to do so. I’ve written several short stories that I’m proud of since Loving Safoa came out in 2024, and it’s just been a matter of finding the right magazine at the right time for the stories that haven’t been published yet. I also have a few short stories that are in partial states, that I am slowly finishing as my dissertation takes priority.
I also have a novel project that is half-drafted! The novel project follows a polarizing, and potentially revolutionary, celebrity musician.
Beyond my own fiction, I am a nonfiction editor and finance manager for Anathema Magazine, a venue dedicated to speculation fiction by and for queer people of color that is relaunching after a 3-year hiatus — yay!
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