WRITER THINGS
How long have you been writing, and what are your preferred genres and settings?
Definitely since I was ten, writing fantasy epics in hundreds of pages
Who or what originally inspired you to try your hand at writing?
My family was big on reading, and I can’t think of a time when I didn’t have ideas for stories of my own.
What lengths of stories do you prefer, i.e. short stories/flash fiction/novels? What formats do you like to release your work in, i.e. ebook, paperback, audiobook?
I like all different lengths – the book hangover is definitely worse with longer books, but I like non-fiction, and those tend to be a few hundred pages at a time. Currently, my trilogy is in paperback, hardcover, and e-book.
What’s your publishing method – trad or self – and are there any companies, agencies, or platforms you really like working with? Are there any that you absolutely will not work with?
I published with a small company in California, but my copyrights are returned to me in November. I’m looking for a new publisher to work with for my future works.
What does your writing environment look like? Are there specific or unique features to your drafting and writing process that you feel are interesting?
Recently, my life has been pretty chaotic, but I do most of my writing either in my room on my desktop computer, or at the library on my laptop. I usually have some kind of white noise in my headphones or some low-volume music depending on my random preferences. With my current project developing my workbook, I tend to relish multiple-screens so I can dart back and forth between articles and educating myself to put my questions and explanations together.
What are your thoughts on pen names?
I think pen names can be fun and traditional, but they’re still basically a requirement for women in order to even be looked at. Ideally they wouldn’t be necessary, but they can also be incredibly entertaining, or helpful to keep different works and different occupational spheres separate.
MEATY THINGS
What, if any, social issues do you feel like you address the most in your work?
Discovery of self is important to me, as well as the promotion of platonic friendships. Romantic subplots frustrate me when they feel forced or unnatural to the story.
Are there any marginalized populations represented in your work, and how do you relate to those populations?
The Queer community is all over my books, though it can be missed occasionally since my story doesn’t have a whole lot to do with anyone’s intimate relationship at this point in time. But my main character, Donovan, is an older Black man and there are several characters in my story who aren’t white or classically beautiful or perfectly healthy, etc.
What kind of material or social impact would you like your work to have? What would you like your literary legacy to be?
I want people to get a deeper insight into themselves. I want my readers to laugh, cry, rage, wince, but I want my books to be remembered for that pensive feeling when you close the cover and just sit. And I’m proud of my fight scenes, too!
How do you think fiction that takes place in future contexts influences or describes either the present or how we collectively might turn out in the future?
I think as humans we can’t help but consider the future, at least where it intersects with our present. Fear is a motivator, excitement about change, hope, despair – I think we look to science fiction and even fantasy as something of a past-that-has-been, but with the benefit of hindsight. Maybe don’t mistreat AI so that it takes revenge, be prepared to find sentient life in spaces other than those we occupy, consider the repercussions of ship-life and how relieved people are to have a planet-home.
What kind of social critique of the present or the past do you think attracts people to write historical fiction?
I think we all have a particular fascination with one subject or another and writing historical fiction allows us to insert our favorite bits into stories we sort-of know, or know very well. I think historical fiction represents a lot of hope – ways things might have gone – and a lot of shared sadness – the depths of this dark is easier to handle with others.
PROMOTIONAL THINGS
What works are in your current bibliography?
The Unwoven Tapestry Trilogy: Seeker, Hunter, and Magus
Available only at the conference (for now) will also be my Culture Creation Workbook!
Which one(s) are you the most proud of?
Currently, the workbook. I’ve had a packet for the last couple of years and truly, it’s been a joy to work on this, and it feels like a real and tangible way to help others with things that I’m passionate about.
Do you have any social media channels that you’re especially active on? Where can people follow you (in socially acceptable ways)?
Author Morgan Chalut on Facebook
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