Hello, all! Here’s another long-belated publicity post for our new collaborative anthology (The Ceaseless Way: An Anthology of Wanderers’ Tales). This week, contributor Ada Milenkovic Brown talks about her two stories in the anthology and what led her to write them.
Again, if you’re interested in picking up a copy of this book, this is a great week to do so. The paperback version will remain on sale for $9.99 USD until January (at which point it will return to the normal price of $12.99). If you prefer ebook, it’s available on a number of platforms for $5.99 and will remain at that price. If you want to learn more about our collaboration group, Wandering Grove Press, you can join our Facebook group here or follow us on Bluesky here.
If you missed my previous interview with Fraser Sherman, you can check it out here. One more interview with contributor Allegra Gulino should be up in a couple of days.
(Ada also interviewed me, Fraser, and Allegra for this promotional mini-tour, so please check out those interviews as well!)
- Do you think your two stories are a good representation of your usual style and subject matter? Is there anything about them that’s unusual for you?
I think In Valleys is absolutely spot on the sort of thing I usually write, including the love story elements.
I was actually intending to write something more fantasy based for my Bigfoot story, Nnn’s Children, but it just came out more realistically than I expected. Other than that, it is my style to write as plausibly as possible within the framework of the story world. So maybe it is in my usual style too. - What’s one style or plot element you’d like to “steal” from another contributor?
If I could bottle Rich Matrunick’s tone/mood/voice in Fading, I would bathe in it, metaphorically speaking. Other than that, I envy everyone else’s apparent ease with getting their stories to arc in a satisfying way. It is so so hard for me to find that in the initial stages of writing my fiction. - Are there any anthologies or collections you’ve really enjoyed reading lately?
I loved and learned a lot about what makes stories work from Charlie Jane Anders’ collection Ever Greater Mistakes. - What writers have had the greatest influence on you throughout your writing journey?
When it comes to writers I’ve read, it’s Zenna Henderson, Ray Bradbury, N. K. Jemisin, and Jeffrey Ford. I would say the writers who’ve had the greatest influence on me as teachers were Octavia Butler, Andy Duncan, Walter Jon Williams, and Nancy Kress. - What is your editing process like? How long does it take you to bring a story from start to finish?
Sometimes it takes me weeks, sometimes it takes me years. For the regular editing, I just pick away at it, like a painter adding a dab of paint here and there, until I can make it different, but I can’t make it better. My real pitfall is plot holes and endings. These are what take me a long time sometimes to find the inspiration to realize where the story needs to go. But I’ve gotten better at that over the years. - Do you have any hobbies that aren’t related to reading or writing?
Singing. I’m a lyric soprano and have sung solos in performances with choirs and at weddings and funerals. I tend to get asked to sing more funerals than weddings. I don’t know what that says.
I’m also an oboist.
Acting, although a case could be made that figuring out how to portray a character onstage is very akin to writing a character.
Hiking and cycling, but I sometimes get story ideas while I’m moving around out in nature, so maybe that’s related to writing too.
I do origami to relax. - Are there any songs or pieces of artwork that capture the “vibe” of your stories (or of other stories in the anthology)?
I vibe with surrealist paintings for the most part, such as: Paul Delvaux’s The Village of the Mermaids and just about any painting by Leonora Carrington. In fact, Leonora Carrington’s work could fit with our entire anthology. - Are there any real-world places that inspired your two stories?
Because five of my published stories take place in particular spots in North Carolina, I decided to continue writing a collection made up entirely of stories based in particular places in that state (where I live). Littleton, NC and Medoc Mountain State Park nearby have had Bigfoot sightings, and that is why I wrote a Bigfoot story set in that locale.
Although the medieval village in my In Valleys story is fictional, the original 1860 story it’s based on mentions a nearby village that does exist. It was my discovery that the nearby village was in East Germany near the (Communist period) wall that triggered the ideas for In Valleys Where Eternities Lie. - What would be the ideal place and time to enjoy each of your stories? What snacks and drinks would pair well with your stories?
There’s never a bad time to read. But otherwise, good lighting and a comfy chair, sofa, bed. Although I think readers might feel an extra resonance if they read Nnn’s Children outside, say under a shady tree.
Apples figure into both of my stories, so maybe readers should eat an apple when they read them. Otherwise, I usually like having a glass of wine when I read.
Thank you, Ada, for your interview (and for your amazing leadership in getting the contracts hammered out!). Tune in soon for one more interview and a bit more information about the anthology from my perspective.
Cover image by GetCovers; original cover concept by Arden Brooks. Headshot by/of Ada Milenkovic Brown. Apple tree image by kiyu_01.
Katherine Traylor 