GREETINGS, BOOKWORMS! I’m Aisha Kandisha, Head Librarian at Kandisha Press. Join me in the dusty stacks of the library I will never leave again as I chat with some of my favorite Women in Horror. Today we feature author Antonia Rachel Ward!
Antonia Rachel Ward is an author of horror and speculative fiction, based in Cambridgeshire, UK. Her short stories and poetry have been published by or are forthcoming with Flame Tree Press, the British Science Fiction Association, and Planet Scumm, among others. She is the author of two novellas, MARIONETTE and ATTACK OF THE KILLER TUMBLEWEEDS, and her first novel, DREAMSCAPE, was published in October 2023. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Ghost Orchid Press.
What made you want to become an author? Did you have an “Aha!” moment when you knew you were born to write? Or perhaps a beloved book inspired you?
I always enjoyed writing, but the moment when I realised I could actually do it seriously was when I was 13. A teacher read a story of mine I’d written for her class and told me it was good enough to be published. This was likely not true and I never tested the theory! But it did inspire me to aim for publication one day.
What do you believe are your strengths in writing? And when you feel you need to improve on a particular writing skill, how do you go about it?
I think my main strengths, based on what I’ve been told by readers, are depth of description and characterisation. I aim to write immersive stories with imaginative settings and strong character arcs. What I sometimes find difficult is getting the plot points and pacing right, and I’ve found that the best way to work on this is to go back to the characters and their motivations. When I get stuck, I’ll ask myself questions like, ‘What is the worst thing that could happen to this character now?’ or ‘What is this character’s aim at this point of the story?’ and that helps me to make sense of the tangles I sometimes find myself in with my plots!
What are your thoughts on the book industry today, or more importantly, about the book community? Do you feel it is getting harder or easier to make it as an independent author these days?
It does feel like a struggle for independent authors right now. We saw a number of difficulties crop up in 2023, including the problems with Twitter that meant communities felt fractured, some bookstores ceasing to stock print on demand titles, and the issue of AI art and writing. All that said, I’m feeling positive about the future as I think people are seeing the importance of making strong links with fellow creatives and hopefully looking beyond social media when thinking about marketing. I really think readers are keen for something different and the challenge is to figure out how to reach those people and let them know we’re out here.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
I write a mixture of horror, gothic and speculative fiction, and I’ve published two novellas (Marionette and Attack of the Killer Tumbleweeds), but the work I’m most proud of is my novel, DreamScape, which I self-published in October 2023. It’s a horror-cyberpunk genre mashup about a girl who has to venture into a virtual world to save her sister, and touches on themes like addiction, creativity, and the question of where our sense of self resides. It took me ten years to get right, but now every time I read it I fall in love with it and the characters all over again.
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
This year I’m releasing a horror poetry chapbook with Querencia Press (date TBC), which was inspired by the work of fashion designer Alexander McQueen. I’m also working on a folklore-inspired erotic horror novella which I hope will be seeing the light of day in early 2025. And I’m in the late editing stages of a survival horror / dark fantasy novel inspired by Greek mythology.
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