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 Elaine Pascale!
Elaine Pascale is the author of The Blood Lights; If Nothing Else, Eve, We’ve Enjoyed the Fruit; The Kitchen Witches; The Language of Crows; and the soon to be released The Solstice. She is the co-editor of Dancing in the Shadows: A Tribute to Anne Rice. She is a regular contributor to Pen of the Damned and the Ladies of Horror Picture-Prompt Challenge. Elaine enjoys chocolate, a robust full moon, reading spam emails, and paddleboarding.
Find out more at elainepascale.com, https://www.amazon.com/author/elainepascale,
Facebook: elaine.pascale
X and Instagram: @doclaney
TikTok @elainepascale
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@elainepascale/videos
Newsletter: https://elainepascale.substack.com/
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?
As a child, my most prized possessions were my books. I routinely begged adults to read to me, and also begged for reading lessons so I could learn to read myself. I remember an afternoon when I was three years old; I was sitting with my mother and pointing to words on the cover of a book (it was a book of fairy tales and I still have it) and asking her what the words said. I pointed to some letters on the bottom of the cover, and she told me that that was the name of the person who wrote the book. My mind was blown! I hadn’t really considered where my books came from. Moreover, I could not believe that someone could do something as magical as write a book! I promised myself then and there that I would one day write a book. Each time I have a book or story published, I feel like I kept an important promise to that little girl who loved her books.
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?
My biggest superpower as a writer is that I never miss a deadline. In fact, deadlines are a competitive sport for me, and I will beat that deadline no matter how brief of a timeframe is set.
Even at my ripe old age, I still have plenty to learn about writing. None of us ever perfects it and that might be why we chase the skill so compulsively. We are hoping to nail down writing, but it always slips away from us. When I have something I want to improve on, I read. I think about writers who are strong in the aspect I am trying to hone. For example, I might want to expand on my “hooks,” as I feel I am becoming repetitive. I will go back and look at the books and stories that grabbed me right away and consider how the writer managed that task.
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?
This is a good question and I want to say that it is both easier and harder to make it as an independent author. Marketing and publicity fall on the shoulders of the writer and many of us do not have a background in business. We learn through trial and error. The easier aspect is that there are many avenues available to get your work in front of readers. There are many platforms and many free options for having readers sample your work.
The difficulty is that there are many avenues to get your work in front of readers and you are fighting for readers that are already inundated with new books and authors.
I have found the most success when I band together with other authors. I have been extremely lucky to find writers who are generous of spirit, and we all take turns promoting each other. Despite the “feeding frenzy” of social media, there is no harm in promoting the talents of others. The world is large enough for an enormous amount of talented people. If you have talent, people will discover it; you don’t have to try to climb over others to get noticed.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
I am most proud of being published, period. I have shelves where I keep a copy of each of my books and anthologies and I had to graduate to an additional shelf as I ran out of room. When that happened, I announced to my husband, “I think I can finally call myself a writer.”
I am most proud/excited of a collection I have coming out, The Language of Crows. I feel a deep connection to that work as the title story is written in honor of my grandmothers. I am very pleased with all of the stories included and I look forward to others getting to read it.
In terms of what I write, I would categorize myself as a writer of feminist horror. I write a lot of short stories, and some flash fiction. I also have some larger works (novels and novellas) but shorter works are really my wheelhouse.
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
I have a book being released in April 2024 called The Kitchen Witches and a collection of short stories being released this fall called The Language of Crows. I recently signed a contract for another novel but am not sure when that will be released.
In the meantime, I continue writing and I am part of some monthly writing groups. That keeps me motivated and sharp. You can keep up with my writing on my website: https://elainepascale.com and my newsletter: https://elainepascale.substack.com/
KANDISHA PRESS 