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 Brit D. Wynters!
On an average day, Brit D. Wynters is either reading a book, shelving a book at the library, or attempting to write a novel. She earned her bachelor’s in Creative Writing from Salisbury University and master’s in library science from University of Maryland College Park. When not doing some book related activity, Brit spends time with her children, doing crafts, hiking, and starting fires, most of which are in legally designated areas. She also likes going to thrift stores with her husband and trying to find haunted hand-me-downs. britdwynters.com
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 strength in writing is my character development and creating realistic dialogue. I enjoy making believable characters that remind you of that one guy from high school or that old lady that used to sell your mom cigarettes at the gas station down the street when you were a kid. The area I know I need to improve is my exposition. I try to go to conferences and workshops at least once a year (now that I’m actually able to set time aside to write and invest in it). Reading a wide range of genres also helps. Horror is my go to, but since horror is really a compilation of all genres it helps to read outside of it whenever possible.
What are your thoughts on the book industry today, or more importantly, about the book community?
Coming back into publishing after a long hiatus is pretty surreal. I think Covid changed the way we look at publishing and art in general. Being a writer and librarian for over a decade I have seen the panic waves of eReaders, ‘will reading become obsolete with AI’, and other fears of the book industry dying. I don’t see that. I don’t see it ever dying because people need words to escape with. The community may look different but it has to with all the changing technologies and lifestyles. We live in a much faster world now, so there seems to be an increase in flash and novellas, which I don’t feel is a bad thing, just shows how people’s needs are changing.
Do you feel it is getting harder or easier to make it as an independent author these days?
Being an independent author is hard work to stand out because of the plethora of avenues and available printing options. I have self published in the past and in some ways it’s a very easy thing to do. However, in order to “make it” there’s a lot of leg work that has to happen behind the scenes. Independent authors basically have to be just as good at sales and marketing as they are with their writing and it takes a massive amount of patience and ambition to do so. With my first self-published book I went to fairs, festivals, and pushed it in person just as much as I did online. It did okay, the second did even better. But I have since withdrawn those titles in want of traditional publishing and to regroup my work history.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
The story I’m the most proud of is one that I wrote recently that has helped shape me into the writer I want to be. I have refined my writing style and voice over the past few years and now that I am submitting writing again for publication, I am seeing just how my voice has changed. I wrote a story about a woman’s internal monster for an anthology (still out for consideration) and it just felt so easy and natural knowing that I had found my niche instead of trying to write the way I thought I was “supposed to” which was a pitfall for years.
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
I had to take a writing/publishing hiatus for a few years because life needed more attention. Because of that I feel a little like I’m starting all over, but in some sense it’s a good thing. Most of my publishing history is under a different name and is nonfiction, essays, articles, and a few literary short stories. Now that I am more comfortable with myself and my work I am trying to reestablish what my writing career will look like. Most of my early mornings, late nights, and insomnia episodes are spent working on my novel that is a mix of horror, history, humour, and even literary at times. It’s about a family who moves to Chincoteague to escape the violence of city life. Pretty classic ‘haunted house with new owners set up’, which is one of my favorite tropes. The past owner, an asylum nurse from the 1930’s, leaves a cookie crumb trail for the new owner to expose the demons within before it’s too late. I am able to use a lot of different voices and themes because of the narratives changing from modern day to the 1930’s and back. It’s pretty exciting to watch it unfold. I am attending a Master Class this summer at ThrillerFest and I hope to have my novel completed by the end of the year.
KANDISHA PRESS 
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