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 Ariana Ferrante!
Ariana Ferrante is an #actuallyautistic speculative fiction author, screenwriter, and playwright. Her main interests include reading and writing fantasy and horror of all kinds, featuring unconventional protagonists getting into all sorts of trouble. She has been published by Eerie River Publishing and Brigid’s Gate Press, among others. On the playwriting side, her works have been featured in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and nominated for national awards. She currently lives in Florida, but travels often, usually to ride roller coasters. You may find her on Twitter at @ariana_ferrante, and on Instagram at @arianaferrantebooks.
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?
It’s a little hard for me to gauge just what my strengths are in writing, at least to me, because I’m usually so in my own head about it. I guess right now I feel the most confident about creating characters! A lot of the time I’ll have a WIP idea appear in my head and the characters will show up way before a concrete outline, haha. It’s fun at first, but then I realize I actually have to do something with these people in my head. As far as improving upon skills goes, a lot of my learning process involves just… going outside and living- really immersing myself in a moment and trying to find the words I’d use to describe it.
What are your thoughts on the book industry today, or more importantly, about the book community?
I think the book industry and the book community are constantly playing a game of catch-up. The book community gloms onto a certain trope or subgenre so the industry chases the trend. Then community gets sick of the trend, but there’s at least a year or so left of releases following the trend just because that’s the rate of publishing, and by the time those books are out the community has already moved onto a shiny new thing.
Do you feel it is getting harder or easier to make it as an independent author these days?
I think it’s harder in some ways and easier in others. With all this technology, it’s far easier to get your work out there, but because it’s easier to get your work out there, a lot of people are doing it so it’s harder to be seen. This is especially the case when people are using AI- both to make covers and to “write” “books”. Yuck.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
Most recently, I’ve found a lot of joy in reading and rereading my sapphic novelette Food for Thought. I conceived of it in a time in my life that I felt very lonely, unapproachable, and unlovable. Since then, love has found its way to me, but the deep sense of yearning still permeates through the work in a way I can only hope many can relate to.
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
My short story, “The Ties That Bind”, will be released in a little over a month by Flame Tree Press as part of their upcoming Loki anthology! As for more long-form stuff, I’m bouncing between a million WIPs trying to find one that I can hold onto long enough to draft, haha. They’re all fantasy, though, I’ll say that much, some with romance, some without, but all with that dash of “wait, huh?” in the concept that I hope people will be both surprised by and adore. Surprisingly none of the more prominent ones have to do with mythology, though a few are inspired by gothic like. On a Poe and Shelley kick recently- and also portal fantasy, which I think publishing is sleeping on!
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