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 Malina Douglas!
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 strengths lie in writing clear descriptions with strong images. I enjoy the way stories come to life with a few vibrant details that linger in the mind. Using memorable details, I enjoy writing settings that immerse the reader in places both real and imagined.
To improve my skills, I take part in workshops, read books on writing craft and watch videos on specific areas I want to focus on.
What are your thoughts on the book industry today, or more importantly, about the book community?
The book industry is crazy competitive and it takes not only strong writing with original concepts but also a lot of determination to make it. Some publishers have begun to expect writers to promote themselves and build up a strong following, while others maintain that if the writing is quality and they enjoy it, that is all that matters. I’ve heard advice from a writing professional that it’s best to avoid the publishers that demand a large number of followers and stick with the ones that value the quality of your writing.
Do you feel it is getting harder or easier to make it as an independent author these days?
I would say, both in a way. It’s never been easier to self-publish your work, but it’s never been harder to stand out from the crowd with such intense competition. For independent authors, promotion takes continuous hard work.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
I enjoy writing in a range of styles, from literary fiction to atmospheric horror, to historical fiction to high fantasy. It’s hard to choose only one! But I’m especially proud of a story called Your Own Abyss. I was writing something completely different when the voice of this story came to me, and it flowed sequentially from the very first lines to the end of the first draft.
It begins with the lines: You are deep in an abyss. You managed to climb down there without getting hurt but you don’t see a way to get out again.
I don’t always write stories in order and had never written a story in the second person, but this second-person voice grabbed hold of me, and I kept writing to discover more about this woman who had been lowered into an abyss and left there to write. How she survived, her fears, and the people she sought to escape from. I sent it off and at first it went through the cycle of sending, small adjustments and re-sending. In one major round of edits, I expanded it and heightened the climax. Then I sent it to the Leicester Writes competition and it made the longlist… then the shortlist… then was chosen by a panel of judges for the top three. It was published in the 2023 Leicester Writes Anthology and they hosted an online launch celebration that was fun to take part in. I’m happy this story has found a great home in a publication readers can find and enjoy.
You can find the anthology and the judges’ remarks here: https://leicesterwrites.co.uk/2023/08/17/2023-results/
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
I’m currently working on a few pieces of short fiction, speculative and horror. In the summer I’ll focus on flash fiction by joining an intensive two week course and later a flash fiction challenge. After that, I plan to return to novel writing, high fantasy set in a world I’ve written about before. I host weekly writing groups and plan to start hosting online workshops this year as well, so stay tuned. You can find updates on my writing as well as various aspects of the craft of writing on my Substack, iridescentwords.substack.com.
KANDISHA PRESS 
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