Announcement: Author Interviews

And Other Awesome People!

I was going to tack this onto my prior post, but as I was writing, I kept thinking of more things to say. As such, I still need to do a little preamble.

I wrote my very first blog post six years ago (you can read it here, a guest post for the Elephant Project), and then for about two years I posted twice a week on my own website (Introverted Activist). I never had a strong ethos behind that blog. There was no central theme; I just knew I had to write about veganism. But I stopped it all, quite suddenly, in 2021. More than the constant writing, it was the pressure I put on myself to post on social media every day and generate algorithmically appealing engagement that wore me down. I’ve never been a social media person, and I have no real interest in maintaining a constant connection with the wider world 24/7. (Frankly, it stresses me out.)

There was an immense sense of relief to quit the whole thing, but a gnawing feeling at my conscience reminded me that I’d failed. (Of course, I still think social media is largely performative and that we rarely reach people outside our own echo chambers, but still. It feels good to feel like we’re doing something.) I focused on the work I actually get paid to do and retreated even more into fictional worlds the rest of the time.

Sometimes it’s like authors know me better than I know myself. From Hide by Kiersten White.

After shutting down my old website and importing the blog posts onto Substack in 2022, I began to write again in 2023. Mostly little kernels of ideas that went nowhere, but that itch to write was getting harder to ignore. As I reflected on my very favorite parts of writing the old blog—reviewing books and movies—I realized that I had an opportunity to do something (relatively) unique in the animal rights movement: review and analyze fictional stories from a vegan perspective. So, this past summer I decided to work on writing consistently. Recognizing that this sort of thing may appeal only to me, I allowed myself to write what I wanted to write, not about what all the other activists online were saying. While I’m (currently) incapable of writing as if no one’s reading, at least I know now that my words are 100% authentic to myself.

Being a writer, there’s that little narcissistic part of me that thinks I have important ideas to share with the world, but my preference has always been to stay out of the spotlight. For all the hours I spend writing, though, it does feel good to know that other people are interested in what I have to say—but trying to market my work is excruciating, to say the least.

As I was scrolling through Substack Notes (or Instagram, or maybe even my giant TBR¹ spreadsheet, I can’t remember exactly), an idea smacked me in the face: interviews! I’d already added some books by vegan authors to my spreadsheet, and I knew there were probably tons of indie/self-published authors who wanted to get their books in front of like-minded readers. They want to advertise their stories, and I could offer a place to do that without feeling like I’m trying to sell my own wares, so to speak. (Imposter syndrome, am I right?)

I frantically started sending out messages to authors to gauge their interest, and I have to say that the enthusiasm has melted my icy snowball of a heart into a pile of slush. Have you ever been asked who your hero is? For me, it’s them. All these incredible artists fusing their creative talents with their love of animals. Getting to talk to them and learn about how they created their stories is like a dream come true.

I hope readers will enjoy getting a little look behind the curtain into the lives of the people creating animal-inclusive fiction, as well as discover new creatives to follow. And I hope my featured guests will find in Wizard of Claws a welcoming community of fellow writers, readers, and story lovers.

Schedule

My schedule will change slightly with this new addition. As of right now, I’m planning to do my usual jabbering on the first and third Mondays each month, with interviews on the second and fourth Mondays. March, June, September, and December all have a fifth Monday, so, since my spreadsheet of people to interview keeps growing, I’ll probably post bonus interviews on those days, too.

Fiction is preferred, but nonfiction with a strong emphasis on story will also be considered.

The First Interviews

My first interview, releasing on January 13, will be with

Tracey Winter Glover

on her recent book Chickens Are Animals, Too!: Fannie Goes to Washington (with a couple extra questions about her novella Killing Them with Kindness).

Obviously, all the interviews will be enjoyable and informative whether or not you’ve read the books, but to avoid any potential spoilers (and to support the authors, of course!) I recommend reading the books first.

Other upcoming interviews:

• R. Aveen on her debut novel Animal Listeners: The Awakening of Quinby Clark

• Max Rauhman on his creative nonfiction story “Little Lizards”

• Gregory F. Tague and Frederika Jacks, the editors of Literary Veganism

• Jay VanLandingham
  on his short story “The Movement of Whales”

• Chris Cooney (aka The Vegan Zombie) on his upcoming horror film A44

I’ve been in touch with some other authors and would love to talk more to people behind the scenes of the publishing industry: developmental editors, copyeditors, book cover designers, agents, book coaches, publicists. Outside of books, the world is even greater: poets, playwrights, screenwriters, cinematographers. Ah, it’s so exciting!

If you or someone you know are one of those people and I haven’t reached out yet, please get in touch!

Into the Future

Spotlighting vegans and animal advocates will always be a priority, but I’m also hoping to reach beyond our little bubble and interview other people in the arts who use animals in their stories. For example, I recently read a short story about a man whose filmed animal rescue goes viral, launching him into stardom. I’d love to pick the author’s brain to learn more about how he created this story.

Hopefully, in coming from a place of interest and appreciation for their work, they’ll realize that there’s an audience for fiction that uplifts animals and they’ll think more deeply about how they utilize animals in their stories.

Pledges

Anyone can start a Substack and ask for money, and I’ve worried about becoming one of those people. Then I wonder why I’m so worried about it. Don’t we all deserve to be compensated to do what we love?

This is my roundabout way of saying I’ve decided to turn on pledges.

It makes me feel a little icky to ask people for money—since I don’t technically need it—even if I’m offering exclusive content in return. So if you decide to pledge, and if I ever turn on paid subscriptions, I’d like to think of them more as investments to help me expand. (Between you and me, I’d love to get into doing some more casual audio content, rather than just my formal essays. But being self-employed, I already work my regular job every day, plus doing this newsletter and other volunteering, I don’t have the bandwidth right now to figure all that out. Pledges would help me know if there’s any interest in stuff like that.) Idk, I’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming lately. Can you tell I love this time of year, new beginnings and all that? Bring it on, January!

How to Find the Interviews

All the interviews will be posted in their own separate section of the website. On the home page (myselise.substack.com), you’ll see the navigation bar with headers like Home (where all the regular posts are), Notes (where I share mini-reviews and other random stuff), and About (where I talk even more about myself), and now there’s a new Interviews section.

Requests

If you have any requests for authors to interview, or if you found a particular movie or book or comic or whatever particularly engaging, I’d love to hear about it (and maybe do an interview about it!). My spreadsheet has over 100 authors on it, but finding short stories in online journals is far more difficult. If you have ever published a story or poem online or know of any people who have, please please please let me know!

Final Thoughts

I feel like I’ve finally figured out what this newsletter is supposed to be about. As I’ve been reading the words of all these amazing writers to prepare their interviews, I find myself thinking, Oh, hell yeah! These are my people! Though I mostly read and watch stories that have nothing to do with animal rights, by people who likely have never considered the topic deeply, I didn’t realize how much of a burden that laid on my conscience. It’s like I’ve been carrying around this invisible weight, a shield I use to protect my tender heart from thinking too deeply about how the stories misrepresent, ignore, or encourage the abuse of animals. (Obviously, the shield’s a bit dodgy, since I’m constantly writing about these stories anyway.)

I’m not sure how best to describe this new feeling, other than it’s like the vice usually squeezing my brain loosens a little bit. (Sorry for mixing metaphors…or similes or whatever.) I don’t have to think about how the writer writes about animals or animal activists because I know their words are coming from a place of love and respect for animals—just like me. When I reflect back on the stories, and my brain processes what I’ve read, I don’t have to worry about my questions coming across as judgmental or holier-than-thou or preachy or any other term so often associated with vegans.

It has been such an inspiring experience, and it’s really got me itching to return to my own fiction. (I can talk all day about the stories I love, yet facing my own is like injecting a paralytic right into my veins.) I’m only just getting started, and if I start reaching authors outside of the ones I already know, I may shift to publishing interviews more regularly.

I hope you’re all as excited as me, though I’m not sure that’s possible!

1. TBR = to be read