Aaron Gudmunson, one of fellow authors in the Quick Bite Of Flesh anthology put out this year by Hazardous Press, asked me to participate in a blog hop. This blog hop.

So here I am, welcome to the little slice of Mandy on the “interwebs”, well for today anyways.

What are you working on right now?

This blog post. Oh, you don’t mean right RIGHT now… I’m currently working on editing and tightening up a collection of Mandystories. There’s some poetry, a few new short stories, and Yammageddon!!! My novella about a girl and her pet yam.

How does it differ from other works in its genre?

Well the stories come from me, so they probably aren’t at all normal. As for Yammageddon, it’s different because it’s about a yam… Veggies don’t usually get main character roles. I’m also the other main character. I don’t know too many authors who’ve written themselves as the main character. Maybe it’s cause I’m lazy and I didn’t want to have to create characters, or maybe it’s because the novella is loosely based on true events. Either way, it’s fun and I think that’s all that matters.

What experiences have influenced you?

About the writing or everything in general? This question is SUPER vague, but I do have an answer. Everything we experience influences us. Something happens, we form an opinion of that something based on who we are and then we move on in our life experiences. Maybe the person’s changed a little, or not. Either way, we’re moulding ourselves. People are constantly changing. (Hahaha, deep thoughts by Mandy).

Why do you write what you do?

I write the stories that are floating around in my brain. I’m always saying what if… and making up some inane impossible circumstance. I’m a story teller and an entertainer. I love being able to make people feel something with my writing. I don’t care if my writing scares them, causes them cry, makes them hate me or turns the reader on, as long as they feel something.

How does your writing process work?

Not very well. I’m all over the place when I write. Most of my stories get the beginning and the ending, then I just fill in the rest. Even when I’m writing, I write things out of order. Paragraphs are cut and pasted and moved around while I’m writing. My brain works all out of whack, so it makes sense that my writing ends up that way in the beginning. Eventually, I get it all sorted out and worked into something other people will understand.  🙂

What is the hardest part about writing?

Discipline. I’m a procrastinator and the internet makes it far to easy to distract yourself from the task at hand. I have a few jobs, so I use those as excuses at times. I also like to randomly decide to do something around the house. While my house looks nice, I’m not sitting at the desk and it sure as hell doesn’t get the words onto the screen. When I finally do get to it, I write well, but it’s getting past my procrastination that’s my problem. The stories are there, I just need to sit my ass down and write.

What would you like to try as a writer that you haven’t yet?

Finishing a novel. I have one on the go, it’s sitting at 40K. I suppose it’s a zombie novel, kinda-sorta. My goal is to finish that one this year.

Who are the authors you most admire?

All of them. I don’t think I can start to name some without wanting to name everyone. I usually buy a book from everyone I meet. This leads to a giant to-be-read pile, resulting in me needing to buy another duffle bag to get home from the con, however I want to support everyone in their writing endeavours. Also, I love to read so it’s a win-win situation.

Who are new authors to watch out for?

^See above answer.

What scares you?

Failure. Dying Alone. Skunks. Sharks.

Thanks for listening to my morning blog hop rant. 😀 Now I have to tag three people for next week’s instalment of the blog hop which I do not know the name of and have aptly named The Wednesday Horror Writer Blog Hop. So here they are.

Kat Yares

Paula D. Ashe

Jacob Haddon: Editor of Lamplight Magazine, which is the single best, most influential and all around wonderful thing you have ever seen. Just saying the name can bring you to tears. With out it , you don’t know how the genre. Nay, literature itself can survive… Haha, just kidding.

Honestly, it is a great read, aaaaaaand I have a story (Summer Break) in the first edition (which is free!!!), hence the GIANT commercial for it. 😉

First issue’s free, the other two issues are $2.99. Available in all ebook formats. Grab the free issue of LampLight here.

Thanks for reading.
MDG