Interview with Amber Fallon

Author of TV Dinners from Hell

 

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

I was born in New Mexico. Now I live just outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

My parents were military, so we moved around quite a bit. I was used to a rather nomadic existence until I took a transfer with my day job that lead me to Boston, where I met my husband and settled down. Now we own a house together and two lovely dogs. As of the time of this writing, I’m also fostering a parrot until he can move to Sweden to be with his owner.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

When I was little, I was terrified of the concept of infinity. I know, it’s a weird thing to be afraid of, but I was constantly imagining other worlds and parallel dimensions with the worst possible versions of my current reality. One day, my mother (probably frustrated with my constantly bothering her with my newest parallel dimension fears) took a piece of paper and wrote my name on it in huge black letters. “There,” she said. “That’s a piece of infinity,” and it’s *yours* now. That moment was so significant for me. I knew I wanted to be a writer right then and there, if not exactly what that meant.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

Fun, gory, cheesy. I like action movies a lot, and that comes through in my writing (with the exception of The Warblers, which is more serious and less bloody).

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

Horror fans. And I hope women, too. There isn’t enough representation in some areas of fiction, and I really hope to play some small role in changing that for future generations.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

There’s a lot more to writing than just putting pen to paper, or fingers to keys. There can be a lot of tribalism. Infighting. Drama. Writers are, by nature, mostly passionate people. That can lead to some intense emotions.

If you could, what advice would you give to your past self before embarking on this journey?

This is a tough question. Honestly, I’d tell myself not to stop writing when I did. I gave it up for almost a decade because I was spending time with people who didn’t believe in me and were jealous of the time I spent writing. I wish I hadn’t let them take that away from me.

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

As many as possible! I mean, who doesn’t want to be successful? My biggest goal in life is to have something I’ve written made into a movie or television show. I think if that happened, I could die happy.

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

Sexism. There’s a lot of it. I knew intellectually that it was something I’d be dealing with, but I was less prepared for the reality. There are so many subtle, insidious ways that women get put down, silenced, and made to feel less than or other for loving or writing (or reading, drawing, acting in, etc) horror or sci-fi. It’s heartbreaking.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

I think my greatest strength is imagery. I feel like I’m really good at creating vivid descriptions of the nouns in my stories. Oh, and accents. I moved a lot as a kid and thus got used to lots of different accents. I like to think I capture regional dialogue well, without being over the top about it.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

Dialogue. Dialogue is tough.

When do you think you will write your next book?

My next book, Meat Wagon, comes out in February from Deadite Press.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

Hybrid.