Today we interview inherentlywicked, winner of The Sunflower Awards 3.0 in the short story genre. Join us as we learn more about their writing style and inspiration.

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1. What inspired you to write YOU KNOW, VAMPIRES?

You Know, Vampires was just supposed to be a fun, 'test drive' kind of piece for a lot of ideas I had floating around in my head at the time. Almost a joke piece. I love erotica -- I've ghostwritten some erotica books before but never had anything published with my name on it -- and wanted to write a fun erotica piece. I also love playing around with various genre tropes, in this case vampires turning their lovers and how having to make that decision would play out in real life. I treated that level of commitment as a metaphor for marriage or engagement. I think I was trying to say that just because couples choose not to make the display of commitment society expects them to make, doesn't make their relationship less valid or genuine. And, lastly, this piece was the original "character test" for my romantic leads in my novel The Vampire Always Bites Twice. Those characters have changed a lot since this short was written though, so I decided it be best to disconnect them and changes their names.

2. What do you like about writing short stories vs. novels?

A good short story is a perfect, complete, bit-sized story. Personally, I think it's more difficult to tell a fulfilling short story over a novel. It takes a lot of skill and finesse to craft something beautiful in such a compact format. That's not a skill I think I've mastered yet. 

3. How did you feel when you found out you won in your genre for the Sunflower Awards?

Pleasantly surprised! 

4. Do you have any advice for other writers?

Let people read your work! Stop hiding it in secret folders on your laptop. Friends, family, trusted confidants, fellow writers, strangers on a train, demons summoned from the deepest circles of Hell; anybody who is willing to read it and give you feedback.

5. Who is your favorite character in one of your stories and why?

Isla, from The Vampire Always Bites Twice. We vibe. 

6. What does your writing process look like?

Lots of coffee, incense burning, salt circles, burning sage, crystals. You know, got to set the mood before casting that curse that possesses my limbs to type on their own accord whatever it is the spirits tell me. 

7. Where is your favorite place to write?

In the basement of the Last Drop Cafe, Philadelphia. 

8. Do you have a favorite author or an author who inspires you?

Favorite would be Neil Gaiman. I devoured his work as a teen. More on that below.

9. Why did you start to write and how do you keep it going?

I've been cursed to do this. Haven't managed to break it yet.

10. What is your favorite book and why?

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett. First time I read it as a teen I knew this was exactly the type of book -- content and stylistically -- I wanted to write. I emulated that book's style for a while. My writing style has since changed, it's become more personal and my own, but I think* traces of Neil and Terry still linger in there. * It's pretty obvious, actually. Case and point. 

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Thanks again for chatting with us, inherentlywicked! We wish you the best.

Check out their books on their profile and give them some love! :)