Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a former ABC and NPR radio news host and journalist. During my tenure, I earned numerous first-prize honors for my news and features from the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists. I’m a graduate of the CT School of Broadcasting and have earned a BFA in Theatre and an MA in English. I am the author of numerous volumes of short literature, which include poetry, plays, and short stories. My debut novel “THE WINDSOME TREE: a ghost story” has received much critical acclaim. My book of shorts “THE BOX UNDER THE BED” won the 2015 Paranormal Poetry and Prose Prize. I’m a two-time recipient of the Greater Hartford Arts Council fellowship for poetry. A freelance creative writing teacher, I’ve taught at conferences and institutions across the Northeast, including at the York Correctional Institute, CT’s maximum-security prison for women at the invitation of best-selling author Wally Lamb. My husband Wayne Horgan and I have owned and operated Heroes & Hitters, a comic book store in Rocky Hill, CT, since 1989.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is “The Windsome Tree: a ghost story.” It is my third novel written, but my first to make it to publication. After writing my first two novels, I realized they were unsuccessful because I was not writing in the genre in which I love to read. My favorite genre is literary horror. With that in mind, I embarked on writing short stories in that genre. After having written about a dozen short stories, I realized they were just old themes with a new twist. I knew I had to write something unique. So, I interviewed myself. I asked, “What is your favorite kind of literary horror?” I answered, “Ghost stories.” Then I asked, “What kind of ghost stories?” I answered, “Those that involve nostalgia and family.” “What’s something nostalgic to you?” “Tire swings.” I continued that way until I got all the elements that I would love in a good ghost story. I began this as a short story, but quickly found it was bigger than that. Hence, a novel was born.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wouldn’t call this a habit, but my favorite place to write is in my comic book store. I own the store, so I am there all the time, and every day has its slow period. During those down times, I write. The space is open, brightly lit, organized, clean, and fun. So, it’s a wonderful space in which to write.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King is at the top of my list. Many people have told me they don’t read King because they don’t like horror. But what they don’t understand is that many of his works fall under the literary horror category. He develops stories with strong, sympathetic characters, rich imagery, and a high evolution of prose. One novel that strikes me as being influential to my writing is “The Dead Zone.” It’s a significant story in any time. Itt took me on an often heart-wrenching journey with the main character who has formed psychic abilities after a near fatal car accident. Other writers who have influenced me are Brad Melzer, George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson, and many more.
What are you working on now?
I am working on my next novel, a supernatural crime story about a good girl who makes bad choices. It’s tentatively titled “The Once Good Girl.” I don’t like the title, but it keeps me focused on the plot of the novel. It will change when I am finished with it, just like the title of “The Windsome Tree” changed right before it went to publication. It was titled “Without Mercy” for all the ten years I was working on it, because the main character is Mercy Amoretto who is mired in grief after losing her youngest child to leukemia. It wasn’t until the story was completely written that I knew what the right title was for the book.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My Amazon Author Page
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EileenAlbrizio
Twitter: www.twitter.com/EileenAlbrizio
My Website: www.EileenAlbrizio.com
Those are the four with which I am most active. However, I believe an author should use multiple Internet and social media platforms in order to successfully promote her work.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best advice is to write every day, even if it’s garbage. I think the biggest obstacle for writers is fear. We are afraid that what we are writing isn’t good, no one will want to read it, the story will be hurtful to family, or it’s a waste of time. When you’re putting down that first draft, remember, no one will read it but you. So, really, you have nothing to fear by writing it and everything to gain. Ernest Hemingway famously said, “The first draft of everything is s**t.” And look what he did! The next best advice is to be a voracious reader. The more you read, the better you write. And an often overlooked bit of advice is to get yourself out of your room and into the world. Writing can be a solitary and lonely business. Break down the walls of solitude and go to conferences, public readings by other authors, anyplace where writers and readers connect. I met my agent at a writer’s conference. I pitched my novel (then “Without Mercy) to her and she rejected it. I went home and revised it and the next year pitched it to her again and she eventually signed me.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There isn’t any one best piece of advice that I’ve heard or been given that has influenced me most. Rather there are several bits that guide me through the writing process. One is from Stephen King in relation to the last question. He said, “I’m convinced fear is at the root of most bad writing,” and “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time to write.” Solid words. When it comes to content, Berkeley creative writing teacher James Frey (NOT the James Frey who wrote the notoriously fabricated memoir “A Million Little Pieces) said, “The greatest rules of dramatic writing are conflict, conflict, conflict.” And a college poetry teacher once told me to avoid the abstract and embrace the concrete. Those four statements stand out for me.
What are you reading now?
“Wake” by Lisa McMann. It’s about a teenage girl who involuntarily gets thrown into other people’s dreams. It’s quite good.
What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue writing and reading, of course. I am also in the midst of touring with my novel “The Windsome Tree: a ghost story.”
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
That’s tough. I would like to find at least one new book I haven’t read yet. Maybe one by an indie author. To read again, I would possibly bring Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman.” Technically, it’s a graphic novel, but it’s amazing. However, that’s ten volumes, so maybe that doesn’t count. Really? Just three or four? Okay, Bradbury’s “Something Wicked this Way Comes,” King’s “11/22/63” (I figure it’s so long, it would take me a while to re-read it, so that would help pass the time), Aldous Huxley’s “A Brave New World” (I haven’t read that since I was a teenager, so it may be like reading it for the first time), and, to mix it up, “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac.
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