Interview With Author Rebecca Maye Holiday
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Nova Scotian university student, certified as a library technician but now completing my undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University and the University of King’s College, studying law and the occult. Writing was initially a hobby and an attempt to earn extra income for school. I’ve written roughly 6 books, and a great deal of short stories, many of which appear in different anthologies.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is titled “The Creeping Charlies”, and it’s a gothic Canadian short story inspired by the generation growing up during the COVID-19 Pandemic, as well as Canada’s increasingly limiting economy. The book itself, in terms of plot, is actually about a teenage girl living in a small French-Canadian town where a factory accident has poisoned most of the residents, causing them to behave very strangely, and her struggle to flee with her family to their grandmother’s house in Ontario.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I suppose so… I write very late at night, and I drink classic liqueurs if I’m writing… Limoncello, blue curaçao, mixed up with Coke Zero. I’m too busy with school to write during the day, and at night, nobody pesters me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
L.M. Montgomery has influenced me a lot, both because she’s a female author who attended the same university as I do, and because Montgomery often wrote about subjects that were considered taboo or secretive, such as life as an unmarried woman, life as a mother, and aspects of death, war and grief. A book titled The Satanic Mill by Otfried Preußler, and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders by Vítězslav Nezval, have also greatly influenced me as a writer.
What are you working on now?
At the moment, I am working on an untitled sequel to my book “Necromancy Cottage, Or, The Black Art Of Gnawing On Bones”. Some short stories, as well.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I generally don’t put any active work into promoting my own books. I keep a blog, but I use that blog to review other authors’ books, not my own. What seems to sell my books, or drive attention towards them, is that they have bizarre titles and cover artwork that catch the interest of readers. My book “The Beaches” has a generic title, and it rarely gets discovered as a result. The weirder my book’s title is, the more that people notice it.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would advise that new authors file their works for copyright registration, and hire an editor. These things can both be expensive and time-consuming, but from personal experience, it’s worth it. Too many authors seem to believe that skipping these steps is a good idea simply because it saves money, but then they wonder why they get 1-star reviews or accusations of bad grammar and typos from critics. Plagiarism and counterfeit books are also alive and well on the internet. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) currently protects corporations that sell and print these illegal books, so don’t let this happen to you! The more legal protection that you establish for your book, the safer it will be if anybody tries to steal it. Don’t be afraid to stand up to Big Tech when it comes to protecting your book, either. Google and Amazon are houses of cards and nothing more.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice that I’ve ever heard is from Sophia Petrillo on that wonderful sitcom “The Golden Girls”: “People waste their time pondering whether a glass is half empty or half full. Me? I just drink whatever’s in the glass!”
What are you reading now?
Right now? I’m reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I don’t know. I’m finishing my undergraduate degree this week, and after that, I’ll be looking for a full-time career. Being a student is fun, but having your own money and knowing that your bank account won’t go into withdraw if you try to buy a bottle of iced tea from the gas station, that’s even better. I’m a part-time vintage goods dealer, which pays alright I guess, but I’ll need to be thinking long-term. I wish that I could write full-time. If the Government of Canada ever gives me a grant, maybe this will happen.
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?
Oh, this question… the impossible question. Being a person who owns over 10,000 books, I don’t think that I could answer this without feeling guilty for leaving my other books behind! I know that I would bring The Golden Compass, among others… but only 4!?
Author Websites and Profiles
Rebecca Maye Holiday’s Social Media Links