Welcome to the 5 Questions Series. Each week, I’ll ask five questions of some of my favorite authors, editors, publishers, and other industry professionals. This week, I’m talking with Kathryn L. Pringle.
First – sapphic horror. Talk to me about this genre. What appeals to you about it? What’s exciting about it?
Horror tells us more about society and what it means to be human than any other genre except perhaps poetry (Fight me!). But, seriously, both, at their best, require us (readers, writers) to explore our deepest fears and identify what we are most willing to fight for—to live for, love for, die for—you get the idea. It is also an expression of what any given culture is most afraid of or suspicious of at the time—ie all those corporations turning people into zombies the last few decades—so there’s this anthropological documentarian aspect to writing horror and poetry that appeals to me. And the sapphic part—I mean, there’s not enough. And, being homoromantic asexual, I read very few books that I can completely relate to myself. Very few. And I myself didn’t even realize I was asexual until I read Jae’s Perfect Rhythm and saw myself completely in Holly. I had no idea. I thought everyone else was weird or shallow for having sexual feelings for people on sight. I didn’t get it at all. So, having an ace lead in my novel was extremely important to me. There’s nowhere near enough representation in horror where we are the heroes and survivors, and not the bff or sidekick—or worse, villain.
You have a book release coming out. I’m so excited about it. Tell us about Cavendish House, what was your process for writing it and how did you know it was ready to go out into the world?
Cavendish House is a queer modern gothic ghost story with two timelines—now and 1877. It is a supernatural murder mystery featuring an ace protagonist who think she knows everything about the supernatural and love—but she’s very wrong, of course.
Well, it started with an auction. Ha! I won the bid on one of your flash fiction writing critiques/help/coaching sessions and that’s when the ghost of Eliza Cavendish first appeared. She had a different name then, but the basic scene from that failed flash attempt is still in the book. I had just found GCLS that year and learned about the writing academy and decided to apply the following year. The mechanics of prose vs poetry was a lot and I really wanted to learn in a class setting but didn’t want the expense of another MFA, so the writing academy was extremely appealing from a financial standpoint. But that was a year away, so I kept writing. I was supposed to revise the flash piece and resend it to you but it just kept getting longer and it was clear Eliza wanted a novel. Which, once you get to know her makes perfect sense. Anyway, I remember you reaching out to see how I was doing because it had been so long and I was like: This is turning into a novel!
It is a funny story because even as a poet I failed at brevity. Like, three of my books are booklength poems—why did I think I could do flash?
Anyway, the writing academy was a year + out so I kept working on the novel. I’m a pantser so I spent a lot of time figure out the story. I looked at Bywater’s recommended writing books and found Stephen Koch’s The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction which became my teacher and therapist as I tried to get a draft together. So, by the time my Writing Academy class started I had been through the manuscript five times? Then, class started and I got my mentor, Elle E. Ire, and had more work to do.
And now I’m going through it again. Of course, everyone has their own process. I like layers. Each revision adds a new layer to the overall story. Most of my friends are plotters and I admire this skill greatly but cannot bring myself to do it. It isn’t how my brain works.
You recently acquired a publisher? Can you talk about that process?
I like how you phrased this question because usually we hear about publishers acquiring us, not the other way around. I like the agency of your phrasing. I did acquire a publisher, and I’m thrilled—in part because the process was pretty intense and I’m relieved to be done with it. I queried agents for more than a year with a decent response rate—several full requests, a lot of feedback when rejected—which is gold in sea of no responses. But early in the process, I participated in a live pitch event online and ended up pitching to Lauren Davila from Inked in Gray. There was a fairly large list of agents and acquiring editors to choose from for the event, but Lauren stood out for me because she is also a poet—and as you know, I am a poet. I figured if anything, we’d be able to talk well together based on that alone. I also really admired Inked in Gray because of their dedication to social justice which is important to me. So, I pitched to Lauren, and she said she wanted the full so I sent it and waited. Inked in Gray was the only live pitch I’d ever done (it was nerve wracking but Lauren was very kind about it) and they were the only publisher I queried. Months later, because that’s how it is—some agents didn’t get back to me for 8 months after querying—they sent an offer! Then, I went into research mode re: the contract, let the agents with fulls still out know about the offer, and talked to my GCLS mentor—Elle—and friends about the offer and contract to see what they thought. Ultimately, I decided it was an offer I couldn’t and didn’t want to refuse.
Inked in Gray is unique in that they encouraged me to continue in my agent search, and they just have great vibes. Plus, Lauren is my developmental editor and this is hugely appealing to me. Writing prose is such a different animal to poetry and it really felt fated for me to land where I did.
What are you working on now?
I’m focusing on some revisions for Cavendish House and also working on the prequel to it. I also have this cli-fi manuscript mess I’m trying to organize—is it a group of short stories or is it a novel? I’m not sure yet. But it is 45,000 words so I’d love to get it done.
I’m also working on this amazing, all-ace written project from SHEAUXTIME Collective, Inc. called Agent of Lust. It is a sci-fi/speculative mockumentary series featuring asexual characters that will be released with a book. Based on the seven deadly sins, the Agents are beings who facilitate the human experience throughout their life. I’m super excited to be on the core writing team for this project. We are aiming for release this winter.
How important is writing community to you and what advice would you give people looking to establish one?
Like with most things in life, it is hugely important to find your peoples. Since I’m in this liminal overlapping space of poetry-horror-queer writing it has been easiest for me to find my people via the GCLS Writing Academy. Does it mean I’m the only horror writer in my sprint pods? YES. It absolutely does, though I believe they could each write some damn fine horror. Does it mean that I translated the writing sex homework from Karelia Stetz-Waters into murdering a character? Yep. I did that, too. But I found my people. I do writing sprints and talk poetry with Milena McKay. I am critique partners with KC Laine, Claire Donniere, and Alicia Gael. KC and I survived the ups and downs of the querying process together and she is now agented and I have a publisher. And I have befriended some Critters who mean the world to me and who I wouldn’t have met if not for GCLS.
Would I have a novel coming out soon—or at all—without them? I don’t think so. This isn’t the first novel I’ve tried to write. I needed my people to finish one and get it into the world. I couldn’t have done it without them.
So, to generally answer the question—how do you establish one? Research the writing associations in your genre. I’m also a member of the HWA (Horror Writers Association) and they recently established a North Carolina chapter. I intend to go to their events and make some more friends soon. I think, though, GCLS Writing Academy is a really good place for us Sapphic writers to meet as it can be scary and difficult sometimes to find a writing group if you are also worried about your identity being accepted and welcomed.
Bonus question: Have you ever taken a picture of a weird bird?
So, I haven’t taken these photos but I can think of three weird birds from Denver GCLS Con who have very similar photos to my winged photo here…. And I mean weird in the best possible way!
You can learn more about Kathryn L. Pringle and this upcoming release on Inked in Gray’s website here.
Finnian Burnett 