Mary McKenna

I’ve always been a storyteller – before I could write, I told stories. And there’s never been a time when I didn’t have a notebook full of stories, some fanfic (before I even knew there was such a thing), some original. It just took me a while to be ready to share with the world.

Writing a collection is a different kind of fun. I got to meet some characters that I would never have written a novel about, and see these complete stories. Which is always true of writing short stories. But doing it in a collection means there’s a connection between these totally unconnected characters and events. It’s just fun.

Visibility. It’s always being visible. While authors may make-up a small percentage of the world population, there are still a lot of us, and it can be difficult to make yourself seen. And I, being an introvert, struggle hard with that.

Trust yourself, but don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. You know your story, your life and your goals better than anyone else, so you have to trust your gut on some things. But there’s so much to know and learn in this business that you have to be able to ask for the help you need.