My Business - What inspired you to start writing? This is one question I’ve been asked a lot. I’ve been writing since I was little, actually. I wrote my first story about a river mermaid when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My main character was named Madison and she fell deeply in love with a human man with dark curly hair. The story was very much inspired by the movie Splash. <3 I’m convinced that my love affair with paranormal stories can be pinned on that one moment in my life. In middle school I started experimenting with poetry. Some were childish and pretty lame – a certain “name” poem comes to mind. Quite literally, the poem was me asking the reader what his or name is and coming up with all sorts of rhyming names – John, Bonn, Lon, or Don? Fine work, that. From there I started exploring darker themes such as bullying and the ever-constant need for a safe place (which permeates most every piece of my writing to this day). As for my first actual book, well that one came out of the blue. My husband was messing around on Google Earth and showed me the Allegheny National Forest in our home state, Pennsylvania. He zoomed in on this tiny little town called Kane which is surrounded on three sides by the forest. It’s a magnificent, beautiful, and disarmingly quiet town that reminds me of my hometown (though oddly enough, my hometown is even smaller). As I studied this map of woodland covering enough land to equal 3 Pennsylvania counties, I was sucked into another world. My only thought was, “If I were a werewolf, I’d live there.” I intended for Howl to be a short story for my sister's birthday. She and I love paranormal books - vampires, werewolves, shifters, etc. But before I knew what was happening, the monster grew, so to speak. :)

Annalise Grey

Indie author & her imaginary friends

What inspired you to start writing?

This is one question I’ve been asked a lot. I’ve been writing since I was little, actually. I wrote my first story about a river mermaid when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My main character was named Madison and she fell deeply in love with a human man with dark curly hair. The story was very much inspired by the movie Splash. <3 I’m convinced that my love affair with paranormal stories can be pinned on that one moment in my life.

In middle school I started experimenting with poetry. Some were childish and pretty lame – a certain “name” poem comes to mind. Quite literally, the poem was me asking the reader what his or name is and coming up with all sorts of rhyming names – John, Bonn, Lon, or Don?

Fine work, that.

From there I started exploring darker themes such as bullying and the ever-constant need for a safe place (which permeates most every piece of my writing to this day).

As for my first actual book, well that one came out of the blue. My husband was messing around on Google Earth and showed me the Allegheny National Forest in our home state, Pennsylvania. He zoomed in on this tiny little town called Kane which is surrounded on three sides by the forest. It’s a magnificent, beautiful, and disarmingly quiet town that reminds me of my hometown (though oddly enough, my hometown is even smaller). As I studied this map of woodland covering enough land to equal 3 Pennsylvania counties, I was sucked into another world. My only thought was, “If I were a werewolf, I’d live there.”

I intended for Howl to be a short story for my sister's birthday. She and I love paranormal books - vampires, werewolves, shifters, etc. But before I knew what was happening, the monster grew, so to speak. :)

Nature, the balance of dark & light, and poverty are common themes in your writing. Can you tell us more about this?

That's true.

Nature is my church. I grew up in the woods to a family which fostered a connectedness with the earth. I was exposed from a very early age to Earth spirituality - even if my family didn't call it that.

My pappy studied Native American traditions and lore. He'd tell tales while we sat around the fireplace. He preached being a good conservator of the Earth and using everything you take. I grew up eating what my family gathered, hunted, or found alongside the road. Piles of salted hides, canned vegetables, homemade wine and lure filled my childhood.

The struggle between light and dark was ever present in my life from the time I was very small. I saw it in the shifting seasons, the way a full moon could light up a forest at midnight. I saw it in the eyes of those around me - there is good and evil in everyone. Some tip their scales in favor of one side. And the devastation can be.... immense.

This ideology was further cultivated by poverty. Growing up, electric heat was a luxury we couldn't afford. So we warmed up by the heat of a coal stove. We ate what meat we could hunt or fish and shared one bathroom (complete with a tub - no shower!) for a family of five. My mom raised us kids on a bartender's tips but somehow managed to get her college degree the same year my oldest sister graduated high school. It was an incredible feat for someone like her. The battle for financial security was fraught with many dangers but she pulled herself through. I watched and learned to fight from the best.

Are you working on any more stories?

Yes, always! I write stories in my head constantly – on the ride to work, doing the dishes, while trying desperately to stay focused during boring staff meetings, etc.

I’m currently working on two YA paranormal books:

The first is about a young girl grieving for her recently lost brother when she befriends a young man with an inhuman understanding of Heaven and Hell. Secrets lurk in the shadows of her town and soon her faith, her strength, and her soul are on the line.

Heaven seems terribly far awy when Hell is coming for her….

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What inspired you to start writing?

Nature, the balance of dark & light, and poverty are common themes in your writing. Can you tell us more about this?

Are you working on any more stories?

And the other?