Q: Do you write with a particular audience in mind?
A: Short answer: Yes, an audience of one–me.
Long answer: I don’t start a story thinking, is this a story for young adults or adults? Or is this a story for people who like epic fantasy or urban fantasy or fairy tale retellings? My reading tastes encompass all of these subcategories, and I suspect the same is true of many readers. So I set out to write stories that I would want to read and that involve elements that are of interest to me. Of course this means I often write about similar concepts or themes. I’m a big bird-lover, so many of my stories involve birds to some degree. I once had a writer friend tell me that any story I write isn’t one of mine unless it has a bird in it. I also tend to write about issues of loneliness, love, animal-human relations, and the environment. My stories often have at least a suggestion of happiness in the ending, if not a completely happy ending. I hope these elements appeal to a wide audience.
Kathryn Yelinek’s story “Cinders and Snow” will be
published on Friday, 28 December 2018.
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