Author Interview with Alison McBain

Who are you?

My name's Alison McBain, and on any given day, I'm a superhero (aka "Mom" to three girls), fixer of broken things, finder of lost toys, and chef extraordinaire. Oh, and I write once in a while.

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Where do you live?

I currently live in Connecticut, although I was born in Canada, grew up in California, and have lived in multiple places in between the two.

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What’s your home life like?

Married, three kids, the woiks.

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What genre(s) to you like to write? To read?

I read everything, so I write everything. I never stop being inspired and seeing stories everywhere, so on any given day I might want to tell the tale of a Japanese woman who survives interment during World War II or a man who cures cancer with video games (both are published/forthcoming short stories of mine).

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Why did you start writing?

There's never been a time in my life I remember when I didn't write. My first story (and, yes, my parents still have it) is from when I was four: a tiny, stapled-together book on binder paper about the monster in the closet. I've always seen the story in everything.

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What do you do when you’re not writing?

When I'm not writing, I still like to stay creative. My kids help with that. We've drawn pictures all over the walls of our house (much to my husband's chagrin, LOL), and do origami and other paper crafts. I also play pool (although I'm currently taking a break, I used to compete on an APA team) and like to explore the countryside wherever I can hike without breaking my neck. Recently, I started a web comic about parenting, which is on Twitter: @Toddler_Times.

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Where do you like to go when looking for a new book to read?

I'm the Book Reviews Editor at the magazine BEWILDERING STORIES, so often I don't need to go look for books - they come to me! But when I feel like taking some time off from "the job," I haunt libraries. Librarians are every author's best friends.

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At what point do you call it quits when reading a new book?

I know most authors say they'll persevere reading a book until the end, no matter how bad, but I usually stop at the third thing that pulls me out of the story. It can be basic - a lot of typos. It can structural, such as a character who quotes Albert Einstein in the 1800s, but without a time machine handy to explain why. Or it can be mediocre, such as an author who doesn't use language in innovative ways. (If a dog is "big," how big is the dog? If a person is angry, what do they look like/act like when they're angry?) I think it's the editor in me - I can't turn off my editor brain.

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Are you independently or traditionally published?

Both. I don't think there's any right way these days. I write a lot, so I don't limit my options.

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How many books/stories have you published so far?

My debut YA novel just came out July 2018. In addition, I have over 70 short stories and poems published in various journals, magazines, and anthologies.

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What book/story are you currently promoting or working on?

My debut novel is THE ROSE QUEEN: Book 1 of the Rose Trilogy.

​In addition, I'm lead editor for a fantastic anthology of stories coming out October 1st - WHEN TO NOW: A Time Travel Anthology.

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What’s the elevator pitch?

THE ROSE QUEEN: A gender inversion of Beauty and the Beast.
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​WHEN TO NOW: A diverse collection of time travel stories, from steampunk to surrealist and everything in between.

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How long have you been working on it?

THE ROSE QUEEN: I originally wrote this book back in 2013, but it's been sitting on the shelf for a long time, and it went through multiple edits before it was ready to be published.

WHEN TO NOW: The other editors and I originally conceived of this idea two years ago, but we didn't start putting together the anthology until the beginning of this year.

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When will it be available to buy? Where?

THE ROSE QUEEN is available now in print and eBook on Amazon. If you live near Fairfield, CT, the book is also available in local bookstores and libraries.

WHEN TO NOW is coming out October 1st, 2018 and will be available in print and eBook on Amazon.

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How can readers find you?

​I'm usually all over the place, so I'm pretty easy to get a hold of

In addition, I do a fair number of readings around where I live. In the past year, I've done readings in New York City and Brooklyn in New York, and Hamden, Norwalk, Stamford, and Fairfield in Connecticut. My website lists all upcoming readings I'll be doing.

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Anything you’d like to add?

Thank you so much, Nicholas, for the shout-out!

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Thank you, Alison, for taking time out of your hectic schedule to participate in this written interview. 

Nicholas Adams

Just a small-town boy with an overactive imagination.