Earlier last month, Crone Girls Press launched the latest Midnight Bites volume, Hard for Hope to Flourish. This volume of MB contains stories by Melanie Bell, who we spotlighted in last month’s author interview. Today, we are talking with Nairobi writer Nyamweya Maxwell about his writing and some of his influences. Read on!
Q (Crone Girls Press): What do you write? How long have you been writing? What are your preferred genres and why?
A (Nyamweya Maxwell): I write weird fiction. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, ever since I was a kid, reading John Macklin’s Stranger than Fiction in the Sunday newspaper.
Q: What do you find the most challenging about the writing process, and how do you meet that challenge?
A: Style is always a challenge. The story always determines the style and getting the style to match the content of the story is no easy matter. Stories similar to what I am trying to write are always a great help.
Q: What was the worst writing advice you ever received? The best writing advice? Why, and how did it affect your writing?
A: Writing a novel ten thousand word a day is not a good idea. I’ve heard people say that quality that can be maintained even while outputting enormous quantities every day, but in my experience, you can always tell a story that was written at ten thousand words a day. Something is always missing.
Q: If someone asked you to recommend books/stories similar to what you write, who/what titles would you be giving them? And, why?
A: Perdido Street Station by China Miéville, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. These are books I discovered after having started writing and was surprised to discover that someone else had already beat me to it.
Q: What’s next in your writing journey?
A: The next thing is to get that novel published.
Nyamweya Maxwell
Nyamweya Maxwell is an engineer who lives in Nairobi, though he does spend more time writing than he does on his day job. Weird stories are his particular obsession, the stranger than fiction variety that makes you question truth. He is a member of the Writer Guild of Kenya, and always looking for time to travel.
Follow him on Twitter, and check out his website!
Ready for some horror? Pick up a copy of Midnight Bites: Hard for Hope to Flourish, or you can read it with your Kindle Unlimited subscription. And, once you are finished, please think about leaving us a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Reviews make our cold, dark little heart so happy…
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