TNBBC’s The Next Best Book Blog: The 40 But 10: Katherine Silva

I had decided to retire the literary Would You Rather series, but didn’t want to stop interviews on the site all together. Instead, I’ve pulled together 40ish questions – some bookish, some silly – and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!

Today we are joined by Katherine Silva. Katherine is an ace Maine horror author, a connoisseur
of coffee, and victim of cat shenanigans. Her favorite flavors of the genre mix
grief and existentialism which she combines with her love of the New England
wilderness in her works. She is a three-time Maine Literary Award finalist for
speculative fiction and a member of the Horror Writers of Maine, The Horror
Writers Association, and New England Horror Writers Association. Katherine is
also editor-in-chief of Strange Wilds Press and Dark Taiga Creative Writing
Consultations. You can find out all about her work at katherinesilvaauthor.com.

What’s the most useless skill you possess? I can
recite all the lyrics to the songs from The Wizard of Oz on command. I love
this movie to pieces but this is space in my brain I could use for something
much more helpful.

How do you celebrate when you finish writing a new book? 

I
usually don’t, haha. But finishing the writing part of a book to me isn’t
really finishing it. I still have all this other stuff to do so celebrating the
finishing of one stage doesn’t feel right to me. That being said, I rarely go
out and celebrate when the book is finished and out in the world. Maybe I’ll
get myself a little piece of chocolate or something. And then I’m onto the next
project.

Describe your book in three words. 

Heartbreaking.
Desolate. Raw.

Describe your book poorly. 

An orphan brings dead
animals back to life so she can have someone to talk to.

If you could cast your characters in a movie, which
actors would play them and why? 

Janet would probably be played by Ella
Purnell (Fall-Out). Amos would be voiced by Stanley Tucci (of course).

If you could spend the day with another author, who would
you choose and why? 

I’d probably want to spend some more time with my
friend, Amanda Headlee. What an awesome writer and someone I could talk about
everything with.

What are some of your favorite books and/or authors? 

Kitchen
Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, Rising Sun by Michael Crichton, Helpmeet by
Naben Ruthnam, Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer.

 What are you
currently reading? 

I’m reading three different books like an absolute
maniac right now: Deep by Aquino Loayza, If These Walls Could Talk by Michael
Tyree, and Tales From The Inner City by Shaun Tan.

You have to choose an animal or
cartoon character that best represents you. Which is it and why? 

I’m definitely a house
cat. I vacillate between wanting to be around people to being utterly sick of
them and needing my alone time. I could be perfectly content sleeping in a
sunny spot for hours.

What songs would be on the soundtrack of your life? 

Garbage’s
I Think I’m Paranoid is always one I’ve thought should be there. Also: Rose
Rouge by St. Germain. It’s the constant tempo of thoughts coursing through my
brain at any given moment, haha.

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Beyond the smoke-choked skies of an apocalyptic United States, a woman travels the desolate railroad tracks of a small town in search of revenge and a quiet place to settle. Her only companion is an undead fox: animated with backwoods herbal magic and the soul of a middle-aged father who died before the world fell into darkness.

Undead Folk is a short, harrowing tale of sacrifice, loss, and damnation.

Buy your copy here