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Ask the Author: Elizabeth Broadbent

“Ask me a question.” Elizabeth Broadbent

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I'm reading Ink Vine and from the very first page I'm right there in Lower Congaree. I can smell the swamp, feel the humidity, hear the crows' voices, and I'm tired and hungry. I want to get out, but you've sucked me into this world, and I'm entranced. I have to go along for the ride... in the back of a battered pickup. My question is, from Cameron Trost to Elizabeth Broadbent, how did I get here? Is this witchery?
Elizabeth Broadbent Yes, exactly, because books are the best kind of magic.
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What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?
Elizabeth Broadbent I'm really, really obsessed with the Mandela Effect right now.
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If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?
Elizabeth Broadbent Brakebills, from Lev Grossman's The Magicians. It's like graduate school for magic but with all the attendant miseries of graduate school. Except, you know, you walk out able to do magic. And you get to go to Fillory.
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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
Elizabeth Broadbent Write. Do it every day and don't stop.
Read. Read everything from so-called "high literature" to utter "trash." Notice the quotation marks. You'll learn a lot about plot and technique from those so-called popular books.
Find a community. Community engagement is vital to a writer's success—but find one that builds up others instead of tearing them down. The horror community is an amazing one, and I'm very lucky. I truly believe I'm friends with some of the most talented writers working in indie horror right now.
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What are you currently working on?
Elizabeth Broadbent Currently, I'm working on my fourth "grown-up" novel, a high Gothic work with some LGBTQIA+ elements. It's partly inspired by the #kategate scandal—think a woman locked in her rich husband's house (which obviously isn't what happened, but the idea snagged me hard). I'm really excited about negotiating the main character's voice.
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How do you get inspired to write?
Elizabeth Broadbent I write because I have to — "inspiration" isn't a part of it. I grab ideas from everywhere; lately, the #kategate saga has been on my mind. When I binged Skinwalker Ranch, I thought, "What about that, but a plantation house?" and wrote Ninety-Eight Sabers; right now, I'm side-eyeing the Mandela Effect. Ideas come from different places, but it's the hard work you put in, writing every day, that makes a difference.
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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?
Elizabeth Broadbent I've had the idea for Ink Vine for a very long time. When sat down to write it, I hit on Emmy's voice, and the novella took off from there. The work is definitely a function of the character's voice.
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Elizabeth Broadbent
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