Dragon Soul Press had the chance to interview Hala Dika, an author featured in the Fairy Rites anthology.

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1. Introduce yourself.
   • Hala Dika, nice to meet you.
2. What prompted you to begin writing?
   • It seemed I was out of poems, and I wanted to know if I could write a short story. They
     seemed a whole lot more difficult. So I found about a thousand blank pages, and began , I
     admit, the very gruesome task of learning the craft. After about five-hundred of those
     pages, I found a voice, and the stories began to come easier. And now it was still hard,
     but fun too.
3. Do you have a favorite story or poem you’ve written? What’s it about?
   • I don’t think I have a favorite. It’s like all the characters occupy the same planet in my
     head. That being said, Pallidino is quite special to me.
4. How many projects do you have planned over the next few years? Tell us about one.
   • A prison novel; full of phantoms, evil wardens, friendships, an escape plot within an
     escape plot, and one strange prison diary; written on a roll of toilet paper. Possibly called,
     ‘The Treasure-Island Plot’.
5. What is your writing process like?
   • Coffee. Two cigarettes. A little CBD vape. Headphones streaming a soundtrack; usually
     The Theory of Everything or The Queen’s Gambit. Light a cigarette. Read the last couple
     of lines from the day before. Get back into the mood of the story. Type, type, type…on a
     green, Olympia typewriter, which the ebay seller called “The Hulk”. When I started out, I
     took this as a sign. “The Incredible Hulk” was my favorite TV show as a kid.
6. Where do you draw inspiration from?
   • All sorts of things. Things going on in the world. Movies, family, friends, a bird, a
     butterfly, a blade of grass, a thought, a doubt, a fear, a book, a poem. Just about anything
     that sets off my imagination, and turns itself into a metaphor for something bigger.
7. Who is your favorite author / what is your favorite book?
   • Emily Bronte. Wuthering Heights.
8. What is one goal you have for your writing future?
   • To keep having fun, and make a living at it.
9. What do you hope readers enjoy most from your work?
   • The characters and the adventures.
10. Where can readers learn more about you?
    • On Twitter and Amazon.