Dragon Soul Press had the opportunity to interview Brock Poulsen, an author featured in the Fairy Rites anthology.

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1. Introduce yourself.
   • My name is Brock Poulsen, and I’m a genre writer living in Boise,
     Idaho. Most of my work is self published, along with several short stories that have
     appeared in ezines and anthologies. If I’m not writing, I’m probably playing board games
     or cooking up a new recipe. My short story “Lana Sullivan’s Traveling Show” will appear
     in this year’s Fairy Rites anthology from Dragon Soul Press, and I’m really excited for
     people to read it! It’s a fae story that takes place in a magical corner of the Wild
     American West.
2. What prompted you to begin writing?
   • I remember loving the Redwall books in
     elementary school, and an early attempt at writing a story was about a mouse thief in a
     world very much inspired by Brian Jacques. A love for reading was definitely the
     beginning of my desire to tell stories of my own. I have a lot of admiration for authors like
     Shannon Hale, Sarah Monette, and T. Kingfisher, who manage to write beautiful,
     compelling stories in a wide variety of genres. I love exploring strange ideas and delving
     deep into human experience. The written word has so much potential to capture
     powerful emotions, and I hope to make my own contributions. Writing stories and
     evoking emotions within readers is a particular kind of magic that I love dearly.
3. Do you have a favorite story or poem you’ve written? What’s it about?
   • It’s hard to pick a favorite. I recently wrapped up my fantasy Western series, Bizarre Frontier, with the sixth book, Holy Bile. It’s a monster-hunting romp with frontier magic and plenty of conflicted heroes. I have loved writing this series, and I think this book made for a great conclusion.
4. How many projects do you have planned over the next few years? Tell us about one.
   • I have at least three novels in the works right now, with several more that I’m
     contemplating. One in particular is a supernatural horror novel, a story inspired by
     stories like A House With Good Bones, and I’m so excited for it to be out in the world.
5. What is your writing process like?
   • I’m currently focusing more on edits for some
     completed first drafts, which has thrown my process into a state of chaos. But typically I
     like to work on stories in sprints throughout the day, carving out 15-minute chunks of
     time to write. I have found that this process helps me ignore my doubts and inner critic,
     and instead work on getting the story on paper. During these sprints I ignore typos (and
     sometimes even character names), and just try to get words down. Tangentially related,
     I do 90% of my writing on my phone, using a bluetooth mechanical keyboard. This helps
     with the sprints, since I can pretty much sit down and write wherever I am. I’ve
     completed NaNoWriMo a couple times in recent years, and 15-minute sprints were the
     key to victory both times.
6. Where do you draw inspiration from?
   • I once had a dream that was a fully realized story–beginning, middle, heart-breaking ending–but that’s far from the norm. Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of a single scene or piece of dialogue that comes to my mind, and which spirals outward into a larger story. I also wrote a year’s worth of short stories based on different nautical terms, just to see what would come of it. Inspiration is complicated. Sometimes it will bring you a bounty and lay a feast on your table, while at other times it will evade your efforts, and you’ll have to march after it, picking up whatever scraps it leaves behind.
7. Who is your favorite author / what is your favorite book?
   • It’s completely impossible to choose! But if pressed, I might say Katherine Addison, and her novel The Goblin Emperor. It’s an astounding work of insight and intrigue, it’s introspective, beautifully written, it’s vast and strange, and I love it. Addison also writes under the pen name
     Sarah Monette, which gives me license to cheat and mention The Bone Key, a collection
     of horror stories that are eldritch and gorgeous.
8. Where can readers learn more about you?
   • I hope you’ll check in with me at brockpoulsen.com (where I’ve been blogging about the history of Weird Westerns and uncovering forgotten gems of the genre), on Instagram, or on Facebook. Signing up for my newsletter will get you a free ebook, too!