Dragon Soul Press had the chance to interview Debbie Haddow, an author featured in the Soul Ink: Volume One anthology.
- Introduce yourself.
- I’m Debbie. I’m Thai, fiercely creative, passionate about my writing, and live to realize ideas so they can take on new identities as poems and stories. Lovely to meet you.
- What prompted you to begin writing?
- A lot of it stemmed from the pain of things I’ve been through. Originally, writing was the only way for me to feel like I had a voice when it seemed like no one was ever hearing what I was trying to tell them. In 5 th grade, I had a teacher, Mrs. Bolt, who encouraged me to keep writing and was the first person to recognize talent I didn’t even know I had. I’m so grateful to her for setting me on this path. She did so much for me by validating my writing and encouraging me to pursue it further.
Once I got used to writing to express what I needed to voice, lots of my ideas
finally had a way to come into being. I put as much as I could to paper. It gave me
something fulfilling and inspiring to throw myself into when the world was too
much for me. Writing was the only part of my life that really made sense for many
years, my lifeline when I felt like I was going to drown. If I didn’t have my writing, I
couldn’t be here in the middle of everything dark day after day.
- A lot of it stemmed from the pain of things I’ve been through. Originally, writing was the only way for me to feel like I had a voice when it seemed like no one was ever hearing what I was trying to tell them. In 5 th grade, I had a teacher, Mrs. Bolt, who encouraged me to keep writing and was the first person to recognize talent I didn’t even know I had. I’m so grateful to her for setting me on this path. She did so much for me by validating my writing and encouraging me to pursue it further.
- Do you have a favorite story or poem you’ve written? What’s it about?
- There are many,
actually. I tend to have a favorite type among the pieces I’ve written. That would
be poems and stories inspired by works of fiction I love, which run with themes I
relate to and imagine them through the lens of the characters feeling what I’m
feeling across similar emotional situations.
Some of my favorite poems I’ve written in a nutshell: A sci-fi take on The Great
Gatsby from Gatsby’s perspective, where he sees a single green star and feels the
joy of imagining what it will be like to reunite with Daisy. A metaphorical poem
about Carroll’s Alice feeling helplessly small with a key too far out of reach. An
imitation of a favorite Mary Jo Bang poem with Odette from Swan Lake picturing a
shining future away from her curse. My favorite poems I’ve written tend to dwell in
yearning and seeing how much brighter things may be when the hardest part is
over.
- There are many,
- How many projects do you have planned over the next few years? Tell us about one.
- Possibly too many to juggle, I’m afraid. I do hope I know what I’m doing by trying
to take all these on. I jest, but I do tend to work on multiple collections of poetry at
once and I’m at four right now, so I’m not completely joking. It comes with
needing to write to not go crazy. Speaking of crazy, one of those projects is
centered on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/Alice in Wonderland and Through
the Looking-Glass. It focuses on the idea of madness in wandering lost through
strange situations and environments. Pretty much the Alice poem from my
previous answer splintering off in many different directions. I’m very much
inspired writing from Alice’s state of mind these days. It’s such a personal project
for me.
- Possibly too many to juggle, I’m afraid. I do hope I know what I’m doing by trying
- What is your writing process like?
- With poetry, I’ll have an idea for a line and it’ll be a
natural jumping off point for what I want the rest of the poem to look like.
Sometimes a line or even a title that evokes a creative direction for me. Once I
have an actual piece of the poem in my mind, the rest tends to follow pretty easily.
Fiction works in a similar way when I work in that genre. An idea for a line of
dialogue can lead to the premise for a story or the inspiration for a character’s
voice.
I find myself writing a lot on sleepless nights. Insomnia, for all its strain on my
ability to function, does at least give me the chance to explore my imagination late
into the night. I often find it to be a creatively fulfilling time despite the exhaustion.
- With poetry, I’ll have an idea for a line and it’ll be a
- Where do you draw inspiration from?
- All kinds of things. Anything celestial or based
in astronomy, the fairy tales and fantasy novels I grew up with, nature, the
changing of seasons, my life experiences, and what I’ve felt or learned from them.
I always find my way back to these as sources of inspiration.
- All kinds of things. Anything celestial or based
- Who is your favorite author / what is your favorite book?
- I find it hard to pick just one
for either. For authors, I would say Mercedes Lackey, Terry Pratchett,
Edgar Allan Poe, Gregory Maguire, and Lisa See. My favorite books are The Black
Swan by Mercedes Lackey, The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve
Valentine, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, and The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- I find it hard to pick just one
- What is one goal you have for your writing future?
- I want to realize as many of the
projects I’ve dreamed up as possible. My biggest goal is to write as much as I can
so a lot of my ideas can eventually see the light of day. It keeps me motivated in
the uncertainty of my life. I find it comforting to know that I can turn what ails me
into something worthwhile and be proud of what it becomes. I want to give my
ideas their best chance to be part of the world, above all else.
- I want to realize as many of the
- What do you hope readers enjoy most from your work?
- I hope they enjoy the lyricism
and imagery, as well as the emotion behind it. I strive to capture the feelings of
what I’ve experienced as intensely as I feel them, so I hope readers can find
something to relate to in my writing. Something tangible and real, but also
beautiful in how sincerely it speaks. I want my work to be both enjoyable and
relatable for those who read it.
- I hope they enjoy the lyricism
- Where can readers learn more about you?
Dragon Soul Press 