I’m interested in the intersections between disability and religion—particularly the narratives constructed at both organizational and individual levels around what disability means in relation to the god(s) one worships, as well as how one might respond accordingly . . . I find it fascinating that in certain personal and corporate theologies, the god(s) might be blamed for misfortune, might be raged at, while in other belief systems, even within the same nominal religious umbrella, the adherent might be told to focus on their own self-improvement and/or positive thinking, for their virtue is being tested/they are but a worm, etc . . .

I don’t believe in walk-on roles. If a character’s in a story, they have their own reason for being there. Every story is richer for knowing what that is.

When writing characters like this, I like to question every assumption I’ve made about them. Conformity to social mores, normal behavior, and even emotional responses are all assumptions made based on how people act in the real world. These assumptions that don’t necessarily make sense for characters in a fantasy setting.

This story haunted me for two years before I finally got it out. It taught me that if I can’t stop thinking about something, I should probably start writing it down. Pay attention to your ghosts.

It is innocuous and normal to think, “I miss my friend, I hope that I see her again, maybe we’ll patch things up,” but when it turns out the friend has passed away . . . well it’s still normal to miss them, anyway. Less so, when their posthumous letter says “trust me,” to actually trust them. I think it’s also unfortunately normal to still have regrets and what ifs. What if I had reached out sooner, or at all? Did they know how much I cared?

I started my writing journey with poems. I think mostly in poetry when creating, though I believe different stories crave different styles and structures. My favourite things to read, or be inspired by, use a perfect blend of prose and poetic techniques. And I try my best to listen to the story I am working on, its different parts, and do whatever they demand of me.

When I wrote the story, I didn’t want the insects to anchor too closely to any singular real-world equivalent; in fact I went back and forth a few times with how they worked, changing their logistics and building in some of the in-world fallout of having bees as a fundamental fact of life, in order to keep them from drifting closer to being one clear metaphor or another (because I found that drifting very easy to do!) Being a woman is a lot of things, personally and interpersonally, societally, and I wanted the bees to be a lot of things too.

I think oppressive expectations and self-criticism, and the negative emotions associated with these, are the main deterrents to beginning writing. We have many obligations and demands we prioritize and manage on a daily basis because we have to, because they are habits, because we don’t have expectation/emotion tied up with these items, and because we often value what is expected/imposed on us as inherently more worthy of our time and sacrifice. Writing can be easy when we are more fair with ourselves.

The idea of “The Black and White” has been kicking around in my head for a really long time and was spurred by a terrible thought. I used to have this great fear that I would lose contact with my sister and the only thing that would reunite us would be our father’s death. Over time, that fear or anxiety started to change shape into something more fantastical, like many of my fears.