"Storytelling Has Been A Constant Friend To Me Over The Years" - An Interview With Anna Kubiak
In which I interview a good friend about reading, writing, and her life.
Hello, friends!
Back in May, I began interviewing reader and writer friends who are on author journeys just like I am! I invited them to share their experiences, expertise, and thoughts on reading and writing, and they responded with wonderful insights.
Because you all have enjoyed these interviews so much, I’ve decided to share more interviews from other readers and writers from the Kindness Cafe community! In each interview, I will ask the interviewee questions about their life, reading, and writing.
For my third interview, I’m featuring Anna Kubiak, a good friend, mentor, and writer from New York. You can find Anna at her Instagram account.
Let’s get into the interview!
Introduce yourself!
Hello! My name is Anna, and I'm a writer located a stone's throw away from the Buffalo Bills stadium in Upstate NY.
What is your favorite snack?
Recently my favorite snack has been Drizzilicious mini rice cake in the birthday cake flavor (which is a very important detail), I recently discovered them at my supermarket and haven't stopped thinking about them since. Also, anything to do with a baguette, such as jelly, cheese, hummus, or nibbling off the end of it for fun!
What are three things that you love?
Firstly, I love my dogs... I have two chihuahuas named Joy and Jubilee and like their namesakes there is never a dull moment when they are around. My photo storage has been irredeemably eaten away with as many pictures of them as humanly possible, and honestly, life is better with a little bundle of Joy by your side!
Another thing that I love is my sisters. I am sandwiched between two of them and even when I am exceptionally annoyed, I am always grateful that we get to embark on adventures together.
And I love creating things. Specifically, the adrenaline rush of falling headfirst into a project that means something to me that I can share with others at some point. Writing stories is the ultimate form of this, but on a smaller scale I love to write little notes and leave them for people to find.
What is your favorite piece of artwork or music?
After an insurmountably deep music drought I recently fell back on an old favorite that's been lurking in my mind, "No Light, No Light" by Florence + The Machine. There is a beautifully tragic passion the way that the lyricism captures an idea of longing while struggling to let go and the frustration of being caught in place where you don't have the answers. I love metaphors that incorporate light and darkness as core messages because I think they can be so simple and powerful, and this song is no exception.
Here's a quick excerpt:
"I never knew daylight could be so violent
A revelation in the light of day
You can't choose what stays and what fades away"
- "No Light, No Light" by Florence + The Machine.
What genre(s) do you write?
I like to dabble in genres and change it up as often as possible! The first full length manuscript I completed is a solarpunk novel, but usually I write in contemporary fiction or mythology inspired fantasy. I also enjoy writing poetry!
What was your very first project you ever wrote?
The first project I completed is a solarpunk novel that follows Emy, a girl drafted into a climate emergency response program and forges her path forward in a near future New York shaped by ecological crisis. It's a project that's very special to me because it was the first time that I was able to follow the story all the way to the end. What began as a far too long note in the Notes Apps of my phone and grew to hundreds of pages littering my desk as I edited, has been a journey for me too of discovering what is possible. Currently, I am in the process of querying potential literary agents on my publication journey!
Which themes or tropes do you put in your books and stories (intentionally or unintentionally)?
A common theme in my writing is the emotional availability (or lack thereof) of my characters. Stories are interesting, to me personally, when they are able to reach deep into emotional connective tissue of what it means to be human. My goal is to create characters who struggle or suffer or simply experience, to represent worlds that aren't perfect but can sometimes still feel like home, and to explore the idea of growth and personal evolution. I love to draw inspiration from old myths and legends to create parallels to the journeys that people have been enjoying all the way back to the Epic of Gilgamesh and beyond! I don't usually lead with tropes, although they can form later, but I just focus on characters and what is authentic to them.
What are three books that have influenced your writing?
This is a very hard question; there's so many to choose from! I have to say The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins because of its ability to meld together so many different thoughts, ideas, and characters. I remember being thirteen years old sitting on the deck behind my house, and my older sister read the whole series out loud to us. I never knew that I could love characters so deeply up to that point and I haven't stopped caring about them since!
Bird by Crystal Chan was another informative book that I have reread more than a couple times, I just really appreciated how emotional it was.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is one of my favorite books of all time! It was a book that got me back into reading and reinspired my writing a few years ago when I felt out of my depth in both. The lyrical writing paired with the timeless story and the magical touch of Madeline Miller is something that will stick with me forever.
Tell us a little bit about your writing journey!
My writing journey began with keeping notebooks of short stories and fragments of thoughts stashed under my bed. Storytelling has been a constant friend to me over the years and something that I hope to continue for the rest of my life. There is simply nothing else in the world that connects the tangible and the intangible so completely. Thus far I have several short stories published in literary journals and magazines, a published book of poetry, a novel that I am in the process of publishing, and so many ideas to get to in the future!
Are you working on anything fun right now?
Currently, I am working on the final book of a fantasy trilogy that I am very excited about. It's the longest project I've endeavored on so far and it has been an incredible experience to see it all come together! The story chronicles the plight of a people born in a place with no light and draws on the principles of Greek, Norse, and Christian mythology.
Anna Kubiak is a novelist and book enthusiast who loves looking for inspiration everywhere she goes! Awe-inspired by the works of Suzanne Collins, E. Lockhart, and Madeline Miller and fueled by one too many cups of coffee, Anna is on a quest to give justice to the characters trapped inside her head. You can find her at @alandoflittlethings on Instagram!
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Would you like more writing resources? Check out My Writing Compilation Post!
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