Author Wendy Webb
Wendy Webb (aka Wendy W. Webb) has published dark fantasy short stories and novels, co-edited anthologies, and has had productions of stage and radio plays. After a hiatus as a doctoral student of emergency management all while a disaster medical responder, she welcomed the return to fiction writing with The Wild Rose Press publication of the gothic Widow’s Walk,Âand an updated Beluga Stein supernatural-humor-murder mystery, Bee Movie, and the forthcoming Mean Cuisine. Milford House, an imprint of Sunbury Press, published her paranormal, travel, “memoir,” Eye of the Gargoyle. Wendy has taught fiction writing at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina for many years. When not writing or responding to disasters, she dotes on her husband and two dogs (one of which turns on iTunes when Wendy leaves her office); and loves dry red wine, theatre, and travel as long as she doesn’t see any ghosts.
This is Author Wendy Webb’s writing and publication journey in her own words…
I wrote my first story at about age 7. It was very short, and I worried that a reader would not get a clear picture of just how scary the monster was. So I created a 3D picture of the monster using black duct tape. You’d think duct tape as a medium meant I was destined to become an art prodigy. Alas, no.
My first short story sale was in 1981 or ’82, something like that. The TV news reported on a death row inmate and mentioned the executioner always remained anonymous. I mulled over that little bit of information wondering who would want to be a modern day executioner, and why. Then one day my questions turned into a short story and I sold it to an editor of an anthology.
Since that first sale, my interests, work, most mundane and just plain unusual situations, plus what seems a conga line of eccentric people dropping in and out of my life, well, all of it finds a place in my writing. Stranger than fiction? Maybe not!
Webb’s inspiration to start writing…
You mean I had a choice about becoming a writer? At about 11 or 12 years old I knew I would write, and I was distinctly unhappy with how boring that seemed. Turns out writing is a series of ups and downs for sure, requires perseverance, and is just plain hard sometimes. But boring? Not even close. Plus, my family was filled with writers of science fiction, poetry, newspaper and magazine nonfiction, and one grandmother who was a closet romance writer—that is, we actually found part of a handwritten romance manuscript in her closet. No one in our family had a clue about this until after her death.
Challenges as a writer…
Working at home with all the interruptions, real and imagined, is a huge challenge. The phone call that erases that perfect sentence you’ve been working on for days, or the last two critical pages of your manuscript disappearing when a tree limb falls on the powerline and knocks out electricity for an hour or more—all of this can be enough to think about setting up a bar within arm’s reach of your computer. (Note to self: move bar to within arm’s reach). Imagined challenges pop up when I get stuck, my mind wanders, and I have to justify leaving my desk earlier than planned to handle such tasks as moving all the major appliances so the floor underneath can be cleaned.
Of course a big challenge I still face, like plenty of other writers, is to make sure my skin stays thick to criticisms, but my mind stays open. You never know when a terrific suggestion can make your work even better.
Webb’s favourite line from her book, Widow’s Walk…
One line that I particularly like comes from the back blurb of Widow’s Walk, a contemporary, gothic, ghost story that takes place on an island, “Someone waits to finish what was started long ago, and Annie will keep a promise she never made.”Â
Webb’s works…
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A Contemporary gothic ghost storyfrom the Wild Rose Press.
Book 1 of the Beluga Stein Supernatural-Humor-Murder Mystery Series, from the Wild Rose Press.Â
Mean Cuisine –Book 2, release date January 20,2025.
AMetaphysical, missing person, memoir-style publication from Milford House Press, an imprint of Sunbury Press.
A Friday the 13th novella, 5th series.
Managing writer’s fatigue and writer’s block…
I always know my protagonist and how the story begins and ends. Writing the middle part of a novel can be more painful than shuffling barefoot across hot coals while being pecked by ducks. So I throw a complication at my protagonist. Works (almost) every time. Taking long drives also works remarkably well to figure out a problem in the book.
New books in the works for future publication…
I hope to complete Bit Players, in a few months. This will be the 3rdbook in my Beluga Stein supernatural humor murder mystery series. I love to hear these books provide a fun and funny escape from a bit of everyday stress. Toward the same end, I’m constantly taking notes for a nonfiction book I’m planning to write on humorous observations and situations. (See note above on eccentric people!)
One thing that Webb has achieved in her writing career that she’s proud of…
This will seem a strange answer, I know, but I am really proud that I’m always learning something new about writing, and that I get to share my experiences by teaching those interested in professional writing.
Advice and words of encouragement from Author Wendy Webb for aspiring authors…
Learn the rules of writing—you can’t successfully break the rules if you don’t know them.
Read the market reports on where to send your work. Check to make sure the information is still current, then read the market report again and believe what it says. If the market report says, “no vampire stories,” don’t send your vampire story, no matter how wonderful you think it is.
Don’t worry what others are doing. If, in fact, she wrote her first novel in grade school, or he writes 5,000 words every day before breakfast, ignore them. Ignore all of it while you find comfort and confidence in what works for you.
Read widely. You never know where an idea for your next work will come from.
