Claire’s top tip for aspiring authors: Write what you know, and be honest in your writing. Put your heart and soul into your writing. It’ll make for a more intriguing and realistic story.
Claire Fitzpatrick is a visual artist, performance artist, and award-winning author of speculative fiction and non-fiction. Called ‘Australia’s Queen Of Body Horror’, she enjoys writing about anatomy and the darker side of humanity. Her collection Metamorphosis from IFWG Publishing, was hailed as ‘simply heroic’, ‘graphic, disturbing, honest’, and ‘nothing short of a masterpiece’. She lives with her fiancé, the spray-paint artist Misery Ink Design, and their weird goblin kids somewhere in Queensland. Claire is currently working on a gory dark fantasy novella about shapeshifters and a non-fiction project on Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley.
You can find out more about her on her website and social media:
Website: www.clairefitzpatrick.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/witch.of.eldritch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughaglass_darkly91/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CJFitzpatrick91
AUTHOR INSIGHT
Why do you write? Writing has always been the most stable thing in my life, and I honestly don’t really know what else to do with myself. I have a bachelor degree in Government and International Relations, a Postgraduate Certificate in Writing, Editing, and Publishing (the latter quite boring to complete, to be honest), and I started a Masters degree in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences before being fired. That was crap. But writing has always been there for me, to lift me up when I’m down, and to remind me it’s OK to fail at things because at least it’s something I excel in. I write because it’s cathartic, and it’s the only way I can express my feelings. I’m really bad at expressing my feelings. Ask my fiancé. (We’re getting married in two weeks. Gosh. That’s scary).
What would you be doing if you weren’t a writer? No idea. I’m constantly reinventing myself, though I suspect it’s part of my mental illness (I have Borderline Personality Disorder). Over the past seven years, I’ve worked in government, retail, hospitality, vocational education, journalism (news, radio, and music), human resources, and marketing. I find it really hard to keep a job or stick to a profession, and writing has been what’s grounded me. I’m really into gardening. Maybe I’ll work in horticulture? The possibilities are endless. I am, however, a performance artist and comedian (I’ll work a gig once every two or three months). That, along with my writing, have been the most stable aspects of my ‘career.’ Let me know what you think I should do next.
What was your toughest obstacle to becoming published? My first professional horror publication was in 2015. However, I had four comedy stories published in 2013, a poetry chapbook published in 2012, and a poem commended in the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Competition in 2002 (I think I was 12). But the initial success of being published in a professional horror magazine was, at first, hard to replicate. I felt like I had to be 100% better than I needed to be and held myself at an unreasonably high standard. It was a really difficult time for me. I always had to try harder, be better. It was only when I actually relaxed and wrote something uniquely personal that I overcame the fear of being a ‘one-hit-wonder’ kind of writer and went on to have several more publications. So, the toughest obstacle was and still continues to be me.
How involved have you been in the development of your book? Did you have input into the cover? Luckily, I had the opportunity to work with my cover artist, as we’ve collaborated in the past. Greg Chapman is an amazingly talented artist. Not only did he work with me on my idea for the cover of Metamorphosis, but he also designed and physically created the cover of my award-winning non-fiction anthology The Body Horror Book. Greg listened to me and slightly altered his design to suit my wishes, which I’m so grateful for. I’m excited to work with him again, as he designed the cover of my upcoming anthology A Vindication Of Monsters, a non-fiction book on Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley (submissions are open –get in contact with me for details!). You can find Greg at www.darkscrybe.com/ (his writing website) and www.darkartiste.wordpress.com/ (his artist website). Greg is superbly talented! It’s always an honour to collaborate with him.
What’s the best aspect of your writing life? Not having to leave the house. Joking! I love the fact that people appreciate my imagination. I love that they enjoy reading what I have to say about myself, and the world. I love that I’m accepted for who I am, and what I write.
—the worst? I’m poor! Haha Don’t become a writer and expect to make money. Unless you’re a crime writer and extort people.
What would you do differently if you were starting out now as a writer? I think I’d try not to beat myself up over stories that aren’t accepted. I’d say, “Hey Claire, there are going to be some stories that just aren’t at the highest calibre they could be. Sometimes you get lazy when you’re in a slump. Also, it’s OK if you’re in a slump. That’s just how writing works. Additionally, stop thinking you’re a fraud. You’re being stupid and need to snap out of it.”
What do you wish you’d been told before you set out to become an author? Writing is a personal journey; you’re either successful or you’re not. But I’d like to have been told that it’s completely fine to not be published by the ‘big five’ publishing houses because it doesn’t mean you’re not a good writer. I’ve been fortunate enough to be published by a well-respected and high calibre Australian speculative fiction and children’s fiction publisher. I’m sure I would have been upset if my manuscript had been rejected, but it’s perfectly fine to have to keep trying. You can’t always be successful on your first go. Sometimes you just need to work at it. It’s very rare for people to become instantly successful.
What’s the best advice you were ever given? A few years ago, I was completing a creative non-fiction course at university, and I was finding it hard to figure out what to write about for my major project. Then my teacher told me it’s always best to write what you know, write what you feel strongly about, your passions, what makes you angry, what makes you depressed. Write something that is uniquely your story to tell, whether it be fiction or creative non-fiction. Personally, I think it’s important to be honest in your writing. Only you can tell your story. Write about you.
How important is social media to you as an author? Most of the people in my Facebook friends list are fellow writers. I have a Twitter account, but I don’t use it much. I think it’s important to use social media to connect with fellow writers. Find your tribe. You’ll grow as a writer, and as a person. Trust me.
Do you experience ‘writer’s block’ and if so, how do you overcome it? All the time. I’ve been writing a novella for about three years now, and I just can’t seem to finish it. It’s pissing me off. I go to write and…. nothing. But I tend to get writers’ block with larger projects, as opposed to short fiction. Saying that I have several unfinished short stories that I’ve neglected because I have no idea how to finish them. It’s hard to give advice on how to overcome writers’ block since I think many people overcome it in different ways. Something I do, which is helpful, is write non-fiction if I’m stuck on fiction, and vice-versa. So, I’d always recommend people do that. At the moment I’m pretty fucking (can I swear?) depressed, as my father has terminal cancer, and I’ve been writing like crazy. But I have a feeling I’ll get writers’ block after he passes. That’s the way life is, I suppose. I’m not sure how I’ll overcome that.
How do you deal with rejection? Sometimes, it hits me hard. I tell myself I’m shit and worthless and that my success won’t last. But that’s the borderline personality disorder talking. I’m quite a ridiculous person. But after a while I’ll write something new, and it’ll be accepted, and that makes me feel better. Sometimes I paint or tend to my plants. That’s always helpful. When I’m feeling better, I remind myself I’m 29, and a lot of people aren’t professionally published, or win an award/awards until they are older. I just happened to become relatively successful in my field in my twenties. So, rejection is OK. Just have to keep your chin up.
In three words, how would you describe your writing? Bloody. Grotesque. Honest.
If you had the chance to spend an hour with any writer of your choice, living or dead, who would it be and what would you most like them to tell you about living a writing life? Clive Barker. After I read his work I immediately wanted to write body horror, and the first body horror story I wrote was my first professional publication. I’d just want to say thank you for helping me find my niche. I’d then ask him to tell me how to finish my damned novella, and how I can balance my writing life with my ‘real’ life. Actually, if anyone can tell me how to do that, that’d be swell.
BOOK BYTE
Metamorphosis
by Claire Fitzpatrick
Madeline will never become a woman. William will never become a man. Does June deserve to be human? Does Lilith deserve a heart?
Seventeen stories. Seventeen tales of terror.
If imperfection is crucial to a society’s survival, what makes a monster?
Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Metamorphosis-Collection-Stories-Claire-Fitzpatrick/dp/1925956040
In Their Own Write 