Interview with Horror Author Linda Wojtowick
Interview with Linda Wojtowick
1. Thank you for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Thank you for having me! This is an honor. I’m a writer mostly. I’ve published almost exclusively poetry- no full-length collections, but my work’s been in lots of lit mags over the years. I’ve also written a couple of novels. One of them, Wolf Stories, is available as an audio on podcast platforms. Currently I write and produce a podcast called The Ghosts on This Road with Soren Narnia, the maestro of Knifepoint Horror.
2. What inspired you to start your podcast?
Horror Author and Podcaster Linda Wojtowick
I’m awed by the power of telling stories- how they’re kind of released into the air, how they move, how they change, how they stay the same. As a writer, I’ve always craved that action- the performative part I guess, or the part where you get to lift your work off the page and share it in a more physical way with an audience. It’s like you build up all this steam, alone in a room, perfecting something… and then there’s no way to release it. I started reading things aloud- work that I love by other writers and recording myself. Soren and I would read poems and short stories back and forth. I got a bit bolder, got to trust my very imperfect voice more. Like, even when it fails you, it doesn’t fail you, right? I got to know it again. I started then participating in other podcasts, contributing vocally. And I loved it. And I knew that I wanted to wander further into these trees. I wanted to learn more. And I felt safe in the creative process with Soren. When we work together, things just seem to fall into place.
3. If you had to describe The Ghosts on This Road in three words, what would they be?
Eerie. Literary. Unusual.
4. What is your favorite horror podcast (besides your own 😊 )?
I’ve got to say that Knifepoint Horror is still my favorite. Soren’s a genius. His work is complex, subtle, and completely unique. I admire him so much as an artist.
5. When did you first develop a passion for horror?
Gosh, as a kid. The feeling of being scared was just, like, the most fun emotion or sensation to experience. Watching something scary or reading a creepy story is like being able to let your fear out to play and run around… like in a corral, or dog park. It’s a safe space for that excitement, that darkness. I was always just fascinated with fear and the way it worked, its mechanisms, and the stuff you can’t quite figure out or measure. I’ve always found horror very life-affirming.
6. Are there any types of horror you refuse to read or watch? (i.e. any tropes that you won’t read)
I have my preferences, certainly. But there’s so much that judgement depends on. It can come from strongly held ideals, or just simply what’s going on in your life at the moment. I can’t think of any trope that I wouldn’t consider engaging with, but it helps if I have curiosity about it, and it’s something that stands a good chance of lighting my smoke, you know? And I believe that anything- even something that makes you really uncomfortable, or conflicted, or angry or challenged… well, those things can still be valuable. And they can be done well, or in on interesting way. That said, in my personal tastes I’m very picky. But I think it’s much more important to support all kinds of horror endeavors than to be aggressive about my grumpy standards.
7. What projects are you working on right now? What can we expect from you in the future?
Soren and I are working on a new podcast. It’s got similar elements to Ghost but strays from that landscape as well. We’re carving out a book form of The Ghosts on This Road. I hope to record and release another book of mine- this year sometime is my goal. And I want to put a solo project on the stove- but it’s on low heat for now, just simmering. I’ll wait until the time is right.
8. Where can people find you online?
I’m on the twitters, the youtubes, the instagrams, & the facebooks. All the handles are just really my name- some variation of lindawojtowick- for consistency and, I guess, due to a profound lack of imagination.
