Michelle Ann King

Goldfish Grimm: Michelle Ann King is a returning author to Goldfish Grimm. Her story The Portal to a Lost World originally appeared in issue 12. While it’s only been a few months, what sort of interesting things have changed or happened in your world since we last saw you in Goldfish Grimm?

Michelle Ann King:  I’ve fallen in love with Twitter, which I think is a wonderful writers’ equivalent of being able to turn to someone at the next desk and say, ‘Oh, I just thought of something funny/interesting/useful…’ I have some wonderful Twitter buddies, and it’s great to hear about their successes and sales, too (and that’s also a nifty way to find new markets!) I think if most of the people you interact with on a daily basis are in your own head, it’s a good thing to be able to branch out and talk to some real people every now and then.

GFG: Was there anything in particular that inspired “The World Doesn’t End, Even When it Should”?

MAK:  Generally, my deep and abiding love for zombie stories. I wanted to write one with a different slant, and it started me wondering what it would be like if instead of killing people, the zombies saved them. I decided there’d probably be the normal mix of reactions – some people would embrace it, some would be horrified by it and others would find a way to make money out of it. 

GFG: Your character makes a good argument for using zombies for healing but I can also see how it could really make one squeamish. If this were real, would you be able to go through with having a zombie heal you?

MAK:  One thing I always wanted to do with the story was keep the details of exactly what the process entails offscreen–sometimes, the most effective thing way to freak a reader out is leave them to fill in the blanks themselves. So on the basis that I am horribly squeamish, I’m not sure. On the other hand, the survival instinct will beat down most objections in the end–so if it came down to zombie-up or check out, I think I’d go for it. And at least they purr. Anything that purrs has to be cute, right?

GFG:  What are you looking forward to in 2014?  

MAK:  With the way the weather in the UK has been lately, the first thing that comes to mind is SUMMER. I also have some great trips coming up, to Las Vegas and Hawaii, then later to Edinburgh and Cornwall. But really, I find that since I am currently fortunate enough to be able you write full time, working days and holidays are almost equally joyful.  

GFG: Do you have anything you’d like to plug or promote?

MAK:  I have a story in the absolutely wonderful Unidentified Funny Objects 2, which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone who likes some humorous SFF. The story from Jim C. Hines (Stranger vs. the Malevolent Malignancy) is one of my favourites of all time. I also have two collections of my own stories so far (Volume 3 is due for release in April) and details can be found here.