This Is Horror

TIH 415: Catherynne M. Valente on Comfort Me with Apples, The Past is Red, and Fairyland

  • October 14, 2021

  • 3 mins to read

In this podcast Catherynne M. Valente talks about Comfort Me with Apples, The Past is Red, Fairyland, and much more. 

About Catherynne M. Valente

Catherynne M. Valente is the New York Times bestselling author of over two dozen works of fiction and poetry, including Palimpsest, the Orphan’s Tales series, Deathless, Radiance, and the crowdfunded phenomenon The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

Show notes

Click the timestamps to jump straight to the audio.

[3:45] The Past is Red and Garbagetown
[7:10] Pros and cons of telling the truth and loving the world, people, and things
[11:25] Learning about the Great Pacific garbage patch
[14:55] A story Cat would never write
[16:02] Comfort Me with Apples
[22:05] Promoting during COVID times
[24:37] Fairyland
[28:32] Mass Effect novelisation and other multimedia tie ins
[32:44] Johann Thorsson, via Patreon, asks who Cat’s inspirations are
[34:35] Books for those looking to hone craft and be genuinely surprised
[37:00] Advice to eighteen-year-old self
[38:47] What frightens Cat
[40:50] What should Cat be kinder to herself about
[43:09] Something new Cat has done or tried recently
[45:59] Personal philosophies to live by
[47:30] Horror movie that had the biggest impact on Cat
[49:24] What Cat hopes people say about her when she’s not in the room
[49:50] Best and worst writing advice ever given
[56:20] Short stories becoming novellas, novellas becoming novels
[59:14] Final thoughts

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