Welcome to A Month of Rain and Reads, a celebration of self-published and indie SFF throughout the entire month of November. To find out how you can take part and view the whole list of content, visit our introduction post.
Today, we share an interview with Helen Whistberry, author of When Your Heart is a Broken Thing, The Final Voyage of Avery Mothmere and more.
Describe yourself like you would a character in one of your books.
There was a quiet absence in the corner. A thing that both was and wasn’t there. Not quite a void… more like an entity that had not yet decided whether it wished to be a part of this world or not and was lingering in the shadows to hedge its bets.
Our theme for November is A Month of Rain & Reads. Do you subscribe to the idea of curling up with a good book while the rain pours down outside. What book would you read? Would you bring tea and a blanket? What would make the moment perfect?
We’ve been in a mild drought, so I would definitely welcome a day of steady rain. It makes me sleepy though, so for me, it would be a good time to cozy up with an old favorite to let the familiar words soothe me. That way if I do happen to drift off, I won’t lose the plot.
What else do you want our readers to know about you?
I use a pen name because I wish to preserve some privacy and separation between my creative life and “real” life, but the things I share on social media, my books and my art do reflect very much my own personality and as much of my day-to-day life that I feel comfortable sharing. At the same time, “Helen Whistberry” has become a kind of character of their own. Being retired and a bit of a hermit, I spend more time as Helen online and through my creations than I do as my own self, which was pretty weird and disorienting at first but I’ve gotten more or less used to it now.
Why did you decide to self-publish, and what has been your biggest success so far?
Not being at all serious at the time about becoming a writer, I self-published my first novel on a lark because it was surprisingly easy to do and tremendous fun getting to hold a real, bound, paper-and-ink book that I’d written. As I learned more and got more confident about my writing skills, I did start submitting stories to publishers and anthologies and had some success getting accepted, but something about losing even temporary ownership over my words doesn’t sit right with me, so I’ve settled back comfortably into the self-pub world.
My most popular book so far has been my second collection of stories, When Your Heart is a Broken Thing, which brings together some of my previously published stories with new ones. A generous selection of horror, fantasy, ghost and folk tales, sci-fi—it’s really the perfect introduction to all things Whistberry, including art I created specifically for this publication.
What is your favourite thing about being an indie author?
I love being able to push my stuff out into an unsuspecting world whenever I like and also having complete control over everything from final edits to the cover to the interior layout and illustrations. Seeing how some authors have been done dirty by publishers slapping AI-generated covers on their works or not paying out royalties in a timely fashion (or at all), I feel less and less inclined to pursue more traditional routes to publishing. The old publishing model seems to be more broken every day, so I’m grateful we live in a time when it has never been easier to publish directly to a variety of platforms. (Now getting anyone to read it once it’s out there is a whole other thing!)
I love the art that you post on social media. You’ve incorporated illustrations into your books, including When Your Heart is a Broken Thing and The Final Voyage of Avery Mothmere. What is that process like for you? Do you have an idea for a story or art first?
I began my later-in-life creative career thinking I would just be a writer but started dabbling in art as a hobby. As I gained more artistic skill and recognition as an artist, it occurred to me that I could include my own illustrations in my books to give them that special something extra for the reader. It started with my first story collection, The Melody of Trees, in a very simple and modest way, but the illustrations have gotten more elaborate with each subsequent publication and is now a part of the process that I really look forward to.
I write first without thinking about the art, but once I’m getting close to final edits, I make a list of what image I think would suit each story or chapter and sketch out the subject and composition before jumping into creating the final illustrations. I’ve also switched up art styles from book to book to keep it fresh. It probably more than doubles the amount of time it takes to get a book ready for publication, but I feel like it adds a lot of value to the reader and also brings my words to life in a more visceral and deeper way.
Your most recent release, Roadkill, features art of actual roadkill! What was the inspiration behind this book?
Ever since I was very young, I’ve had the habit of watching out the car window for animals that have been struck and killed, left discarded along the highway as pitiful and horrific caricatures of their former beautiful, wild selves. In my autistic brain, marking their passing by the simple act of seeing and acknowledging their deaths at the very least, and also—and this was an important part of the ritual—identifying which animal they had been in life, was a way of honoring them for that brief moment in time.
It has been estimated that one million animals are killed along roads every day in the US alone. That level of careless carnage seemed a ripe subject for an eco-horror book. The constant destruction humans wreak upon the planet and its other inhabitants has always angered me. Roadkill brings together that frustration, my empathy and love for animals, and my art, 90% of which has some form of nature as its subject. There is a subplot as well that acknowledges the difficulties of moving through a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to LGBTQIA+ people that means a lot to me.
Roadkill was a very personal project that I wrote pretty much for me alone as I know the subject matter and horror aspects will turn off a lot of readers. But I think those that understand it will get where I’m coming from with the words and art and appreciate it as a unique and moving reading experience—a kind of cry from my innermost heart on behalf of animals that have no voice. I doubt I’ll ever write another book that is as much “me” as this one, so I’m very proud of it regardless of how many people read it.
What themes are important to you, and how are they reflected in your writing?
Found family, loyalty, staying true to the quest, doing the hard thing, finding light in unexpected places, acceptance of people for who they are… these are all common themes. Once Upon a Wave of Witches (co-written with Eli Belt) andThe Tail of Nightshade are both classic quest adventures where a band of diverse characters come together and risk much to achieve a common goal that might not benefit them directly but which they believe to be the right thing to do. The Final Voyage of Avery Mothmere explores themes of grief, loss, and finding hope and even love in a very unlikely place and time.
Many of my stories focus on The Other—so-called outsiders who don’t quite fit in or even understand the world they’re inhabiting. Plenty of ace, autistic, and nonbinary characters as these are traits I both have experience with and so feel confident writing, but also because I want readers who share these traits to see themselves in a story (and maybe give a little insight and understanding to readers who don’t share those traits).
What are you working on next? Can you tease us?
I’ve illustrated and published two books this year as well as doing a ton of art, so that’s taken up most of my creative energy. I’m working with artist Libby Stigaard on a beetle story for an upcoming InverteFest Anthology that pairs writers and artists in an invertebrate-themed collaboration. After that, I plan to pull out my many scattered notes and half-started writings and work on a new novella of some sort for the new year. What form, theme, or even genre it will take, I could not even begin to speculate at the moment, but it is a good bet that it will be illustrated when all is said and done!
And a few quick questions. What’s your favourite…
…book, in recent times?
Always hard to pick just one. For horror fans, I’ve enjoyed Reef Mind by Hazel Zorn (very weird eco-horror) and Grey Dog by Elliott Gish (historical Gothic horror). Kara Jorgensen’s Reanimator series is excellent supernatural fantasy with ace and autistic rep among others. And anything by Arden Powell—they write a wide variety of genres from light queer romances to fantasy to horror, but I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve ever read by them and am continuing to explore their back catalog.
…writing advice?
Don’t get too hung up on writing advice but do read a lot of indie authors in different genres. You’ll get tons of inspiration from writers who aren’t shy about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the vast and ever-expanding world of storytelling.
…advice for someone who wants to publish their own book?
Take your time. I’ve seen too many people rush to publication with rough manuscripts. Hire a competent editor if you can afford one, and if you can’t, cultivate a group of reliable and helpful beta readers who aren’t afraid to be real with you.
Also, you need to decide what your most important goal is. If it’s to make money (and there is not anything like as much money in publishing as some people seem to believe), then you’re probably going to have to write at least somewhat to market by figuring out what genres and themes are popular and sell. If your goal is more to simply express yourself, then don’t be afraid to push the boundaries yourself with your unique personal weirdness (complimentary) and point of view.
Do you have any last words? Any shoutouts to authors who have supported you or whose books have inspired you?
Final thoughts: supporting creatives and their human-made words and art is a very direct way of pushing back against some of the things that are going wrong in the world today. I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again: we indie creators are simple creatures. You can absolutely make our day and give us the fuel to keep going by buying a book, an art print, or even just leaving a word of encouragement on social media, in a review, etc.
Indie publishing is both a delightfully fulfilling and frustratingly difficult road, but the adventure has greatly enriched my life. There’s a ton of indie writers who have been important to me both as people and as authors along my journey. L.A. Guettler, Rory Michaelson, G.M. Nair, Krystle Matar, Arden Powell, Kara Jorgensen, Ian Donnell Arbuckle, Polenth Blake are just a few that have inspired me to push myself as a writer while being open and honest about the struggles that most indie creators face these days. It’s tough out there and only getting worse with the advent of AI-generated slop, so I’d love it if anyone seeing this would check out some of their books or those of any other indie author.
About the Author
Helen Whistberry (she/they) is the pen name for an indie author and artist who began writing after retiring from a long career working in libraries. They have published numerous books as well as contributing horror and fantasy stories to anthologies. Helen’s writing often explores their own experiences with gender, asexuality, alienation, and autism. Their whimsical digital artwork focuses on the natural world. Helen also loves to read and review books by fellow indie and small press authors. You can find out more by visiting their website at https://www.helenwhistberry.com/ for a complete list of publications and links.
- Website: www.HelenWhistberry.com
- Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/whistberry.bsky.social
- Pillowfort: pillowfort.social/whistberry
