Interview with Elin Olausson

I have something special for you today, dearesr reader: an interview with Elin Olausson — the author of the collection, Growth, which I reviewed here.

Today, Elin and I will be discussing her collection and writing. She is a fan of the weird and the unsettling. She is the author of the short story collection Growth and has had stories featured in The Ghastling, Luna Station Quarterly, Nightscript, and many other publications. Elin’s rural childhood made her love and fear the woods, and she firmly believes that a cat is your best companion in life. She lives in Sweden.

You can check her out on her website, Twitter, and Instagram.

PLM Talks | Growth with Elin Olausson

PLM: What is your writing process like? Are you the type to need silence or music while writing? Do you plan everything out or just figure the story out as you go? Do you use mood boards or images?

EO: It depends a lot on the project I'm working on. Sometimes I’ll just sit down and write and see what happens, sometimes I plan for ages before I start. It really depends on the length and complexity of the story. I spend a lot of time searching for images when I’m working on a novel, because it helps me visualize the characters and settings. Usually I write in silence, but when I listen to music it tends to be the instrumental kind, like classical or folk music.  

PLM: What would you say is your signature voice/style when it comes to writing?

EO: Poetical, dreamy, lots of metaphors. I like the clash between beauty and brutality. 

PLM: Do you ever experience writer’s block? If so, how do you overcome it?

EO: Yes, all the time! It’s very frustrating when all I want to do is write, but still it just doesn’t work sometimes. I handle it by forcing myself to write, little by little, or just read through some of my old work to get back into it and rediscover my voice. Getting away from the computer and scribbling in a notepad usually works, too. 

PLM: Where do you get your ideas for your stories? Do you keep a journal to write them down, or just remember them all in your head?

EO: Here and there, really—childhood memories, movies, music, art… It’s usually just a detail, a vague image that doesn’t become a story until it’s connected to other images. I have a lot of those, just waiting for the right connection that will turn them into a story. I try to write all my ideas down, but unfortunately I use many different notebooks for this so I never know where my notes are when I need them. I really should try to be more organized.

PLM: What advice would you give to aspiring/current writers that you wish you had received sooner?

EO: To believe in yourself and be aware of the fact that not all editors and publishers are right for you and your story. Some people won’t like anything you write because it’s not for them, and that’s fine. But you shouldn’t change everything about your writing to accommodate someone else, not unless you truly agree with those changes. 

PLM: Who/what are your literary inspirations?

EO: Shirley Jackson—it was such a revelation when I discovered her and the psychological horror genre. Poppy Z. Brite—one of the authors who guided me through my teens. Selma Lagerlöf—classic Swedish author who wrote beautiful books, sometimes with speculative elements.

PLM: Let’s chat about your collection, Growth. Tell us a little about the stories in your collection.

EO: It’s a psychological horror collection, with twenty stories in total. Some stories have a dystopian setting, some are historical, but most of them are set in a contemporary, alternate version of the area of Sweden where I’m from.   

PLM: I noticed that all the stories revolved around the theme of family – what drew you to this theme?

EO: I’m a very family-oriented person who’s always liked to just stay at home. I think that’s why I’m fascinated by dysfunctional families, because it is a very frightening idea to me that a home could be a horrifying, unsafe place, and that your family members could be the ones you need to fear the most. 

PLM: Which story was the hardest to write?

EO: I struggled a lot with the first story in the collection, Roadkill. At first I wasn’t pleased with how it turned out, either, but now I couldn’t be more happy with it. 

PLM: Which story in the collection is your favourite?

EO: The final story, Lineage, which is also the longest one. This one has been around for many years, since I first had the idea in 2008 and wrote the Swedish version ten years ago. It has all those elements I like—an old house in the middle of nowhere, beauty, violence, madness, and a highly dysfunctional family you would not want to be a part of.  

PLM: What are you working on right now?

EO: I’m working on a romance story right now, but after that I’ll go back to a horror novella I started writing six months ago. There are several other projects lined up, so I definitely have no time for writer’s block. 

PLM: Do you have any publications coming out in the near future?

EO: I have stories that will be featured in Nocturne Magazine, Tales From Between, Dread Imaginings, and Chiral Mad 5, all of these hopefully this autumn. 

PLM: And the last —arguably the most important — question of this interview. What is your favourite food, and why is it macaroni and cheese? 

EO: Haha, I’ve never had macaroni and cheese so I have no idea what it tastes like. My favourite food would be tacos, probably, or anything with feta cheese. 

Thank you Elin for taking the time to answer my questions! If you’re interested in picking up a copy of Growth, you can get it here.

x PLM