We are back this week with Episode 2 of #indieauthorsummer. For this week’s installment, I was able to sit down with new author Cat Delani. Based out of Maryland, Cat has been hard at work and has now released her new novella, Unclaimed Property, which released June 17th. She also has some other upcoming projects and a published short story alongside certified powerhouse authors Clay McLeod Chapman and Grady Hendrix in Bookworms Horror Zine Issue 6.
In the same Q&A format as my last Indie Author Summer article, we will talk a little bit about all of Cat’s work and get some insight into what her personal experiences have been so far on her journey into indie publishing.
Abby Wolf: At what point in life did you realize you wanted to pursue writing professionally?
Cat Delani: “Basically forever” could be an answer, but it wasn’t a truly serious focus until I began reading horror in 2021. That was when I realized why writing had never worked for me before: I’d been in the wrong genre.
AW: Tell us a bit about your existing work(s). Which is your favorite, so far?
CD: I want to take a moment to highlight an upcoming release that isn’t my novella. I have a short story called “#ideserveit” that is releasing in an anthology, Little Red Flags, from Dark Matter INK this fall. I had so much fun writing it and I’m so happy it found the home it did. I lovingly refer to it as my “Slasher Tinder” story.
AW: What can you tell us about your most recent project, whether its newly released or pending publication?
CD: Unclaimed Property is a grief horror novella following a young woman named Mallory as she takes a chance on a possible inheritance. She lost her entire family in a house fire when she was only seven. This novella is a rage against the pointlessness of tragedy and an exploration of wounds time can’t heal.
AW: What is the most surprising thing you have learned during the writing process?
CD: I am always wrong. I said it as a joke to a friend earlier this month, but it’s true. My writing process is figuring out what I had wrong when I set out to write. The first spark of inspiration looks very different from the final product. If I’ve done my job, anyway. Strong story and strong characters will guide the work into being what it should be.
AW: What advice would you want to give to an author just starting out?
CD: Don’t focus on writing your best book today. Unless you plan on being a one-book-wonder (and I’m sure some people do?), your best work will be created many years from now. Choosing to focus on having a body of work, on a long career, eliminated the pull of perfectionism for me. I hope it does for you, too.
AW: What is the strangest thing you have had to research for a project?
CD: I’m currently working on sci-fi heavy collection of stories, so that’s involved a lot of niche research. But the strangest tidbit had to have been when I originally set Unclaimed Property in 1920. (Remember what I said about being wrong?) That was when I learned that iced tea was not a southern drink because, well, they didn’t have ice. I’m not saying that’s why I changed the setting, but …
AW: Tell me your favorite thing about working on the indie side of publishing and one hard thing about it.
CD: The community is hands-down the best part. I can’t speak to other genres, but the indie horror community is filled with some of the kindest, coolest, most inspiring people and creators out there. The hardest thing about it has been placing the appropriate value on my work.
AW: If you could have any author with you on a deserted island, who would they be and why?
CD: Brian Keene, hands down. If we weren’t off that island in a week, we’d be living in relative luxury. Survival skills aside, you gotta go with someone you trust and can talk to for a long long time. I think we’d be fine.
AW: What was your most recent 5 star read?
CD: All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
AW: What are you currently reading and/or listening to?
CD: As of right now:
Full Throttle by Joe Hill
The Beast You Are by Paul Tremblay
The Rising by Brian Keene
Bury My Body Somewhere Nice by Kalvin Ellis
Bunny by Mona Awad (Reread)
Killer on the Road by Stephen Graham Jones
I think that’s everything? I am incapable of reading one thing at a time.
Thank you, dear reader, for joining me for Indie Author Summer. Also, thank you so much to Cat for allowing me to interview her. I had the opportunity to read very early copies of both #ideserveit and Unclaimed Property. Both were unique and fresh takes on horror tropes and I absolutely enjoyed both. You can find Cat on Instagram under the handle @cat_winedark to keep up to date with her current and future projects. Stay tuned for next weeks third episode of Indie Author Summer!
Photos courtesy of Cat Delani
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