Writer Interview: Tabatha Wood

Snuggle up warm and read all about July’s featured New Zealand author. Tabatha Wood is a busy mum and a keen advocate for writing for positive mental wellness. She has written non-fiction books and has navigated the process and independently published her collection of short stories about the chilling and the strange.

K: What is an early book / author that inspired you to write? What are you reading now?

I learned to read when I was four, and it didn’t take long before most books written for children my age bored me or seemed too simplistic. The stories I told myself, (and my plush toys), were far more exciting.

I was an only child with an overactive imagination, and I told everyone who would listen that I was going to be a writer when I grew up. I churned out hundreds of short stories on a typewriter my parents bought for me. I stapled them together and made little books of my own. I think my earliest memory of really wanting to be a “proper” writer — as in, someone might actually pay me for what I created — was after reading the Chronicles of Narnia books by C. S. Lewis. I was in the middle of reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader when I thought, “I could do this. Hey, I want to do this!”

As a child I was a voracious reader and devoured a broad variety of genres. Not much has changed now I’m an adult.

At the moment, I’m in the middle of reading a selection of different horror and fantasy stories by people I’ve come to know through the independent publishing scene. I aim to read them and review them over the next few months. I’ve just finished reading Georgina Bruce’s This House of Wounds which was beautiful but brutal, and The Beard and Other Weirdness by Steve Dillon. I highly recommend both of those if you like weird, chilling fiction.

I often turn to Young Adult fiction when I just want a quick read, and I’m loving Make a Hard Fist by New Zealand author Tina Shaw. The last book I bought was something completely different — Every Tool’s a Hammer by Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame. It’s such a glorious celebration of what it means to be creative.

K: What is your daily writing schedule like?

I do try to write every day, most often first thing in the morning, but as a mum to two boys, who I also educate at home, it’s not always easy to find large chunks of time to sit down and write. I often end up typing fractured sentences in the Notes app of my phone when they come to me, and sometimes, eventually, they might become something more.

Right now I am running a writing workshop with a wonderful friend of mine in Wellington. The class content is based on the book Wild Women, Wild Voices by Judy Reeves, and the aim is to help New Zealand women find their wild and authentic voice. We encourage them to engage in daily writing exercises in their “Journey Notes”. This can be anything from a quick paragraph, to a poem, to an extended piece of prose. As workshop leader I also like to ensure that I do the exercises just the same as the attendees, so we can share our writing journey during the class.

That kind of creative process is very different and separate from the fiction I like to write. I tend to lean towards psychological horror and strange or unusual situations. My stories are always very character driven; I like to explore how people think and feel and examine their motivations, with the horror part often coming after.

I don’t like to only write one thing all of the time, I feel like it’s better to stretch myself and take genre breaks to avoid stagnation. I know what I like and what I’m good at, but as followers of my website blog well know, I will write almost anything if it interests me.

K: What are you most proud of?

Right now I am proud of myself for finally finding the courage to put myself and my work in the public domain. I wrote my debut collection of short horror stories, Dark Winds Over Wellington, as part of a bucket-list of “Things I Want To Do Before I’m 40.” It wasn’t really anything much more than an experiment at the time. I still feel very bemused when people tell me they like it, or which story is their favourite.

I published it independently and had absolutely zero knowledge of how the process worked before I began. I had to learn a lot of new skills very quickly. I had no budget and very limited outside help. I recruited friends I’d met through writing groups and online blog beta-readers to assist with the editing process and I am extremely appreciative of everyone who gave their time to help me. By doing all that, and dipping my toe into different “scenes”, a whole new world of possibilities has been opened up to me. Plus, I’ve gained a bunch of great, like-minded friends.

I write a lot on my blog about using writing and creativity to foster positive mental health. I started an online collective in 2017 called “Well-Written” which is now the backbone of what I do through my writing groups and workshops. I feel very strongly that the arts can be a powerful, healing force for people who are struggling with their mental health, and I want to do as much as I can to support those who need it, by offering them a safe and welcoming space in “Well-Written.”

I am incredibly proud of the people who have found the courage to join me, have been honest and open about their challenges, and have shared a very special part of themselves through their writing.

K: What do you hope people get out of reading your work?

Quite simply, I hope they enjoy what I do. Most of my work is just fun, nothing more. Words captured on paper for entertainment purposes. In my opinion, there are no rules when it comes to writing. A writer writes for themselves, creating the stories they want to read. Writing is not a social activity; it can be miserable and solitary, but pretty much every fiction writer I know has said they felt as if they were compelled to write. Like they could not fully rest until they’d got the story out of them.

Dark Winds… is, in a lot of ways, autobiographical. Minus the ghosts, vampires and other weird beasts, of course, the stories are linked to my own exploration and experiences of living in Wellington. It’s a very personal book, and it’s never going to be a best-seller, but that’s alright. Everything I do, every word I write, is one step closer to another story which just might end up being someone’s favourite book. Even if that person is me.

K: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Just keep going. Writing is your passion. It’s what you love doing more than anything else in the whole world. Don’t stop just because you think you’re not good enough.

My first published books were non-fiction — guides for those who worked in the education system. I wrote and published three of those before I realised that wasn’t the kind of writer I aspired to be. I am proud of my achievements, but I realise now that the main reason I didn’t try to write fiction was because I was too scared. I am cripplingly shy and awkward about all things related to self-promotion, and Imposter Syndrome grips me very frequently. I think one of my biggest fears is that I am actually a terrible writer, and I’m making a huge fool of myself, but everyone I know is too polite to tell me. I have it on good authority from a writer, who is by all accounts pretty famous, that pretty much every writer thinks like this, and they would tell you that the ones who don’t are not to be trusted!

It took a long while, too long, almost fifteen years, between publishing non-fiction books with Bloomsbury Press, and then self-publishing my own collection of short stories. I needed to stop looking to others for permission to do what I loved, and to just sit down and write for the thrill of it. At the end of the day, the creative process is essential and necessary to me as a person, and as long as it keeps bringing me joy, I’ll keep writing stories.

The Book

The Bio

Tabatha Wood lives in Wellington, New Zealand. A former English teacher and school library manager, her first published books are non-fiction guides aimed at teachers and others who work in education. She now teaches from home, while writing in her spare time.

Born in Whitby, North Yorkshire, Tabatha has always had a passion for weaving strange, unusual, and often gothic tales, entwined with her deep love for the land and sea. She strongly encourages the use of writing and creativity for positive mental health, and runs a group which supports women who write for wellness. She also hosts writing workshops, often gets involved in cosplay charity events, and enjoys knitting and making jewellery.

Her short story collection, Dark Winds Over Wellington: Chilling Tales of the Weird & the Strange is the first time she has published her fiction.

Website http://tabathawood.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/tlwood.wordweaver/

Thank you so much for taking part, Tabatha. Your writing group sounds like a very supportive bunch. I will also be sure to check out your blog.