Q: If you could have a fantasy pet, what would you have and why?
A: Hard question, as the endless possibilities made my mind race with the following thoughts: What about a Mogwai? No. It might turn into a Gremlin. What about Alf? No. He might eat the cat. What about the talking worm from Labyrinth? No, evil scientists would try to capture him to run tests and experiments. So, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot handle the moral responsibility of a fantasy pet and must decline but thank you for offering.Q: What type of music best describes your writing?
A: Metal symphony!Q: Tell us about your writing office/space and why it’s special to you.
A: I have two desks in two rooms, yet I end up writing in bed on my laptop, which is terrible for my posture and my bad wrist, I know. What can I say? Depressed goth girls love their beds. Perhaps because there is always a pillow to scream into. I’m working on sitting at a desk more often, though (she types from her bed)Q: What is your favorite piece of visual art that has inspired a story or two?
A: I’m often inspired by the drawings of children. Kids are bold and unfiltered when they express themselves, and I think that’s why children’s drawings are the focal point of a lot of horror movie scenes. They don’t worry about how people will respond to their art. They simply draw the world as they see it.Q: If you didn’t write full-time what would your day job be? Is writing a hobby for you?
A: Oh boy. The dreaded ‘J’ word. Job. I’ve had over thirty of those! People like to ask each other, “What do you do?” but very little of what I’ve done to make ends meet has anything to do with who I am. Jobwise, I am a woman of many hats. The only thing that’s a constant in my life is the drive to create. Nothing else holds my attention. I used to think this made me defective, but I’ve learned to appreciate it. Is writing a hobby? No. It’s my whole identity. It’s who I am underneath
the many hats. And it’s likely the only hat that matters in the end.Q: What is your writing schedule and how many words do you write in a sitting?
A: I write a few times a week. I’m happy to get 500 words, but more is always nice.Q: How do you celebrate publishing a new story?
A: It has been a while since I’ve had a new one come out, but July is a big month for me. I have at least three stories coming out in different publications that month. I’m going to celebrate by doing games and giveaways on my page.Q: How do you balance your outside life with your writing life?
A: Poorly, to be honest! Sometimes I neglect the writing until I must eventually lock myself away and catch up. I wish I was more structured. It’s like Franz Kafka said: “The non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.” I can’t bottle it up. Sometimes I forget that. It’ll come out with fury. Haha.Q: Write your eulogy in three sentences.
A: If you should ever think of Lindsey Goddard and miss her--write a poem, beat a drum, paint a picture, sing a song, count the colors in the garden, or watch the birds in the sky. Because those are the moments that she enjoyed the most. And those are the moments worth living.Q: What project are you most proud of completing?
A: I’m getting ready to release my novel, Ashes of Another Life. It was released in 2016 as a novella, but it has been expanded. I have always loved this story, and it’s even better now. Can’t wait to drop it!Q: Do you have any projects you would like to tell your readers about?
A: Ohhhhh, just a little thing called WeirdWideWeb.org where we hold writing contests, write blogs, and record a podcast.
Q: Who is your favorite character from any of your stories and why? If you had to choose a popular author to continue writing this character in another book who would you choose and why?
A: My character Tara Jane Brewer from Ashes of Another Life left behind a polygamist cult at the age of fourteen and has a whole new life ahead of her. I’d pick her. Who to write her? A strong female voice such as Catriona Ward, Mercedes M. Yardley, Laurel Hightower, or Caitlin Marceau. I’ve read them all, and it amazes me how they capture the fragile yet enduring human condition.Q: Where can your readers find you on social media?
A: I would LOVE more followers on X! My profile is: X.com/lindseybethgodd
Insta: https://instagram.com/lindseybethgoddard
BlueSky: lindseygoddard.bsky.socialBio: Lindsey Goddard lives in Missouri but wishes she didn't. Her first short story collection, Respect for the Dead, was published through Total Darkness Press in 2011. Her first novella, Ashes of Another Life, was released through Omnium Gatherum Media in 2016 and is slated for release as a full-length novel in 2024. Her fiction has been published by Dark Moon Books, The Sinister Horror Company, ZBF Books, and more. Lindsey Goddard has three short story collections, a poetry book, and runs WeirdWideWeb.org.
Q: If you could have a fantasy pet, what would you have and why? A: I’d have a purple and teal dodo bird.
Q: What type of music best describes your writing? A: Jazz. There is a certain free form flow to the words. While it might not be for everyone, the ones who get it seem to love it.
Q: Tell us about your writing office/space and why it’s special to you. A: I do all my writing on my phone, so my writing space is wherever I am. There is a freedom to it, letting me get in a poem or chapter in any parking garage or lot wherever I may be.
Q: What is your favorite piece of visual art that has inspired a story or two? A: I don’t see in pictures, I see in words. Visual art is amazing, and Van Gogh is my favorite painter. I feel his life has been more of an inspiration than his art ever was on me.
Q: If you didn’t write full-time what would your day job be? Is writing a hobby for you? A: I don’t know if writing full time is truly the goal. I find inspiration in the world around me. The city, the winding roads, the people and their quirks. Writing is how I translate the world.
Q: What is your writing schedule and how many words do you write in a sitting? A: I don’t have a set schedule, but I like to try for one thousand words a day, be it in poetry or on one of the many projects I’m involved with.
Q: How do you celebrate publishing a new story? A: I usually am in the middle of the next story, if not five or six past already. I like to get a physical copy and put it on my shelf though. I tend to read the eBook for the other tales and never break the spine on mine.
Q: How do you balance your outside life with your writing life? A: They are one and the same. One feeds the other. It’s my cycle and madness.
Q: Write your eulogy in three sentences. A: He was a poet and a father. More concerned with leaving a legacy than the trappings of life, he was one hundred percent dedicated to both. He was exactly as advertised.
Q: What project are you most proud of completing? A: Cuckoo. There isn’t anything like it. The weaving of the story you read and the truth just beneath the surface was an experiment. I knew crossing the line between unreliable and him believing every word would be difficult to write and even harder to read. Some of my favorite stories didn’t hold the readers hand, instead trusting the reader would find their way.
Q: Do you have any projects you would like to tell your readers about? A: The Four Horsemen (I, Eric Butler-Author, Chris Miller, and PC3) have a book coming out in July. Napalm Psalms by Lisa Vasquez features an insane tale by me I’m very proud of.
Q: Who is your favorite character from any of your stories and why? If you had to choose a popular author to continue writing this character in another book, who would you choose and why? A: Thanatos from Death, and a Donut, Death of Creativity and the upcoming An Inconvenient Death. The challenge of writing a character incapable of speech, yet more than willing to show his capability to kill, is fun to me. I’d love for any of my friends to take him for a spin, just to see their takes.
Q: Where can your readers find you on social media? A: mennenbach.com is my blog. Daily poetry and book news.
Q: If you could have a fantasy pet, what would you have and why? A: A black shiny raven that talks. I already have a cat. The raven would be my eyes and ears to the world, and report back to me!
Q: What type of music best describes your writing? A: I listen to scary music to get into the mindset. When I wrote Cult of the Spider People, listening to the Alien soundtrack helped me write the dark morbid parts of the story. I also listen to Heilung, Viking music which is a part of my ancestry.
Q: Tell us about your writing office/space and why it’s special to you. A: My writing space is in my small bedroom in my small apartment. Cozy, well lit, with tons of books and files, writing supplies, cat hair. I feel like I can be my most creative self in my little nook. It’s special because it is full of cool knickknacks like I just went shopping at Hogwarts. It feels comfortable. I brought nature indoors. Leaves, vines, flowers, crystal balls, candles, cauldrons.
Q: What is your favorite piece of visual art that has inspired a story or two? A: I like skull art. I really like skulls. I have skulls on dishes, journals, jewelry. I think they are like a representation of someone’s life, used to be in a shell of a living human body. Skulls are beautiful and yet dark, because they are a part of death and yet if clean, intact, like they go on after death.
Q: If you didn’t write full-time what would your day job be? Is writing a hobby for you? A: I love to write. I love to read. I am studying to be a professional herbalist. I would be holed up drinking coffee, poring over ancient herbals and making tinctures and syrups. Writing is not a hobby. I love to write but I have to find a way to support myself so I can write.
Q: What is your writing schedule and how many words do you write in a sitting? A: I write on my blog. I write about a few thousand words in a sitting. It depends on the project. I like to write flash fiction, stories. I am also writing a ghost nonfiction book.
Q: How do you celebrate publishing a new story? A: I pet my cat, maybe have some wine, treat myself to something nice.
Q: How do you balance your outside life with your writing life? A: I try to blend both. I love to visit cemeteries. I take photos in cemeteries for the HWA newsletter. I do find it challenging sometimes to work on my horror writing and my herbalism course studies. But I do the best I can. Cemeteries inspire me too. Sometimes I write there in a cemetery.
Q: Write your eulogy in three sentences. A: Here lies a dead poet. Her horror stories live on beyond the grave. She wished to be buried with her books and pens to pen more morbid novels and short stories in her coffin.
Q: What project are you most proud of completing? A: I believe that I am most proud of completing Cult of the Spider People. It was not like any story I have ever written before. It was extremely challenging. I grew as a writer. I will not ever be the same. It brought me out of my comfort zone. I learned so much, had to improve my writing, realize when a manuscript is and is not ready to be submitted and overcome a nasty scam editor. Everything was thrown at me but I am happy that I sailed past those conflicts. I am proud that my short story, The Grimm Pumpkin, was published four times. I completed a small book of poetry and I am happy about my novella, Cult of the Spider People.
Q: Do you have any projects you would like to tell your readers about? A: I have had a few flash fiction stories published in anthologies by Wicked Shadow Press. I have a few pieces published in the Horror Zine.
Q: Who is your favorite character from any of your stories and why? If you had to choose a popular author to continue writing this character in another book who would you choose and why? A: I would say that Piper Marshall, the main character from Cult of the Spider People is a character I would continue to write in another book. She is not like me at all. She is great but impatient and stubborn and young and brave. She was a lot of fun to write. She loves and cares about those closest to her. She would make a huge sacrifice for someone she cares about and goes through all these dangerous experiences in the novella.
Q: Where can your readers find you on social media? A: I am on Facebook and Twitter. My cat is on Instagram at #pennygingercat. I can be found on Twitter at magicka66, on Facebook where I have a page – the Paranormal Quill. I also have a blog titled The Paranormal Quill.
Bio: My fiction has appeared in The Horror Zine, Yule Cat Codex, Halloweenthology: Trick or Treat, Polar Borealis, Wax and Wane: A Gathering of Witchy Tales, Ghosts, Spirits and Spectres Volume 2, Handbook of the Dead, Samhain Secrets, One Night in Salem, Feminine Macabre, Paranormal Chronicles and Untimely Frost: Poetry Unthawed. I’m a member of the Horror Writers Association and co-chair of the Horror Writers Association chapter for Atlantic Canada. I’ve attended the virtual Horror Writers Association Annual Convention StokerCon, in 2021, 2022 and 2023. I participated in the online From Idea to Finished First Draft Masterclass with Jonathan Maberry in June 2023, the Three Prime Rules of Writing Horror Webinar with Mort Castle in October 2020 and a mentorship with Tim Waggoner. I graduated from a Copy-Editing Certification Training at Writer’s Digest in July 2020 and a Bachelor of Arts degree. I’m a writer with a fascination for the paranormal.
She Writes Fast 
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