All the Myth and Legend Lovers!

We come again with yet another fabulous author @papercutsunset and her fantastic Watty winning story Impish . Let read about her and Watty winning story. 

About Author: Hi there! I'm Arby Rouse! I tend to write (and prefer reading) speculative fiction steeped in angst and gore. I'm nineteen, a student of criminal justice and queer studies, and a superstition enthusiast. I'm also frequently on Roll The Role for their Lake Wonder games, where I tend to play stupid werewolves and insane teenage girls. In 2021, I won a Watty in the paranormal category with my novel Impish, which is (I suppose) why I'm here. (I apologize for my tone throughout this. I have been told that I am intensely conversational, concerningly scatterbrained, and horrifically informal.)

About Impish: Impish is a novel about a girl who finds out she's half-demon when she grows a pair of horns overnight. She and her best-friend-slash-sibling-figure, Roux, track down her father at a 7-11 and the three of them start on a trip to Nevada to figure out how to get her back to normal. On the way, she learns about everything from her father's past to the abilities she has-- plus some... other things. (If you've already read it, you'll know what I mean by "other things.")

Q1. What is the thing you love the most about writing on Wattpad?

I really like the sense of community that comes out of it. Every time I've been on here, since I was about twelve or thirteen, I've been able to find groups of people who were supportive about whatever it was I was writing. It hasn't been constant, but it has been a constant. Whether it was roleplaying groups that rose out of Black Butler and Percy Jackson fanfiction, discussions on aspec identity, or writing communities, there have always been people there.

Q2. Tell us more about your story Impish and what intrigued you to write about it?

Impish is a novel about a girl who finds out she's half-demon when she grows a pair of horns overnight. She and her best-friend-slash-sibling-figure, Roux, track down her father at a 7-11 and the three of them start on a trip to Nevada to figure out how to get her back to normal. On the way, she learns about everything from her father's past to the abilities she has-- plus some... other things. (If you've already read it, you'll know what I mean by "other things.")

I will admit outright that I don't know a whole lot about demons. What I do know about is the other things I wrote into it, including complicated family relationships. I did a bit of research about it, with the help of some of my friends who know significantly more about demons than I do. Mostly, though, it was the ONC's fault that I wrote it in the first place. I was working pretty intensively on Jackrabbit (another story of mine) at the time, and found that I needed something a little lighter to work on. As it turned out, I failed at the whole "lighter" part, and the novella part. I succeeded in the writing department, though.

Q3. What is the challenge you face when writing a myth or a legend related story?

I find that I run into two main problems. I tend to stay away from myths I'm not familiar with and that I don't think I could respectfully adapt. The second is finding a good way to adapt things to other things. I think I found a good way of doing it, though, and that's something I think I started doing with an older short story of mine, "How Veronica Vanquished The Wolf." Combining music and different aesthetic choices definitely makes it easier to adapt a classic fairy tale.

Also, research.

Mostly, though, it's the "being respectful" thing that gets me. I try, though.

Q4. Which type of myth/folklore/legend that intrigues you the most?

I really like learning about folk legends and superstitions from all around America. A lot of them are informed by immigrant superstitions, but even more than that are from early Christian beliefs. You would be surprised at how many American folk myths were originally about the Devil. It's not just golden fiddles and Georgia peaches. Sometimes, he gets married. I also really like werewolf myths.

This is only tangentially related to the question, but I also like the interpretation of myths. I like to study horror theory in my spare time, and understanding the symbolism behind things and what a certain culture fears is very interesting to me. For example, vampires can be interpreted to be symbolic of cultural fears about children "converting" to one thing or another, disease, immigration, and queer identity. Likewise, werewolves can be interpreted to be about things like womanhood, queer identity, and the loneliness and isolation caused by of all sorts of things. I really like the "monster as queer identity" interpretation. The fear of the "other" is very interesting to me, from an academic standpoint. From an actual, boots-to-the-ground point of view, it's pretty distressing to see how cultural fears manifest through popular portrayals of monsters, myths, and legends. So, then the question becomes, what can I use this creature to represent? What cultural fear can manifest through it? Can I flip it on its head? Can the monster become a threat to the other, rather than the threat of it?

And then, you know, I just really like reading about folklore. What do we fear?

Q5. If you have a chance to relive one myth, what would it be?

Oh, no thank you!

In all seriousness, I really do like early werewolf myths, but I would never want to be a part of them. Instead, I would like some nice frog-related shenanigans. Often, I will think about how I would have done things differently from the Devil's several Southern wives. I'll leave it at that.

Q6. What is your advice for new writers who want to try writing myth and legend concepts in their stories?

Oh, god, don't listen to me in general. I have no idea what I'm doing. You'd think I would, but I really don't.

Anyway, don't be afraid to get weird with it. Pull in things that you like to see, to read about, and, most importantly, to write about. If you're into diesel punk, pull that in! If there's a certain genre of music you like or you think would fit, don't be afraid to bring that in! A lot of writing is cobbling together what you like and making something your own. 

So here we conclude the interview with Abry. It was fun learning about her and her story! Until next month stay tuned!