Hailey Piper

While I like to read all genres and find ways to blend their paints together at times, my main canvas is the horror genre. I feel it's the most honest genre, and cathartic, conjoined with romance in being the most emotional and carnal, and that's where I love to focus my writing.

I grew up in the woods of New York, but I've mainly lived in cities since. It's probably influenced my writing in that while I could write creepy rural stories, I prefer to be in cities in my headspace too.

Pretty voracious. I would read whatever I could get my hands on for the longest time, always wanting longer books, which is probably why I started reading adult books when I was 8. A book for kids wouldn't last a few hours, but an adult novel would keep me busy for days.

I like to write different kinds of books, so this question is often dependent on the reader, and I usually leave it to them to tell people. That said, I most often hear readers recommend Queen of Teeth, The Worm and His Kings, A Game in Yellow, or Teenage Girls Can Be Demons.

There are too many brilliant authors with entirely unique skillsets to rank just 5. A few of my favorites are Sarah Gailey, Carmen Maria Machado, Stephen Graham Jones, Bethany C Morrow, Suzan Palumbo, Laurel Hightower, Clive Barker, Cynthia Pelayo, John Langan, Catriona Ward, Sara Tantlinger ... I'll stop, I could do this all day.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin.

Every character has at least a scrap of me in them, but for most influenced, it's a tossup between Ivory Sloan from All the Hearts You Eat, Rabbit from She Isn't Herself Tonight, or Carissa from the short story "The Girls With Claws That Catch."

Oh dear, so many questions about favorites for things I can't quantify! I have many, but I will shout out Little District Books, Little Ghosts Bookshop, Loyalty Books, and Curious Iguana.

I have a little corner facing out, where I write at my desk. Art prints lurk behind me, many of them visibly queer, and a few of horror items haunt the surroundings like a doll of Gizmo from Gremlins, a crocheted Freddy Krueger, my Bram Stoker Award, a skull-shaped candle, and more. Most important is the bookcase beside me, stuffed with books. I love to glance over at them even while writing and be reminded of how much wonderful imagination lives inside humanity.

Somewhere with natural light by day, another light by night, a comfortable seat, an end table or stand for a snack and drink all sounds nice.