Meet the Winners – Andrew Roberts

Readers! Friends! Countrymen! Lend me your…er..please welcome Writers of the Future winner, Andrew L Roberts to Meet the Winners!

Stuart: Andrew, congrats and welcome to the family. Tell us who you are.

Andrew: I am from San Lorenzo California. I live in the house I grew up in. When I was growing up, I had a backyard with a huge tree and an older brother with which to share it. My favorite hiding spot was – and remains – my imagination. You should come and visit sometime. It has lots of interesting rooms.

Stuart: (laughs) Do you have any hobbies?

Andrew: I’m an experienced potter and used to play ice-hockey at the most ungodly hours of the night.

Stuart: Ice hockey? In San Lorenzo? Oh, I get it. When the ice was cheaper. We have that problem here in Houston. You said, “used to,” what about now?

Andrew: Now I am the guy who is always telling a story, either about growing up as the youngest among five siblings, or about the times I have traveled to Japan, Pakistan, Korea, Thailand, etc – or about whatever writing project I am working on.

Stuart: Ah, a world traveler! Is that what got you into writing?

Andrew: No, that was a long summer on a dairy ranch. That led me to Edgar Rice Burroughs and reading. Reading led me almost immediately to writing.

Stuart: So…utter desperation. And what sort of writing?

Andrew: My favorite book as a kid was The Lord of the Rings. I started writing only fantasy and science fiction, but as I have grown older, I find myself writing more magical realism, poetry and a lot of unclassifiable odd bits. It’s the odd bits that let me say the things that seem most important to me.

Stuart: That’s good. I always tell people, write because you have something to say. You’ll sleep better. And of course, you’ll keep your interest up when times are hard.

Andrew: I have a keen interest in Japanese history and culture and consider Japan my second home. My current book project is a story about spirit possession and murder in 17th Century Japan.

Stuart: Intriguing. And your Writers of the Future story?

Andrew: My story, “Tears for Shulna”, tells of young lieutenant in the Royal Navy who summons a selkie to drown his dying father. At its heart it a story of love, mercy, sacrifice, and the inability to fully grasp the consequences of what we want until it is too late.

Stuart: Awesome. I love a good tug on the heart strings. Well enjoy the workshop, learn a lot, and I look forward to meeting you out in the daylight sometime soon!

Andrew: Me too. This was fun.

Look for Andrew’s poetry and stories soon in Spark: A Creative Anthology and Bourbon Penn Magazine.