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. Its 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.http://img09.deviantart.net/96a1/i/2010/257/4/e/not_a_selkie_by_stressedjenny-d2ypc06.jpg

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.