IndieView with Lynda Williams, author of The Beauty and the Hell of It & Other Stories

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I hope everyone will read my book, but I also know it’s not for everyone. It’s for people who like spare prose, dark humour, and unlikeable female characters.

Lynda Williams

The Back Flap

A woman comes face to face with her rapist at his engagement party. A teen reluctantly celebrating the first Christmas after her mother’s death gets caught cutting her wrists by a stranger. A student hands in a box of Kraft Dinner as her final assignment, and a bipolar art teacher grieves her divorce by online shopping. The Beauty and the Hell of It & Other Stories is a collection of stories about women (and one man) who quietly resist and the resulting moments of transition, acceptance, and vindication. Whether they wrestle with grief, growth, trauma, or all three, these characters don’t give in to expectations about who or how they should be. These stories will appeal to readers who enjoyed the pivotal moments of ordinary life in Sophie Stocking’s Walking Leonard and Other Stories and those who want a slice of contemporary womanhood served up with dark humour as offered in Meghan Bell’s Erase and Rewind.

About the book

What is the book about?

It’s a collection of stories about the complicated and messy lives of women who dare to colour outside the lines. The stories engage with themes of grief, trauma, and mental illness. There’s also a heavy dose of dark humour.

When did you start writing the book?

Early drafts of the pieces in the collection span about fifteen years, with some going back as far as 2008, but I didn’t get serious about putting together a collection and revision until 2021.

How long did it take you to write it?

15 years of writing stories mainly for myself and about 18 months to round out the collection and revise the older stories.

Where did you get the idea from?

The ideas come from different places, but often they begin with a voice and a line bouncing around in my head. I don’t outline. I write to find out where the voice will lead me.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

When you don’t outline, you run the risk of getting stuck in the middle of a piece, which happened a couple times, but it’s my favorite problem to have. I can’t think about anything else, and when things finally click, it’s the best feeling.

What came easily?

Dialogue comes easily, and it’s my favourite thing to write.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

I borrow physical features from people I’ve encountered, but I invent personalities.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

Pam Houston, Lorrie Moore, and Raymond Carver were my big influences in the beginning. I thought I was a poet until I read Cowboys Are My Weakness. It’s the book that made me want to write stories. The thing I’d say the three of them have in common is a singularity of voice and style, which I admired. I loved their sentences as much as I loved their stories.

Do you have a target reader?

I hope everyone will read my book, but I also know it’s not for everyone. It’s for people who like spare prose, dark humour, and unlikeable female characters.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

My process is to pretend I’m not working on a story by writing in the Notes App on my phone or scribbling on the back of random bits of paper until it’s undeniably coming together and then I commit to opening a Word file. If I get stuck, I go back to that to convince myself whatever I’m doing is no big deal.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

No outlines for me. I tried writing a novel using an outline and knowing exactly what happens killed my desire to tell the story.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I edit as I go. Getting things right helps me understand what needs to happen next. It’s not the most efficient way to write, and I wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s how I operate.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I listen to a lot of 90s rock alternative when I’m working. There’s much Oasis, Matchbox Twenty, and Third Eye Blind.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

I didn’t. I got the same message everywhere: They don’t want short stories. I was too chicken to find out for myself.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

It was the only option I considered. I wanted to work with a publisher that was interested in preserving my voice, not changing it, and that’s what I found.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

Professionally, courtesy of my publisher.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I hired a publicist. My publisher has an in-house publicist as well, but the reality of small publishing is they are juggling several authors with limited resources, so as a debut author it made sense to get some extra help.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Get clear with yourself about your reasons for wanting to be published and your best path to publication will become clear to you.

Alberta Natural Light Photographer-Lyndsay Greenwood

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up on a dairy farm in a quaint area of southern Quebec called The Eastern Townships.

Where do you live now?

I live in Calgary, Alberta. I came here on a Greyhound with one suitcase and big dreams when I was 19.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I’m an ambassador for weird. Life is too short not to be. Leave normal to shampoo.

What are you working on now?

Another collection of stories. I’m gFoathering them around themes of betrayal—how we betray ourselves, each other, the planet. The usual light fare.

End of Interview:

For more from Lynda Williams visit her website and follow her on Bluesky and Instagram.

Get your copy of The Beauty and the Hell of It & Other Stories from Amazon US or Amazon UK.