Madeleine Swann

Madeleine Swann is the author of the novella entitled "The Filing Cabinet of Doom". Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing her! Check it out and pick up a copy of her novel today!

E.S.: Hey Madeleine! First of all, tell us a little about yourself.

M.S.: I live in deepest, darkest Essex in England. Parts of it are quite rural and I imagine Americans would make a whole bunch of horror films here. In fact the next county over is home to a family of polygamists which is nice.

I'm drawn to weirder fiction, films and television, stuff that makes my imagination crackle. Aside from my books my film collection is a point of pride.

E.S.: Tell us about your novella, "The Filing Cabinet of Doom".

M.S.: The Filing Cabinet of Doom novella is a surreal comedy set in a black and white, soundless world. A psychic from a travelling carnival informs a village the world will end. Panic ensues and three people make their way to the Head Office at the Council, a far off and dangerous place. The book also contains short stories of mine - some serious, some funny and all a little odd. It's out with Burning Bulb Publishing who, oddly enough, published my first ever story The Gathering.

E.S.: Tell us a little about the work you've done for Strange Saturdays, Polluto Magazine and others you're particularly proud of being associated with.

M.S.: I've done a few flash fiction pieces lately for Weirdyear, Strange Saturdays, the new Strange Edge magazine as well as their website and Bizarro Central. They spurt from my brain in between other projects and I enjoy them. I'm really pleased with my longer stories in anthologies though, such as Lucy's Lips in American Nightmare, a fifties set horror anthology. I watched everything fifties I had including Rebel Without A Cause and a good few infomercials to get the speech right. I love those infomercials, there's something comforting about a time period that never existed. Nobody was ever that perfect.

Author/graphic artist Matthew Revert designed the cover for a story of mine that appeared on his site LegumeMan Books, Sweet Sweets Emporium. His work is great so I was very excited. Lastly A Piece Worth Millions (Polluto magazine issue 10) is testament to the power of dreams - I woke up with it almost fully formed in my head.

E.S.: Where do you think the future of the written word is going?

M.S.: I still love reading paper books although I can definitely see the benefits of kindle, but I think people have always enjoyed stories in a number of ways. For example the Welcome to Night Vale podcast is often beautiful writing which is streamed through computers (or whatever devices you people use). The fact that it's performed aloud is reminiscent not only of the oral tradition of storytelling but also old radio broadcasts which make the listener feel like part of the past and future at the same time. Audiobooks too, if I'm ill there's nothing I enjoy more than listening to ghost stories. I think the future will bring more and unexpected ways to do this. Paper books will always be there, though, because to collectors like me it's a satisfying feeling to own them.

E.S.: What advice do you have for other writers, especially those who are just getting started?

M.S.: I'm not too far into the writing profession myself, I have a long way to go and a lot to learn. However Roald Dahl once said he always imagined the reader losing interest with each word so made sure every sentence was important. That's probably a good thing to aim for.

E.S.: Where can our readers find more of your work?

M.S.: My website is shiny and very organised, if you wish to search out my work it will be there and labelled neatly. How I love those labels...

Madeleine's Website: http://madeleineswann.com/

Madelein's profile on Weekly Artist: [click here]

Amazon link for "The Filing Cabinet of Doom" [click here]

[click the cover for more information]

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