Who are you?
The official answer: Anna Ferrara is a novelist who specialises in plot twists, horror and lesbian characters. Strong, independent women feature in all of her novels because she often finds herself mesmerised by them in real life. The heartfelt answer? Nobody in particular.
Do you write lesbian romance?
Yes and no. Every last one of my books has and will have lesbian relationships as a significant part of the main plot but not all of them will end happily ever after. My plots also tend to be equally invested in solving issues unrelated to romance so I can’t say I qualify as a Romance author. If you’re a reader looking for books with lesbian relationships and also plots that involve more than just the development of the said lesbian relationships though, books by Anna Ferrara will probably be your thing.
Why do you call yourself a lesbian horror author? What’s with the horror?
Due to a myriad of personal experiences, I am more interested in understanding why darkness and bad outcomes occur than I am in writing light-hearted comedies about good triumphing over evil. I also personally enjoy being surprised when reading, having my perception of the world blown away and learning how to survive bad situations so horror is the best genre for me to create those sorts of sensory experiences for my readers.
When did you start writing and how many novels have you published to date?
I first began writing stories on paper and in My Magic Diary at age 10. At 19, I moved on to writing movie scripts and won my first movie script writing competition at 21. I eventually ended up writing for and working in television for a living, but also wrote theatre scripts for fun. In 2014, I bought myself a Kobo, discovered lesfic and also self-publishing and it didn’t take me very long to decide I wanted to play too. Three years later, I began self-publishing and have since released 6 lesfic novels and 1 non-fiction book.
Where do you get your story ideas from?
From paying attention to the world, listening to and seeing how other people depict it, and by spending a lot of time in my own mind, daydreaming. I’m not the sort of writer who writes out of a love for making sentences beautiful; I write because I love exploring possibilities and pointing out the ridiculousness of the everyday. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been on a quest to figure life out and telling stories is just my way of sharing my observations with others.
What do you like to read?
Because I’m actively trying to improve my craft, I presently read a wide variety of genres but if I didn’t have to, I’d pick a horror/mystery/suspense book with lesbian characters over any other any day. This applies to movies, TV shows and games too. In my growing up years, I had access to zero books/films/TV shows with lesbians in them so, now that the world has changed, I’m ingesting lesbian content with a vengeance.
Why is there no photograph of you anywhere? Are you single? Are you butch? Femme? Or… secretly a man?
Read the About The Author pages at the back of all my books to find out. I reveal a little about myself at the back of every book and together, you’ll get a clearer picture of who I am and why I remain secretive. But, this I have to say, I am not a man. I am thoroughly female, I promise.
How old are you?
I am one of those much-hated millennials but also old enough to have used Windows 3.1, cassette tapes, GeoCities, mIRC and pagers at some point.
Are you a lesbian?
Depends on who’s asking. If a lesbian/bisexual/pansexual/transexual/asexual/polyamorous person asks, the answer is ‘yes’. If you’re heterosexual/religious/someone I know from my previous jobs/a family member/someone who knows my family/a complete stranger then my answer will be ‘no. What’s a lesbian?’.
I like you. Can we be friends?
Yeah, sure. You can email me if you wish to chat or just link up on Twitter and Goodreads.
Anna Ferrara has been featured in:
Women and Words, Author Q&A
I Heart Lesfic, Project Laughter