Hello Isla! Thank you for joining our Eerie River Team. We are very excited to have you on board for this journey into the dark and twisted.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. (think informal bio, what you are going to school for, what you like to do, that kind of thing)
Hi, my name is Isla, and I’m Eerie’s new intern! I am a 4th year student in Sheridan College’s Honours Bachelor of Creative Writing and Publishing program. I grew up in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, and am so excited to be working with Eerie River Publishing this semester! In my program, we have the fall semester of our final year blocked off to complete an internship to gain real world, hands on experience before we graduate. I am passionate about publishing, books, and all things creepy; I am driven and motivated to start my journey in the publishing industry—and I am beyond honoured that I was chosen to start this journey here at Eerie River.
I have a handful of hobbies, so aside from reading, I also spend every second of the day that I can spare listening to music—even today, the last song I listened to was Noah Kahan’s song Everywhere, Everything (featuring Gracie Abrams), just before starting this interview. I also adore hands-on crafts, like hand crocheting and diamond paintings (diamond paintings are like paint by numbers, but the sheet is sticky and you are putting small plastic jewels on it to make up the picture). I am a relatively social creature, so whenever I can, I am sitting in my living room with my roommates/best friends and chatting.
Publishing is such a fun world to be jumping into. Why did you decide writing and publishing were for you, and where do you want to see yourself long term?
I have been obsessed with books and storytelling most of my life, and when I was 15, I realized this industry was the only one I wanted to work in. My mom was the one to find my program on the Sheridan College website, and the rest is history. I didn't even apply anywhere else. I just knew I was going to be in this program (I had the same feeling after completing my interview with Michelle, so I guess my intuition is strong).
For the most part, I am taking everything one step at a time. The dream, though, is to eventually make my way into becoming a literary agent. I am in no rush to get there. I want to experience every part of this industry I can before then. I am fascinated by how all the cogs in this strange machine work, and I want to see it all.
What are you looking forward to the most over the few months with Eerie River?
Looking at everything I will be doing, I am most excited to do acquisitions stuff to help decide what will be published in the next round of publications. I am also very excited to beef up my experience in working with social media marketing and seeing the intricacies of how that interacts with the rest of the publishing process.
Dark fiction is vast and varied. What is your favourite dark fiction category to read?
I tend to lean towards anything paranormal and ghosty. I have always loved diving into stories of old hauntings and have actually visited a few haunted locations that I find particularly interesting. If there's unexplainable murder and death, the more intrigued I am.
(if you are a writer) Are you working on any stories yourself. Have you had anything published?
I am a writer and have actually published one poem. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to find in a Google search, so I have shared it on my website. It is called “Not a Poet” and was published in the Poetry Corner section of Pandemonium Publishing’s Magazine, Publisher’s Desk, in their October issue.
I am always working on something new. I have a novel on the go and I also have two poetry collections that are slowly piecing themselves together.
Since we do publish horror, we have to do an obligatory scary question. If you had to spend a night in a haunted house with one horror movie or book character, who would it be and why?
I mean, my first thought will always be Lorraine Warren from the Conjuring Series. Being married to a demonologist and helping families rid their houses of evil taught her a lot, and I think it would be helpful. With her abilities, I think we’d be better off to survive. Or at least, we would know what we were dealing with.
We talked a fair bit during the interview process and you mentioned you really enjoyed researching. It is almost a badge of honour among us horror and dark fiction authors to have researched something that would probably put us on a FBI hitlist at one point or another. We have to know, what is the weirdest thing you have ever googled or binged?
I don't think my weirdest thing would measure up to any of yours, but it is probably the effects of different poisons in the body, or maybe how long it takes for a dead pig to start to smell, and what that smell would actually smell like. Would it be just like rotting meat? Would it be like a decaying human body? That was essentially the beginning of the rabbit hole I fell down. Learned a lot more than I planned but hey, that information will likely be used somewhere.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us and get to know you!
For those interested in following you on your socials, where can we find you?
Thanks so much for having me! I am on almost every social media platform—like every other Gen Z person I know— so here’s my Linktree. It has everything from my Instagram to my website. Check me out and feel free to reach out to connect! I love meeting new people!
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