Writing Genre Bending Fiction and Publishing Intersectional Realities: Author Interview with Pavarti Tyler
Posted on: July 16, 2016
Pavarti Tyler is an adored writer and publisher. Under the moniker P.K. Tyler, she writes speculative fiction and other genre bending fiction. She’s published works as Pavarti K. Tyler and had projects appear on the USA TODAY Bestseller’s List. She also created Fighting Monkey Press.
IndieReader has said this about Pavarti: “Tyler is essentially the indie scene’s Margaret Atwood; she incorporates sci-fi elements into her novels, which deal with topics such as spirituality, gender, sexuality and power dynamics.”
I know Pavarti because I’m one of the 22 authors in her recent Uncommon Origins: A Collection of Gods, Monsters, Nature and Science anthology published through Fighting Monkey Press. This is the second UnCommon anthology that she has published, beginning with UnCommon Bodies. She is currently reviewing manuscripts for UnCommon Minds.
Not only was I delighted to have my work accepted for UnCommon Origins, I was thrilled to become part of Pavarti’s community of writers. Leading up to the launch for UnCommon Origins, Pavarti mentored and supported us in learning about marketing, branding, and finding audiences that would love our work. I learned so much! I also got to interact with authors involved in UnCommon Origins and authors from UnCommon Bodies and other projects that Pavarti has brought to fruition. She’s nurtured a group of writers who are incredibly generous and supportive of each other. As I noted in an earlier post, the launch for UnCommon Origins was incredibly successful and continues to trend on Amazon. Pavarti knows both art and the marketplace.
I recently discovered one of her other series: Mosaics: A Collection of Independent Women. This collection is ambitious in scope and features a diverse group of self-identified women writing about intersectionality (e.g. how social categories of race, class, sexuality, nationality, etc. come together simultaneously to shape both privilege and power). Pavarti has recently released the second Mosiacs collection with its multi-faceted look at the history and culture surrounding femininity: “If gender is a construct, this anthology is the house it built. Look through its many rooms, some bright and airy, some terrifying– with monsters lurking in the shadows.” This work offers readers poetry, essays and fiction, showcasing voices that don’t often get represented.
Profits from both collections are donated to the Pixel Project to end Violence Against Women.
I’ve written about intersectional theory, practice and methods as a scholar, so I was especially interested in this project. Mosaics is timely given the ongoing VIDA: Women in Literary Arts conversations about gender equity and the We Need Diverse Books movement.
I wanted to know more about Mosaics and Pavarti’s writing career. I’m delighted to welcome Pavarti Tyler to The Practice of Creativity.
-Tell us about the Mosaics collections. What inspired them?
Mosaics was a project conceived by Kim Wells. We decided to work together because our politics and philosophies are so in line. Both books were filled with stories the two of us hand selected for inclusion and that we believed brought something special not only to the literary world, but also contributed to the conversation about sex and gender. There has been so much controversy and misunderstanding about feminism and equality lately, we felt it was important to give voice to a wide variety of women and experiences on how gender intersects with issues of race, sex, and ability. In the end, we had so many amazing submissions we weren’t able to put together just one collection and had to expand the scope to two books. It was a tremendous amount of work, but work I’m exceptionally proud of as both an author and publisher.
– You’ve edited several anthologies over the past few years. What do you enjoy about being an editor? How was editing Mosaics different than your other anthologies (i.e. UnCommon Bodies)?
I’m actually not an editor. I’m lucky I’m able to spell my own name right most days. In all these projects I’ve worked as curator, coordinator, and publisher (and often marketer). I love the chance to bring together new voices and curate selections that stand up as individual works, but which also add something to the greater whole when seen in context of the collection.
-You manage to pack a lot into your day! You are a blogger, writer, editor and publisher. How do these activities feed each other and you?
I’m not sure if this question makes me want to laugh or cry. I do pack a lot into my days and I’m exhausted most of the time, but everything I do is done out of love and passion. A passion for language, for story, for the fundamental belief that it’s essential to the human condition to share experiences. Of everything, blogging is the one thing I don’t do consistently, only when something strikes my fancy or inspiration, but I do try to put up something every few weeks. While it’s not my primary passion, it’s a great way for me to connect with readers in a direct and personal way.
-Is there a story behind the name of your publishing imprint—Fighting Monkey Press?
Yes. My husband and our friends were ridiculous creatures when we met. I called the group of them my monkeys because of their penchant for climbing walls and jumping over things on rollerblades. They were also all on the fencing team. So when it came time to name my company, Fighting Monkey just made sense.
-Do you consider yourself a discovery writer (also known as a pantser) or outliner? Or do those categories not apply?
I plot, but I’m not a micro plotter. I use a 5 act structure and outline the basics of where I’m going and then beat plot a few chapters ahead of where I am before writing. The essential part of this for me though is the willingness to just delete it all if the characters take me in another direction. They usually know the story better than I do so I follow their lead. So I’m a plotter who sometimes gets swept away by my pants.
-What’s your best writing tip that you’d like to share?
Shut up. I know that sounds harsh, but there are only 2 rules for writing: 1 – Shut Up 2 – Write. If you can get past the first one, I believe everyone has a story to tell. So silence your inner critic, stop talking about the things you want to do, stop posting on Facebook about writing, just shut up and write.
Pavarti Tyler attended Smith College and graduated with a degree in Theatre. She lived in New York, where she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant Director and Production Manager on productions both on and off-Broadway. Later, Pavarti went to work in the finance industry for several international law firms. Now located in Baltimore Maryland, she lives with her husband, two daughters and two terrible dogs. When not penning science fiction books and other speculative fiction novels, she twists her mind by writing horror and erotica. Find out more about her here.
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