Alma Alexander Interview

Alma Alexander has written more than three million words in more than 20 books, and countless short stories collected in magazines, anthologies, and numerous collections. She writes for both adults and young adults. Her novel, The Secrets of Jin-shei, has been published around the world in 14 languages. The heroine of her popular YA series, Worldweavers, is as American as Harry Potter is British. With her MSc in Molecular Biology, she has shone the light of science into the shadowy world of shapeshifters in the Were Chronicles. 

She was born on the banks of an ancient river in Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists. She grew up in Africa when her father moved them there when she was ten years old. They lived in four different countries in Africa: Zambia, Swaziland, and South Africa. She later went to school in a castle in Wales, and has lived in several countries on four continents. An American man she met on the Internet asked her to marry him, promising her coffee in bed every morning. She agreed and then moved to live among the evergreens in the Pacific northwest with two cats as well as visiting deer and raccoons.

Alma Alexander is a scientist by education, duchess by historical accident, and an author who has written more than twenty novels. Known as the Duchess of Fantasy, she is also a blogger sharing writing tips, and glimpses of both the mundane and magic of a fantasy author's life.

This interview was recorded in Fall 2021. Due to numerous factors, I was unable to get around to finishing the production until June 2022. This interview is magical. She is one of the smartest, most original authors I’ve interviewed. A true writer's writer. She talks about her process, her life, what makes novels and short stories work. In some ways it was a master class in writing fantasy novels and short stories.

At the time of this interview, her husband and partner had died six months before and she was still processing that grief and how to get back to writing. Fortunately for all of us, she has returned and since then has released the 20th Anniversary Edition of Changer of Days—the duoology as a single book as originally designed. On July 10th 2022 she released a memoir describing her and her husband’s meeting and their love story. I suggest hankies for this one.

You can learn more about Alma and her books on her website at https://almaalexander.org 

She also hangs out on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, BookBub, Goodreads, and if you want to hear from her regularly with patron-only content check out her Patreon option.