Interview 3: Hannah Abigail Clarke, Part 1 of 2 (August Clarke)

*This interview was conducted in mid-2020. As of late 2022 this author's name is August Clarke, you may find future publications under that name or as H.A. Clarke.

Please enjoy the spoiler-free portion of our interview with author Hannah Abigail Clarke, discussing their new book, "The Scapegracers". Timestamps are marked for the interview questions.

(Read The Transcript)

• Intro (0:00)

• Can you tell us a little about your book? (0:35)

• Can you talk a little bit about the way trauma works in your writing? (1:08)

• Do you feel that trauma for the sake of trauma is valid for characters to go through or be put in stories or does it always need to be plot related? (2:24)

• Has a traumatic event in your books ever changed your perception of a character? (4:10)

• How do you decide what a character's reaction to traumatic events is going to be while writing them? (5:48)

• When depicting types of queerness that you do not share, do you check them with members of those communities? What do you use to guide those depictions? (9:03)

• How do you approach incorporating “visible” queerness in your work? (10:45)

• Do you have a thought process on approaching ace or [aro] characters? (12:20)

• What is your approach to incorporating visible characters of color in your work? What do you do to make it go beyond social coding (or not)? (17:20)

• Have you ever had a character surprise you with their appearance/identity after you started writing? (18:38)

• What is your approach to incorporating characters with disabilities in your work? What do you do to make it go beyond social coding (or not)? (21:20)

• Do you consider your character’s body image and/or physical description when depicting them and their traumas and how others treat them? (23:45)

--- Wrap-Up and Outro: Included in Part 1 and Part 2 ---

• Do you have a favorite book written by someone else, and if so what makes it your favorite? (27:48)

• Do you have any queer authors and/or authors of color whose work you’d like to shout-out? (29:54)

• What is your favorite non-traumatic thing in any of your books? (30:06)

• Where can people find your work? (31:46)

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Check out Hannah Abigail Clarke's website for more info about his writing, You can follow them on Twitter and Instagram, or check out her Goodreads profile.

The major work discussed in this interview is Hannah Abigail Clarke's debut novel, "The Scapegracers".

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You can find Robin's written review of The Scapegracers at Reviews that Burn. 

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Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.