In this contributor interview, speculative fiction author Emily J. Weisenberger discusses her short story “Marrying Age” in Beautiful and Terrifying: Tales and Visions from the Edge of the Uncanny, her early literary influences, and how anthropology shapes her approach to storytelling.
Emily J. Weisenberger writes speculative fiction that blends curiosity, humor, and sharp observation, creating stories that feel both imaginative and grounded in real human experience. Her short story, “Marrying Age,” featured in Beautiful and Terrifying, reflects her interest in exploring culture, identity, and the complexities of the worlds we build—both real and imagined. In this interview, she discusses the authors who shaped her early love of storytelling, how her background in anthropology informs her approach to character, and the balance of absurdity, heart, and insight that drives her work across genres for both children and adults.
Q: What/who were your early literary influences, and how do you think their writing has shaped you as a storyteller today?
A: Eva Ibbotson (Which Witch?, Island of the Aunts, Journey to the River Sea) and Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events) were authors I came back to again and again as a child and have continued to draw from as an adult. Their stories were so strange and so full of heart. Goodness persevered in Ibbotson’s books, while life was harsh but weatherable in Handler’s. Both gave me important and different ways to view the world, and lessons in how to capture young people’s sense of curiosity about life. These are still among my favorite books.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice another writer has given you about storytelling?
A: When I’m trying to plot a story but feeling stuck, it’s probably because I don’t know my characters well enough. This is my signal to take a pause from drafting and return to my notes and research. Turns out the advice was true: a well-rounded character is the secret to a dynamic plot.
Q: What’s a book that changed how you think about writing or storytelling?
A: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte, which is a series of interconnected short stories. As I read the book, each individual story reinforced for me the same lesson (and entertained me endlessly). Absurdity, humor, and the terrifyingly vulgar are a potent combination for a story. Taken together and to skillful, exquisite excess makes a book memorable and thought-provoking.
Q: How do you approach writing characters with experiences different from your own?
A: I do a lot of research when I want to write about someone who is different from me—which is all of the time! I’m an anthropologist (shoutout to USF’s applied anthropology grad program), so I lean on my training on how to respectfully learn about and represent people who are different from me. Whether it is their culture, their beliefs, their job, the conflicts they face, or anything else, I can expand my knowledge base and better represent a range of human experience by checking out memoirs from the library, reading academic journals, watching vlogs, reading reddit threads, attending social events… While I can never have as good of an understanding as the people whose experiences I’m representing on the page, I believe I can and should make an effort to accurately show human diversity in my stories.
Q: What’s your go-to snack or drink while writing?
A: A fragrant cup of tea really gets me in the writing mood. My current favorite is matcha, but I also love Lady Gray, jasmine, rose, and hibiscus.
Q: What’s the most rewarding feedback you’ve ever received from a reader?
A: “I still think about it!” It is so rewarding to hear that a story I’ve written has stuck with someone.
Q: How do you define success as an author? Has that definition evolved over time?
A: This is a tricky question to answer. When I first starting writing seriously, my goal was to traditionally publish a novel, which still hasn’t happened. But in the meantime, I’ve written a middle grade novel (currently querying!), published short stories, read at open mics, become the fiction editor for So To Speak, started freelancing as an editor, joined a critique group, started an MFA program, and other successes besides. I didn’t realize when I first started how much time building a writing career takes and how much endurance and patience it requires. I still hope to publish a book (and my big dream is to see it on the shelves in my childhood library), but I’m grateful for the successes I’ve had so far. More than anything, it’s been fun.
Q: What is your favorite genre to read? Do you write in that genre? Has that always been your favorite genre, or has your taste evolved as you have grown as a writer?
A: My favorite genre to read is epic fantasy. It has been my favorite ever since I was a kid, but I really fell in love with epic fantasy as a teenager. During the summers before 11th and 12th grade, I would drive to my library a couple times a week to check out a few books without reading the jacket copy. I was always most drawn to the ones with swords and dragons on the covers. The high stakes, the political intrigue, the unique magic systems, and the imagined cultures and histories all fascinate me. I also think epic fantasy really does a great job of examining the big questions we have: can we find peace after violence? What do we owe to people who are different from us?
Q: What’s a new genre or style you’d love to experiment with in the future?
A: I’m currently experimenting with how to write a thriller by working on a satirical novel about AI and politics. Satirical writing comes much more naturally to me than suspenseful writing, so it has been a great learning experience combining the two. If this novel ends up half as good as The Trees by Percival Everett, which is a gorgeously written novel that blends satire with thriller, I will be very pleased.
Q: What do your plans for future projects include?
A: I have many plans! For children, I’m in the early stages of outlining a middle grade fantasy series set in the afterlife. Think dark whimsy like The Addams Family or The Nightmare Before Christmas. For adults, I have a bunch of short stories I’m playing with—one about a depressed pop-punk DJ who overshares on the radio, one that’s a travelogue by a lonely explorer sent to map the earth after an apocalypse, one about a preteen who works as a page in the Virginia House of Delegates—but most of my writing energy is focused on the satirical thriller I’m drafting.
Author Bio
Emily J. Weisenberger is a speculative fiction author for children and adults. Her short stories are published in Tales to Terrify, L’Esprit Literary Review, and The Vanishing Point, among others. She is a freelance editor and the fiction editor of the intersectional feminist magazine So To Speak. Her education is in anthropology.
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Book Summary
When Jack Utley loses his daughter just as his business is about to soar, it seems he’s traded financial gain for Callie’s life. After an encounter with a mysterious woman on the eve of Callie’s funeral, Jack wakes up to find that time has somehow rewound to the morning of Callie’s accident. Jack gets an opportunity that most grieving parents can only dream of – he saves his daughter’s life.
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