How About This Presents Alyson Hasson

Featuring a New Brunswick writer/forecaster!

Welcome to Atlantic Canada Mondays, a regular feature of How About This where we interview interesting residents of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Today’s subject is Alyson Hasson, a New Brunswick based horror writer. You can find her on Twitter as @hassonalyson

Here’s Alyson!

Alyson Hasson, recent headshot

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When you were a teenager, what did you want to become when you grew
up?

I went through a lot of different phases growing up, especially when I
was a teenager. There was never one set thing that stayed consistent. I
have always loved writing, so the idea of doing that bounced around a
lot, but my major interests were finding something that made good money.
By the time I was halfway through high school, I was determined I would
become an engineer.

Alyson working as a Saltwater Aquaculture Technician in 2017

Little did I know, I would end up switching university majors a couple
times. I actually graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Biology and
now I am working in Business, while writing on the side.

You have signed a book contract (congratulations)!  How did this all
come about, please tell us about your journey to becoming a published
author?

Thank you!

I have been very fortunate to have recently had several of my short
stories and flash fiction pieces published. It was a grueling process to
get my stories out there; I have sent over 50 submissions since then and
some I heard back about and others I didn’t. Acceptances are very hard
to come by, but after my first acceptance, I was determined to get even
more stories out there. I use a lot of resources to find homes for my
stories, such as following my favorite publishing companies, people in
my genre community on Twitter and constantly checking the Submission
Grinder website.

Dark Lit Press picked up one of my short stories, The Curse of the
Cache, for their beachside horror anthology Slice of Paradise that
released this year. I was super excited to not only be featured in the
book, but also to be published by Dark Lit. I have followed them for a
while now and have been completely blown away by their commitment to the
horror community. And getting to work with them was even better than I
expected. They are a super supportive and encouraging publisher.

Dark Lit contacted me a few months after the Slice of Paradise anthology
came out, and they requested that I write/pitch a pirate horror novella
for a new series of books they wanted to do. My story in the anthology
leaned a little into the history side of Nassau and the American
Revolution, which is why I think they were interested in me. I was and
still am very happy about the opportunity and sent my pitch as quickly
as possible and was offered a contract. Which of course I signed!

Is your Dark Lit contract for the novella only at this point or does
it include other work?

My current contract with Dark Lit is just for the single upcoming book.
Although I really hope that I will get more opportunities to work with
them again in the future as well.

Do you have an agent at this time?  Or are you looking for one?

I do not have an agent at this time. To date, I have mostly focused on
short stories to build up my name within the community and work on fine
tuning my skills. I do, however, have another book project on the back
burner, so I hope to look for an agent once that project is completed.

Do you prefer writing by keyboard, do you prefer pen and paper, or do
you have another favorite method?

My writing technique is a bit of both depending on my mood. I love
typing away on my keyboard, but I can only usually do that when I am in
my home office. I bring a small notebook to my work to jot down ideas
and write during my lunch breaks, then type everything up when I am
home.

On days I find it hard to focus on my writing I like to write by pen and
paper so I can lie on the couch with a show in the background. I find it
is a more relaxed way of easing back into writing if I am stuck in a
lull.

Do you do any writing exercises or other work to further develop your
writing skills?

I have a few different exercises I like to do for writing, although they
aren’t all entirely writing related. I keep a notebook on me at all
times to jot down ideas that pop into my head, and I try to do some
free-writing exercises from time to time. I find free-writing really
helps me get into the mindset of just writing whatever comes to mind, no
matter how silly it may feel in my head.

Alyson in nature

My other exercise is physical. I find when I have a challenging time
getting out of my own head that a good walk through the woods helps. I
really enjoy being out in nature and taking photographs, especially of
fungi and moss. I find having a second creative outlet can really help
me be able to refocus on my writing when my life gets a little hectic.
Plus, there is just something special about getting out into nature.

You forecast beer sales as a part of your day job. What's one thing
about forecasting (and getting beer) to consumers, that you wish more
people understood?

So much information goes into forecasting, sometimes it still astounds
me just what effects sales and the differences between the Provinces. I
forecast nationally for all of our beer sales and even have some
forecasts for product we send to the USA as well.

What I find really interesting is how Provinces perceive a brand. We
have one brand that is absolutely adored in Atlantic Canada, to the
point people might riot if we ever tried to take it away. Meanwhile,
that same product is not even for sale in some other Provinces.
That logic probably applies to all kinds of different products as well,
but I just find it so grounding. Something so popular here in NB can be
unknown in other provinces. Goes to show how different we are, even
within the same country. I, for one, did not expect such a shift in
brand popularity by Province when I first started.

Do you see yourself wanting to be a full time writer at some point?

To be honest I go back and forth on this a lot. I would love to be a
full time writer but at the same time I worry that doing so would
diminish the enjoyment I get out of writing. I also really love my
current career, which would make it a really tough decision for me to
consider leaving.

Are you a life long resident of New Brunswick?

Yes, I was born and raised in New Brunswick. I have spent the majority
of my life in Saint John and now my fiancé and I are building our home
just outside of the city. We are super thrilled to hopefully raise our
family here one day as well.

How do you feel about New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada in general? 
Would you recommend it as a great place to live?

New Brunswick is a beautiful place to live. I really enjoy living here,
although sometimes I wish we would get more concerts and big names
touring here. It seems NB is forgotten about on the tour lists.
I would definitely recommend NB as a place to live, but you need to like
the outdoor/ laid-back lifestyle. Nothing around here moves at a fast
pace. Which for me is great. I love just puttering around, getting
outside, and exploring the beautiful hiking spots we have across the
Province.

Pretend that you wake up one morning and the Internet has been
destroyed.  What's the first thing you do?

I would probably panic at first and wonder how the internet was
destroyed. I am not really sure what I would do, but I would be super
productive. The internet is a daily distraction for me. I do a lot of
doom scrolling in my spare time, which sometimes cuts into my writing
time. It would definitely be a blessing and a curse.

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Thanks to Alyson for agreeing to be interviewed!