Hey everyone,
Ian Tan here, lead editor and project coordinator of UnCensored Ink: A Banned Book Inspired Anthology, set to release this October 29. Here is the UnCensored Ink interview series to introduce you all to the incredible writers, as well as the local bookstores and libraries that gave them safe creative spaces. Hopefully you can put these incredible places on your to-visit list, and feel inspired to support your own local bookstore, library and indie authors.
Today I am with Victoria Holland from Massachusetts. She is a Pushcart Prize-Nominated Author for her work in I’m Not the Villain, I’m Misunderstood, as well as Lead Anthologist for The Carnation Collection. She has also published in multiple other collections including Into the Mirror and The Magical Muse Library Vol. 1 & 2. She is a romantic, daylighting as an activist and moonlighting as a witch and healer.
1. You’ve written a fine piece for UnCensored Ink: a banned book anthology. Can you give us a synopsis? How did the idea for this piece come about?
My piece is actually an essay! It gives a frank explanation of my belief that to censor the arts is to censor the human heart. The idea for this piece came along because when it comes to topics of activism, I don’t believe in beating around the bush. Expression of oneself and the creation therein is such an important part of the human experience. To censor that is to limit authenticity. In my life, I have experienced a time without authenticity and it just… not worth it.
2. Now, we would love to know you more! What do you enjoy doing in your free time, what is your favorite book quote, and how did you get into reading and writing?
In my free time, I enjoy storytelling in all its forms (books, films, tv, video games, theater, etc.), studying magic and mythology, taking walks in nature, traveling, and hanging out with my friends at my local bar!
My favorite book quote… I don’t have one, as of present. Sorry to disappoint.
I got into reading and writing at 7-years-old after I saw the first Harry Potter movie and read the novel it as based on shortly after. That took me all year! Then I wrote my first story, which was essentially Harry Potter fanfiction. It was called Emma Kenya and the Cursed Owl, which was basically a retelling of the first HP book lol
Since then, storytelling has become like a soul journey for me. All the stories I love have breathed life into my own stories, and vice-versa. My own imagination and inner world grew, and so did my skills as a writer. It became my escape and my happy place. I figured making it my vocation was the next logical step lol
3. Do you have a favorite local library or bookstore? Also can you remember bookstores and libraries from your childhood, if they are not the same as the ones now?
I don’t really. I was a big Barnes & Noble kid. I remember on my tenth birthday, my dad gave me $100 and said “Buy as many books as you can to fill up that bill.” It was one of the best birthdays I ever had!
I also have incredibly fond memories of the Scholastic Books Fairs at my school every year. It was one of the best days of the year and to be honest, I think I’d have even more fun at them today then I did then.
4. Tell us more about this bookstore/library. What do you love most about it?
The Barnes & Noble I attend is one of the bigger ones with multiple floors. When you walk in and look up, there is a balcony above that wraps around the whole store. The balcony in front of you is where the kids section is and they have it set up so that you always feel like you are walking into another world up there. There were other stuff at the store, fiction for adults, music, a café, and other stuff that a bookstore would usually have. But that kid’s section had bean bag chairs and a reading nook surrounded by paper-cut-out trees and a space where one of the booksellers would read new books to children in the area. I loved it there… such good memories.
5. What do you have to say on the importance of sustaining bookstores and libraries?
Despite the fact that I haven’t engaged much with my local bookstore scene, I have quite a lot to say on this topic. One of the better things about America is the public distribution of knowledge that at one time in human history was kept exclusively only to the higher classes. This concept—knowledge belonging to all—is exactly why we need to sustain local bookstores and libraries.
Libraries, in particular, allow the every-person to be able to learn so much about the world in a way that emphasizes that basic right to knowledge. It being free is absolutely key. The more a person knows, the more they can empathize with the world around them. That is how healing happens. That is how positive changes happens! Libraries are one of the most beautiful things modern society has to offer.
As for independent bookstores, the sustenance of them is necessary because if some corporate behemoth comes along and consolidates all book sales for only their store, it sets a dangerous precedent for what could come next. Corporate bookstores have a direct link to very affluent, powerful people who could very well decide one day to police what books these stores sell. That would impact the general public, the publishing world, and little old writers like me in a really debilitating way!
Power to the people is why sustaining bookstores and libraries is important.
6. Do you have any projects that your current and future readers can look forward to?
On sale now is a Greek Mythology-inspired literary collection called The Carnation Collection; a lot of Goddess power in that book. I also just finished up a fandom project for the Frozen 10th Anniversary, a fanzine called Water Has Memory: A Frozen Decade and it is so good. I had such an incredible team for that and if I hadn’t, there was no way it could have been finished.
And as for now? I’m finally working on my novel again after a year-and-a-half. Without giving too much away, it is a spiritual fantasy novel following a young artist as she discovers the world of magic… and how it impacts, well, everything. Including her own life.
7. Lastly, what platforms can we find you? (Social media and websites are all encouraged, this is to highlight and champion you guys)
Well for a full list, people can check my linktree:
linktr.ee/victoriaholland
I can be found at @toriofthetrees on all my socials, but please check especially Instagram and Tumblr (where I have posted all my creativity and writing).
Well, that’s Victoria Holland from Massachusetts, everyone! Stay posted till the next one, a little lower in New Jersey.
Wild Ink Publishing 