Wren took some time away from the keyboard and chatted about her latest book, Alt Vegas: Nuclear Dreams

Alt Vegas. What’s it about and how did it all begin?

It began during the end tail of our COVID experience. And sunk under post-pandemic COVID-19 inertia for the longest time. So when I finished it, it was a relief. It felt like a pregnancy with a gestation period that lasted years. As for what it is about. It’s about two young lovers separated across dimensions and a father who’s searching for a lost son. To spice it up along the way, you’ll meet people eating monsters, sandstorms, a variant of Las Vegas that was locked in time when the first nuclear tests began. I won’t tell you the end, though.

Is writing challenging?

Yes, but it’s also fun and a joy when it all comes together in the end. There’s an element of puzzle-solving to it. The puzzle is figuring out how to best tell a story in a way you hope the reader will enjoy. How to bring multiple storylines from a cat’s cradle into a coherent story.  Also, inner questions and thoughts manifested along the way, bringing new realizations about myself.

Worldbuilding.

I love world-building, but without worthwhile characters, to paraphrase Brandon Sanderson, it’s just an encyclopedia. It might not be that to the writer, and it isn’t to me. But it would be that way to the reader.

Do you have more fiction on the back burner, or do you only work on a manuscript at a time?

I always have multiple manuscripts, pages and assorted paragraphs going at the same time. When I’m stumped on a story, I jump on the other to see where it wants to take me.

What’s your favorite genre?

Horror, but I like reading different genres. Non-fiction, sci-fi, psychology. I’m not ashamed to say that I once read “Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul” and liked it. It gave me a nice break from too much horror.

What was the most significant artistic influence in 2024 that left an impression on you?

Gaming. Immersing myself in games. Yet another reason for my book being late.

Which game?

Conan Exiles, Satisfactory…a bit of ESO. I’d love to write a book that would also take the reader in a game type environment.

What was one question you wished I’d asked but didn’t?

What’s my next book about? I think Jericho the blue-eyed black cat will return in the very near future. We need more supernatural black cats fiction. And meanwhile I hope readers will get familiar with Jericho until the new book comes out.