Back in 2011, we founded Ashland Creek Press to promote environmental awareness through literature — as well as to advocate for awareness, understanding, and protection of animals. We have learned that the more we study animas, the smarter they get. And yet we humans still have a complex relationship with animals. We open our homes …
This interview was conducted and edited by Ashland Creek Press intern Rachel Harris. Q: What inspired you to write this story? A: For five years I worked on a farm where we raised and slaughtered birds for meat. I am fairly comfortable handling living animals and dead animals, but I can’t get myself to kill an …
This interview was conducted and edited by Ashland Creek Press intern Rachel Harris. Q: What inspired you to write this story? A: After I completed my MFA, and I was starting my writing career, I wanted to remain connected with animals and animal life. One of the ways I did that was by volunteering several summers …
This interview was conducted and edited by Ashland Creek Press intern Rachel Harris. Q: What inspired you to write this story? A: The reports of jaguars being poached to make jaguar “gum/paste” for bogus medicinal purposes in Chinese medicine coupled with children being kidnapped by the U.S. government as they came to the border with their …
This interview was conducted and edited by Ashland Creek Press intern Rachel Harris. Q: What inspired you to write this story? A: I was actually listening to the totally fabulous herpetology podcast SquaMates by Mark D. Scherz, Gabriel Ugueto, Hiral Naik, and Ethan Kocak, and in one of their early episodes they mentioned that axolotls can actually metamorphose …
This interview was conducted and edited by Ashland Creek Press intern Rachel Harris. Q: There seems to be a reawakening in society to the middle ages and our relationships with animals then. Was this story based on a true story? What inspired you to tell this story? A: Many years ago, I read John Julius Norwich’s …
This interview was conducted and edited by Ashland Creek Press intern Rachel Harris. Q: What inspired you to write this story? A: Basically: the Yulin Dog Festival and the West’s reaction to the festival. Also: I love an ambiguous murder mystery. I think one of the most frustrating things as an ethical vegan living in the …
This interview was conducted and edited by Ashland Creek Press intern Rachel Harris. Q: What inspired you to write this story? A: To be honest, I often write to explore questions that nag at me. In this case, the question was: At what point can good intentions backfire and become no longer helpful to the intended …