Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Peggy Christie. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Peggy, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

It was the fourth story I ever wrote and at the time, on-line magazines were starting to become the thing. It was Winter of 2000 and I’d submitted a short story for an on-line zine called Planet Relish (that has since gone the way of most webzines – into the ether.) It was titled, “Keeping Up with the Joneses”. Basically a story about two neighbors trying to outdo each other’s holiday decorations, being goaded on by the spirits of their loved ones. Needless to say, it gets out of hand to the point where blood and mayhem and murder ensue.

At this point, it was my third publication but my first paid. Despite it being just a token payment ($5) I actually framed the $5 bill and still keep in on my desk. Just a nice reminder that there are people out there interested in my work AND willing to pay me for it! It’s a nice confidence boost for sure.

Peggy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up north of Detroit and always loved horror. I watched Sir Graves Ghastly every Saturday, where his Creature Feature show introduced me to my first horror crush (Vincent Price) and the glory of Hammer films. I was lucky enough to have parents that didn’t mind me watching these films, though compared to today’s standards, they are pretty tame as far as sex and gore are concerned.

Once I hit 6th grade, creative writing became part of my school curriculum. Naturally, I wanted to write horror. I wrote a couple of awful murder mysteries that today would have resulted in a call home from school and probably a suggested visit to a psychiatrist. But I was simply told I wasn’t allowed to write that kind of stuff…so I stopped.

Flash forward to 1999 and I was working as a secretary for a large advertising firm. At this point, I was technically doing the job of 2 secretaries because the one working for the head of the department changed jobs. While I never expected gifts or great praise, I always appreciated a sincere “thank you” for my work. The head of the department never said a thing to me and I was pretty salty about it. So I decided to write a short story about a secretary who is accidentally killed by her thoughtless boss. He then covers it up but she comes back to haunt him and get revenge.

Nothing revolutionary, right? But I FELT so much better after that. Then I thought, I wonder what other demons or stresses I can write about to help me let go? The next story was about my mother’s death 9 years earlier and I’ll be damned, it worked again. It didn’t make me forget that experience or our shared lives, but it helped to release a lot of the anxiety I still held on to.

And that was it. The floodgates were opened and I haven’t looked back. I didn’t know how long I’d keep writing or if I’d ever get published. But even rejection after rejection didn’t make me want to stop. At that point, I was writing for me. If others liked it and wanted it, cool! If not, I’d keep going anyway.

I like to think my style is pretty simple. I don’t like a lot of flowery words and Lovecraftian novels of descriptive exposition. Humor is also a big part of my style. My family, much like Chandler Bing, always used humor as a defense mechanism so it’s incorporated into everything I write. Even if the subject is heavy or disturbing, you will always find some kind of humor injected into it. Sometimes inappropriately…

While finishing my first novel and getting it published was a great moment for me, I think my proudest moment was learning how much my dad bragged about me to his friends, though I never knew it until after he died in 2004. We weren’t a family of sharers; we didn’t talk about feelings and all that. So I thought my dad was mostly indifferent to my writing, though he did ask once why I wrote what I did. I told him it was his fault because he let me watch those horror flicks growing up. His reply: “It’s not my fault you’re weird.”

I laughed because it was said with a warm heart, not blame or defensiveness. Then hearing later from his friends and his hair stylist (we went to the same woman) how much he talked about me and how proud he was, I admit even now I get a little misty-eyed. I admired my father so much; he was one of the best people I’d ever known. So to know I’d made HIM proud is the highest achievement I’ll ever reach.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think my biggest goal is to write fiction that speaks to readers, something that they can connect to as they read. And then when they’re done, I hope my writing lingers inside, whispering to them from time to time to remind them of the journey they took while reading my stories.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As an introvert, I’m prone to keep to myself in general. Writing has brought me out of myself more, allowed me to connect with other writers, and a whole bunch of other people in the creative community. While I’m still more likely to stay home or alone in many of life’s pursuits, I’m so happy I’ve been able to branch out, and I like to think I’ve made several life-long friends whose paths I may never have crossed if I didn’t start writing in the first place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.themonkeyisin.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@PMonkey710
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorpeggychristie

Image Credits

Dark Doorways and Hell Hath No Fury covers by Luke Spooner
Primordial cover by KH Koehler
The Vessel cover by Sean Seal
Forever Trapped and Con Life covers by Don England
Afraid of the Dark cover by Peggy Christie and David Hayes