Indie Author Spotlight, Episode 2

Hi! I'm S.E. Reed, an award-winning multi-genre Indie Author and volunteer at The Writer's Workout. I want to welcome you to the second 'episode' of the newly resurrected Indie Author Spotlight. Each episode will feature a Q&A-style interview with an Indie Author.

Our second Indie Author is someone I've had the pleasure of knowing for a few years, as we both happen to have books published at the same small publisher. What I can say about Michael Goodwin Hilton is that his words stick with you LOOOOONG after you read them. I remember reading a short story on his Substack when we first met, and that thing lives rent free in my brain and will forever. He's a powerful story teller.

Author Michael Goodwin Hilton

Michael, thank you so much for spending some time with me today! Can you tell everyone a little about yourself? 

Hey S.E., thanks! Well, I have been a writer for most of my life, even before I knew what one was. I’ve always had a storytelling gene, which I believe I inherited from my mother, who was an actress. The first form I was drawn to, in my early adolescence, was poetry. Then I discovered playwriting in high school and that was a breakthrough. Playwriting, in some respects, feels like it’s where both my parents meet in me – my mother, the actress, and my father a life-long lover of literature. Writing for the theatre, in some ways, speaks to both vocations. Prose writing came later. I began seriously pursuing short fiction when I moved to Europe in my 20’s, to live with my then-girlfriend-now-wife. Writing fiction is a very different process, a much more gradual one, that exercises different muscles than playwriting and has different requirements. By now I am nearly as enamored of writing fiction as I am of writing plays, though I still think of myself first and foremost as a playwright.

I'm excited to know more about your writing style.

I don’t know if I could describe a style, per se, or if I even have one necessarily (my writing professor in college encouraged us not to think in such terms, perhaps because there’s the danger of becoming too self-conscious, and so that attitude has stuck). But I write literary fiction and dramas mostly, for mature audiences. I’d like to think, though, that my stories can reach a wide audience, even if they’re often set in a very particular part of the country. I am a firm believer in universal consciousness and shared human reality, and I believe storytelling at its best can tap into and channel these energies.

Tell us about a project you’re proud of and link it. 

Well, I remain quite proud of my debut short story collection “What The Statue Thinks”, which was published by Wild Ink Publishing in 2024. It represents more than a decade’s worth of experiments and attempts with short fiction, from which I selected 11 of the best, or at least most impacting, stories that I had worked on in that timeframe. Some of those stories have been with me for even longer, and I am especially proud of the way that the stories in the collection echo off one another. The stories constellate around the Jersey Shore, where I grew up, and center on characters whose lives, generally, are quite difficult – across the political spectrum and up and down the socio-economic ladder. But I don’t consider these stories, personally, to be bleak. They’re about how ordinary people cope with extraordinary challenges, braving everyday trials with as much dignity and resolve as they can muster. Each time I flip through it, I feel a renewed sense of pride in the vision and scope of the book, and the degree of control I think I was able to exert over the writing. But of course I’m biased. ☺ But it’s certainly something I feel very proud of and thrilled to have been able to publish with Wild Ink Publishing!

Spill the tea, what are you currently working on?

Right now I am focused on a full-length play called “A Suicide Reply” that I aim to get up in front of an audience, somehow someway somewhere. I will focus on plays for the foreseeable future, though I wouldn’t necessarily rule out the possibility of a novel at some point. But for the time being, at least, the play’s the thing. 

What is your biggest/best piece of advice for other Indie Authors?

A tremendous resource for me over the past couple of years has been Substack. I have a newsletter called “Little Things” (inspired by Chekhov) through which I publish short fiction, poetry, as well as essays and even some dramatic work. It’s a great way to connect with readers, and some of the most exciting new voices are sharing their writing this way. The gatekeepers in the publishing industry are obviously still important, but a lot of writers and readers are venturing off the beaten paths in search of exciting and truly original work. So that would definitely be something I would recommend. Otherwise, the old adage forever applies: Don’t ever – EVER – give up! Your own personal breakthrough is just ahead, just around that corner. Keep at it and keep writing.

So, who is your favorite Indie Author? 

I’m a fan of Emmalea Russo, who wrote a fascinating book of poetry a couple years ago called “Magenta” that she released for free in the public domain. She had a debut novel come out last year called “Vivienne” that I am looking forward to. Other indie favorites include Blake Butler, Selah Saterstrom, and Jadi Campbell (also a personal friend).

Where can someone find your work?

The best place to start, I suppose, is my website that I launched last year: www.michaelgoodwinhilton.com.  There you can find links to my book, Substack, as well as my New Play Exchange (NPX) page where a number of my plays are available to download, in addition to more information about me and my writing generally.