Author Name: S.W. Anderson
Title of your AJOW story: The Last Human
Post a brief synopsis of your AJOW story: Emily is the last known human on earth. Her dog, Bruiser, and trusted butler robot, Oliver, take a short trip to find food, but encounter unexpected obstacles along their way.
What inspired you to write this story? A writing prompt I found on Reddit. The prompt was something like “you’re the last human in a world full of robots and you’re dying. What do you say to your robot who’s been with you through everything?” The responses were centered mostly around older gentlemen dying of old age, in their comfortable hospital bed, but I decided that it wouldn’t happen like that at all.
How long have you been writing? I started writing in high school for newspapers, continued writing research papers through college, and began writing fiction on my own about a year ago.
What genre do you usually write in and why? I guess it’s technically called “slipstream.” Young adult dystopian sci-fi would be my primary genre I guess, but I do have a story or two that won’t be in this genre.
What else are you working on writing at the moment? I’m currently working on my A Haunting of Words (AHOW) story, along with two more short stories. I hope to publish them all (4 or 5 total) in my own anthology some day. I’ve also been working on two novels as well, editing one and writing the other.
What advice do you have to give to new writers? I guess my biggest struggle as a writer is learning that it’s okay to take time out to write. You need to do something for you, and if that means you have to find a babysitter or ask your husband to watch the kids for a while to fit in writing time, then don’t feel guilty about it. The best advice that was given to me so far, however, is that your main goal is to get eyes on the page, even if that means putting your work up on a blog for free for a while. I was hesitant to “give away my work for free,” but I was really glad I did it in the end. It gave me a lot of confidence to continue on and write more!
How can people discover more about you and your work?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/s.w.anderson.author
Blog: www.swanderson.net