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Indie Author Spotlight, Episode 40

Sadie Dennis
6 hours ago
3 min read

Another Monday, another Indie Author Spotlight! My name is Sadie Dennis and I am so excited to be continuing this series after Jennifer. I'm a lover of all things literature and can't wait to dive deeper into the literary community with all of you! With ultimately the same goal in mind I am taking every opportunity to meet new

and interesting people in the literary community.


In today's episode we will be learning about the literary workings of Andrew Farkas. An associate professor of Creative Writing at Washburn University and the author of seven books Andrew gives insight to his literary history and his current writings. Make sure to check out his website and socials, which are linked below, so you don't miss out on any of his future work. I was very pleased with the opportunity to meet Andrew. I know you will be too.


Hi Andrew! Thanks so much for meeting with me today. Can you tell us a little about yourself?


Black and white headshot of author Andrew Farkas.

I started writing in about eighth grade. A friend of mine had his own zine that he copies and stapled together at Kinko’s. I have no idea why he asked me to submit a short story, since I really didn’t think of myself as a writer when he did. I guess that means my first publication was a story called, “Heads or Tails” that appeared in The Bomb #2. Later, I got into Dave Barry and really wanted to be a humor columnist. I wrote for my high school paper (the Stohion), a local paper called The Stow Sentry, and later the Daily Kent Stater. At the end of undergrad, I went back to fiction and decided I wanted to go to graduate school. My first book came out when I was 30 and enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.


Tell us about your writing style.


I love art that is mind-blowing and hilarious. It’s probably not a surprise that I’m really into the postmodernists, the Theatre of the Absurd, and other formalist or experimental writers. That said, perhaps because I was introduced to this kind of work via Kurt Vonnegut, my work is also speculative (science fiction and fabulist). As for age range, I definitely write for adults.


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


I just had three books come out, so here they are:


The Ancient Mysteries of Las Vegas : https://www.kernpunktpress.com/store/p49/lasvegas.html


Cover of Andrew Farkas's "Are You now or Have You Ever Been?"

Spill the tea, what are you currently working on?


I am working on two projects right now. The first is a novel called Modal Recall, about the fact that our cinematic culture is obsessed with remakes, fandom, and simplistic types (the super character or characters who save the day, for instance). I am also working on a collection of essays that might be called The Great Underground Empire (which comes from the old text-based adventure game Zork, since it’s the subtitle to the first installment). The book’s a kind of sequel to my The Great Indoorsman, but it focuses on the concept of the underground either physically (the Pedway in Chicago, for instance), or figuratively (those who work in covert or even criminal enterprises, for instance).


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


Andrew Farkas performing on stage.

I tell my students all the time that there’s really no way to prepare yourself to work with indie presses because they all operate in different ways. I do remind them, though, that indie publishers/editors are usually volunteers, so be persistent, but always be nice.


Who is your favorite Indie Author? 


Michael Martone is the biggest advocate I know for the indie publishing world. Also, being my mentor, it’s impossible not to pick him.


Where can someone find your work, social presence, etc. drop some links. 



If you want to know more about Andrew, check out his 2nd interview over on The Writer's Workout Substack - https://writersworkout.substack.com/p/andrew-farkas-second-interview



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