Spark Spotlight Writer: Ashley Warlick
Photo Credit: Mamie Morgan
Ashley Warlick is the author of four novels, most recently The Arrangement, based on the life of legendary food writer MFK Fisher. She teaches in the MFA program at Queens University, and she’s the buyer for M Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina. The recipient of The Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship and a grant from the NEA, she was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 2022.
1. How did you become interested in writing?
I came to writing as a reader, which I think is true for most of us. As a kid, my mom used to say I read so fast I didn't even crack the spine of what I was reading. And I read everything— things I was old enough to understand, and things I probably wasn't. I am fascinated by how you can go anywhere, be anything in books. How could you not want to learn how to do that for yourself?
2. What style of writing do you most enjoy?
I am a really omnivorous reader, and enjoy a good crime series as much as the latest, edgiest literary novel or collection of poetry. I'm curious about everything.
3. Where do you find your inspiration as a writer?
Inspiration is not a word I use much. I'm driven to write books. I see or hear people say things, and I can see how it would play out on the page, so I want to write it. I want to shape it, and tell it. That feels more earthbound than inspired. I get inspired to be a better person by a whole stack of things, but writing works more like attraction.
4. What is the most rewarding part of being a writer?
Ha. The only rewarding part is being done.
5. What is most important to you in your writing?
I'm always trying to teach myself how to do something I'm not immediately good at. For example, right now, I'm working on a thriller, in spite of the fact that the mechanics of plot generally terrify me. My natural strengths are in the language department—rhythm and image and tone.
6. What are you currently working on?
The aforementioned thriller. I work every day, 45 minutes a day. I started this in the spring, as I've struggled to find creative balance with my day job at M. Judson Booksellers. I love my job, and I love the problems I get to tackle every day, and I love talking to people about books. But in terms of writing, appointments help. Whatever you're working on lives in your brain even when you're not actively thinking about it. A little bit of progress adds up to a month of good work.
